CHAMPAIGN, Ill. –
Call me one of the doubters. But you can also can me a born-again believer.
I was one of the many critics that didn’t think Northwestern had a chance. It was too easy to be pessimistic – before spring practices were even over. That’s not even taking into account the sudden offseason departures in the program that left the Wildcats with more question marks than the Riddler.
“There weren’t a whole lot of people that gave us a shot in the preseason,” NU coach Randy Walker said. “Some injuries and some other things didn’t paint our picture very brightly.”
My preseason prediction – among many other pundits – for NU’s final record: 4-7.
“Coming in (to preseason workouts), there was a lot of turmoil going on,” freshman running back Tyrell Sutton said. “They didn’t pick us to win – like only four games. But we had a lot of things going inside the family that were detrimental to the team.”
But once the ugly three-headed monster of suspensions, injuries and transfers had finished ravaging the program, what was left was a core of devoted seniors who weren’t going to back down. They didn’t care that nobody else believed because they had been through worse.
Oct. 19, 2002. State College, Pa. 49-0. That was their doomsday.
On Saturday against Illinois, they completed their masterpiece with a 38-21 win that flipped their projected record and their actual overall finish. The icing on top would be a win in their final game for NU – most likely the Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas.
“This class had a chance to lay a foundation – a foundation of consistency and ongoing success,” Walker said. “I am just proud of this senior class and what they’ve overcome.”
For the first four weeks of the season, however, the Cats looked like they were going to prove the skeptics right. Unconvincing wins over MAC teams followed by a blowout loss to Arizona State in the desert and a fourth-down meltdown against Penn State left the hater’s bandwagon galvanized.
From that point on, all the Cats had left were four road games and three home games against top-25 teams. No way were they going to come close to bowl eligibility.
But then something happened. Make that three things.
With the 1995 Rose Bowl watching after being honored at halftime, NU defeated then-No. 14 Wisconsin 51-48 in a shootout Oct. 8. Then on road trips the next two weeks, the Cats used a fourth-quarter rally against Purdue and sheer offensive firepower against Michigan State to pick up two more wins.
Even after upsetting losses to Michigan and Ohio State, the Cats were able to pick up the pieces in the following week by getting a win and preventing the disappointment to spiral out of control. It was evident after victories against Iowa and Illinois the entire program was beginning to embrace the resolve of the senior class.
With a bowl game in sight, the seniors have another month to make an even greater impact on the program. The extra weeks of practice will allow younger, less-seasoned players get some much-needed attention from the coaching staff.
The bonus month in the program will enable the seniors to become player-coaches to the kitty Cats. They can set the record straight for them, and even the so-called experts who still don’t believe.
I had my great awakening last Tuesday at practice when, after weeks of me picking against the Cats, senior offensive tackle Zach Strief yelled down the sideline and asked if I was going to pick NU over Illinois. I told him yes because when a 6-foot-7, 335-pound man asks you to do something, even if he is 30 yards away, you tell him what he wants to hear.
But rest assured that when the Cats take the field again over winter break, I’ll be picking them because I too am a believer now.
Deputy Sports Editor Zach Silka is a Medill junior. He can be reached at [email protected].
