During its five-game losing streak, Northwestern fought against the odds by staying confident.
The players were loose and outgoing during practices, and they exuded confidence with their voices. This innate ability to stay gregarious despite all the doom and gloom around them allowed the Wildcats to finally get an elusive victory against Indiana after five straight losses, according to coach Pat Fitzgerald.
“Some tough losses can lead to individual self-doubt and some collective finger pointing,” Fitzgerald said. “The guys stayed the course. The next game we didn’t win, but they still stayed the course.”
The Cats are now riding a two-game winning streak, and the team is still as loose as can be. Fitzgerald said that the team had one of its fastest and best practices of the season on Tuesday. He said that the players are finally piecing together what winners do to be successful and that their preparation is carrying over into games.
“The guys had really good focus (in practice),” Fitzgerald said. “This team is starting to grow up and mature and figuring out what winners do and how they do it consistently. That’s an encouraging sign.”
Junior linebacker David Nwabuisi said that while the team is relaxed, there has been little noticeable change since the Cats started winning again. He said the team is happier now after winning two straight, but that there is still a lot of work to be done.
“By no means were we happy during that five-game losing streak,” Nwabuisi said. “We’re trying to keep our spirits up and realize that if we play ball like we’re capable of playing ball, there is nothing that can stop us from winning games.”
Jacob Schmidt acknowledged that winning makes a team less uptight, but stressed that a team needs to stay calm even when adversity strikes.
“If you get uptight, you’re going to start pressing,” the senior running back said. “When you start pressing, only bad things happen: you make mistakes, you turn the ball over. If we can stay loose like we have and just go out there and have fun every day in practice, we’ll perform better.”
After dealing with the stress of a prolonged losing streak, NU’s new challenge will be battling overconfidence as it heads into the coming weeks. The Cats’ next two opponents, Rice and Minnesota, have a combined five wins on the season and NU will be heavy favorites in both games.
Schmidt said that the Cats should have an easier time fighting cockiness given that they have something to play for. With their postseason hopes very much in limbo, the senior running back said that NU must avoid complacency otherwise it will not accomplish its goals.
“We don’t have that luxury,” Schmidt said. “We understand our backs are against the wall. The second we get overconfident is the second we get beat. To go where we want to go, we got to focus each day and approach each game like it’s our last.”
With the Cats still needing two wins to become bowl eligible, the idea of a bowl game has yet to enter into their psyche. Nwabuisi said the team still has unfinished business before it can start thinking about going bowling.
“We need to focus on each and every game right now,” Nwabuisi said. “Our goal is definitely to get to a bowl game and win a bowl game, but right now all we can really worry about is beating Rice. If we don’t beat Rice, those thoughts start dwindling away.”
