The Wildcats will be playing postseason football in Texas for the third time in their last four seasons.
Northwestern (6-6) will complete its tour of the state with a matchup against Texas A&M in the Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas in Houston on Dec. 31.
This will mark the first-ever meeting between the two historic programs and the second straight year in which the Cats will play their postseason game on enemy soil. Last season, NU took on Texas Tech in the TicketCity Bowl in Dallas, located far closer to Lubbock than Evanston.
“We’re excited and humbled to have the opportunity to represent the Big Ten in the Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas,” coach Pat Fitzgerald said. “To be able to go play in a great venue like Reliant Stadium is going to be a great opportunity for us and our fans and to play an outstanding opponent like Texas A&M.”
The Aggies finished their season with the same record as the Cats, but five of their six losses came to ranked teams. They upset now-No. 12 Baylor and took Kansas State and Texas to overtime. Like NU, Texas A&M struggled in close games, with five of its six losses coming by a touchdown or less.
The team is led by quarterback Ryan Tannehill, who threw for over 3,400 yards and 28 touchdowns this season. The Big 12 team averages 39.6 points per game, which puts them in 11th place among FBS teams.
“From what I know, A&M has some sizeable receivers, a good quarterback and passing attack,” senior safety Brian Peters said, “so the secondary’s definitely going to have to step up come Dec. 31.”
Texas A&M fired coach Mike Sherman last week and will be coached by defensive coordinator Tim DeRuyter in the game.
The trip to Houston will mark a homecoming for five NU players, all of whom could see significant playing time against the Aggies. Fitzgerald estimated that he has visited the city over 100 times on recruiting trips, saying the state of Texas is a big focus of NU’s recruiting efforts.
“(The coaches) were excited for the opportunity from the standpoint of exposure to those (high-school) coaches,” Fitzgerald said. “Some of those coaches from Houston have come up to watch us in spring ball, but the chance to watch us in their backyard will be fun. (Linebackers coach) Randy Bates does a tremendous job for us down there. It’s a great opportunity, without a doubt.”
NU not won a bowl since 1949, when it defeated California in the Rose Bowl.
Ending the Cats’ 62-year bowl drought would bring the team’s fifth-year seniors full circle in their NU careers. In 2007, the Cats were not invited to a bowl game, despite being eligible.
Since then, the Cats have made a bowl game appearance in four straight seasons, a program record.
“To not go to a bowl game and now go to the Big Ten’s sixthr-anked bowl game just says a lot about how much we have progressed as a program in our time here,” Peters said. “We’re looking to take the next step and get a bowl victory.”
Offensive lineman Al Netter echoed Peters’ statement. He said it would mean a lot for the senior class to go out as winners.
“It’d be huge,” the senior said. “It’d be a great way for our seniors to put a stamp on what we’ve done, put a stamp on what we’ve been able to accomplish here as a program. To be able to finish our careers with a bowl win would just mean everything to us.”
NU’s secondary will have to step up to the plate after Fitzgerald announced that Jordan Mabin is out for the year, after undergoing surgery on his injured shoulder.
The four-year starter at cornerback was able to avoid major injury for nearly his entire NU career. Peters said Mabin’s injury was unfortunate, but added that the team needs to move on and prepare for the Aggies.
“He’s a tough kid and we all feel for him, he’s working through it,” Peters said. “It’s just rough stuff, especially for a senior captain. It’s going to be tough to fill his shoes. We’ve got the guys to do it but Jordan leaves big shoes to fill.”
Heather Houston, the executive director of the Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas, said on a conference call that NU’s win over Rice in Houston last year played a part in the Cats’ selection this season. She said while visiting the game, she was impressed with the turnout from the large NU alumni base in Houston. Although she does not know the official number of fans, she said she was confident that the Cats sold out their allotment.
Houston also pointed to a special presentation from NU athletic director Jim Phillips while he was at the game against Rice. She said the committee was appreciative of Phillips taking time out of his day to talk to the committee, calling NU, “the most hospitable school to us.”
Fitzgerald said NU will need to treat the bowl game like a road game since Houston is only 96 miles from Texas A&M’s campus in College Station, Texas.
“It’s going to be a road game for us,” Fitzgerald said. “We’ll prepare like we’re playing on the road.”
Yet, the sixth-year head coach also expects to see a lot of purple in the crowd.
“If last year playing at Rice is any indication, the way our great alumni base that we have down in Houston supported us and the way our fans traveled,” Fitzgerald said, “it should be a great purple showing.”
The Meineke bowl game will air to a national audience on ESPN at 11 a.m. on Dec. 31.
Jonah Rosenblum contributed reporting.
graphic by Kris Anne Bonifacio
