Coach Pat Fitzgerald and three of the football team’s star players chatted with about 40 students Wednesday night at Wildside 101, responding to questions ranging from Wildcats traditions to how to boost enthusiasm for the team.
Fitzgerald, along with quarterback Kain Colter, offensive lineman Brian Mulroe and placekicker Jeff Budzien, spoke with students for an hour in Tech Auditorium. Describing the “Walk with Us” event, where students are invited to welcome the team on the field prior to a home game, the jingling of keys at kick-off and the playing of “Hands Up in the Air” in the fourth quarter, Fitzgerald began by recounting some highlights of NU football.
“We’re here to win, there’s a lot of juice going on, a lot of passion,” Fitzgerald said.
Now ranked No. 24 in the Associated Press poll, NU football has launched a successful 2012 season with a 5-0 record. Fitzgerald, referring to Saturday’s game against Indiana, praised Colter’s touchdown and pointed out Patrick Ward’s defensive help that allowed Colter to score. Repeatedly, Fitzgerald stressed that the football program was “going to keep fighting” and was able to “rise to the challenge.”
Colter recounted his own challenge of balancing of his academic responsibilities as a pre-med student with his athletic ones as a football player.
“The time demands are extreme, and it can be tough,” he said. “Time management is important.”
Mulroe and Budzien lightened the mood by discussing the team’s best dancer, right tackle Chuck Porcelli, and some of their pre- and post-game routines. Budzien described how he is usually calm before a kick and compared his focus to an image of a “monkey with cymbals,” as the audience reacted with laughter.
Students asked Fitzgerald and the players for their thoughts on how the team would fare for the rest of the season.
“This is the tightest team I’ve ever been on, and if we keep working hard, the sky’s the limit,” Mulroe said. Fitzgerald emphasized that the team has to continue to “focus inward” and not “get distracted by outside noise.”
The event drew a much smaller audience than last year’s Wildside, said Weinberg sophomore Brandon Bock, who attended last year. Only the first three rows of the auditorium were filled.
Still, Bock said, “the football team is off to a good start, and I’m excited to hear some details about the program for the rest of the season.”
Gram Bowsher, a SESP sophomore on Wildside’s executive board, said the main goal of Wildside 101 was to inspire excitement and “provide students with an opportunity to interact with and show support for the team.”
At the end of the event, Fitzgerald thanked the small crowd that came out.
“We play for you,” he said. “Student support is special.”
