Now that Northwestern’s (5-4, 4-2 Big Ten) football team has its first winning record since the beginning of the 2001 season, national television is hooked on the Wildcats.
NU’s game at No. 9 Michigan on Saturday will mark the seventh time this season the Cats play before a national TV audience, giving this year’s team more national TV appearances than any other team in NU’s history.
The game against the Wolverines will also be the first time since Aug. 31, 2002, that the Cats appear on ABC.
“You love the game,” NU coach Randy Walker said. “You love playing it. You’d play in a parking lot with nobody there if that’s where you had to play. But it’s a lot more fun when the cameras go on and everybody’s watching.”
Next week’s contest with Illinois, set to be televised on ESPN Plus, will mark the 10th time this season the Cats appear on television. A bowl appearance would mean an 11th TV appearance, breaking last year’s record of 10 appearances and making this team the most televised in school history.
“It’s great for our university and it’s great for our program to get this recognition,” senior running back Noah Herron said. “It helps with recruiting, and it helps with a lot of things. For us, we’re trying to start a prestige and tradition for this university.”
The Cats would be wise to forget about their last appearance on ABC. Air Force crushed NU 52-3 in the 2002 season opener.
Special Delivery
NU fans who watched special teams closely in the Cats’ 14-7 win at Penn State on Saturday were probably surprised to see junior safety Derell Jenkins participate in several plays.
Jenkins underwent surgery on Sept. 26 after breaking his right wrist against Minnesota the night before, and he was supposed to be out for the rest of the year.
“We are really surprised that he’s back,” Walker said. “We thought that was a season-ending injury. He must drink a lot of milk or something.”
Jenkins said the condition of his wrist was not as bad as doctors predicted six weeks ago. He practiced with the team for a few weeks, and the game against Penn State was his first full-contact action since playing Minnesota.
“The reason I wasn’t playing was because I had pins in my hand, and the doctors didn’t want them to break,” Jenkins said. “They said the pins would come out in six to 12 weeks, but I got them out in five weeks.”
Walker said he wants to expand Jenkins’ role in games now that he’s back.
“He’s getting back quicker than we thought, and (the doctors) cleared him, and we’re going to put him back out there,” Walker said.
Backes Back?
Junior cornerback Jeff Backes saw limited action at practice Tuesday after aggravating his right ankle returning a punt against Penn State.
Backes sprained the ankle on Oct. 2 against Ohio State and missed the following game against Indiana.
He said Tuesday he expected to practice for the rest of the week and there was “no question” he would be ready to play Saturday against Michigan.
“I feel good,” Backes said.
Reach Teddy Kider at [email protected].
