Despite a 4-7 overall record and a last-place Big Ten finish, one member of the Northwestern football family got to spend New Year’s Day at a football game below the Mason-Dixon Line.
Offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson stepped down in mid-December from his position at NU to become the offensive line coach and running game coordinator at Oklahoma — and the timely move came with the added perk of a Cotton Bowl ticket.
Wilson, who helped engineer the no-huddle spread offense that led the Wildcats to a Big Ten title in 2000, was treated to a sight on New Year’s that he almost never witnessed in his three years in the Big Ten: a low-scoring game.
Oklahoma downed Arkansas 10-3, needing little offensive power to seal the game behind a defense that allowed only 50 yards.
By contrast, in NU’s final game of the season against Illinois, the Cats defense gave up 570 yards of total offense. Since Wilson’s arrival at NU in 1999, the Cats defense held an opponent to single-digit scoring only three times (and lowly Duke was the opponent on two of these occasions).
So Wilson’s job of molding players and manufacturing points should carry a lot less pressure at his new home.
Vacationing after the bowl, Wilson was unavailable for comment. But he left the Midwest with a cheery message explaining his departure.
“I had a great career at Northwestern, and my time with (head coach) Randy Walker has been tremendous,” he said in a statement. “But this is an opportunity to leave a program in good health and go to one of the most recognized programs in college football.”
Walker responded in kind.
“We’re certainly going to miss Kevin, but this is a great opportunity for him,” the head coach said. “He has earned this opportunity. Kevin and I go way back to our North Carolina days. We’ve had a great run together and I only wish him the best.”
Wilson was a graduate assistant with the Tar Heels in the mid-1980s, while Walker was there serving as a quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator. The pair then coached at Miami (Ohio) together throughout the 1990s before coming to NU in 1999.
No announcement has been made yet as to who will replace Wilson. Walker is currently at a coach’s meeting in California and has a couple of weeks remaining on the winter recruiting swing before returning to Evanston to start preparing for the 2002 campaign.
A MERRY CHRISTMAS: Linebacker Kevin Bentley’s football season also had a happy ending over Winter Break.
The senior tallied 16 tackles, snagged an interception and forced a fumble in the annual Blue-Gray All-Star Classic on Christmas Day. His efforts helped lead the Blue to a 28-10 win and earned him the squad’s MVP honors.
“We jelled as the week went on, almost as if we had been a team for a while here,” Bentley said. “We just wanted to get a victory and that’s what we got.”
He attracted an invite to the Montgomery, Ala., game by recording 147 tackles, 12 for a loss, and three fumble recoveries for the Cats this season. All were team-leading marks and were good enough for a second-team All-Big Ten selection.
PARTING GIFTS: Although none of the Cats went home with the hardware they had hoped for this season, consolations prizes were handed out to a few notable NU players.
In addition to Bentley, senior defensive end Napoleon Harris was also named second-team All-Big Ten. Seven other Cats were honorable mentions according to the conference coaches, while defensive tackle Colby Clark was named a fourth-team Freshman All-American and quarterback Zak Kustok earned team MVP honors.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
