The Northwestern Wildcatsfootball team, representing Northwestern University, is a NCAA Division I team and member of the Big Ten Conference, with evidence of organization in 1876. The mascot is the Wildcat, a term coined by a Chicago Tribune reporter in 1924, after reporting on a football game where the players appeared as "a wall of purple wildcats." Northwestern achieved an all-time high rank of #1 during the 1936 and 1962 seasons, which has thus far not been duplicated. Northwestern has won one bowl game, the Rose Bowl, in 1949. After that, the team has languished in decades of mediocrity. The team achieved notoriety with a 34-game losing streak from 1979-1982, the longest in Division I-A college football. Upon setting the new record in 1981 (thanks to a 61-14 home loss to Michigan State), students rushed the field to "celebrate," and chanted "we're the worst!" A win over Northern Illinois University finally broke the losing streak, and the students again celebrated, rushing the field, tearing down the goalposts, and throwing them into nearby Lake Michigan. Recent years have been far kinder to the Wildcats; they were conference champions in 1995 and co-champions in 1996 and 2000.
Northwestern's woes are in part due to the talent level, which typically is not like that found at larger, public institutions. However, Northwestern consistently is among the leaders in graduation rate; they were 100% in 1998 and 2002, and consistently are in the 90th percentile. Despite the stricter academic standards, Northwestern has produced notable athletes, such as former first-round draft picks Luis Castillo and Napoleon Harris (who was valedictorian of his high school class).
Northwestern holds the all-time records for Division I-A losses, points allowed, and negative point differential (amount opponents have outscored them by). They are also on the losing end of the greatest comeback in Division I-A history, blowing a 38-3 lead in the third quarter of a 41-38 loss to Michigan State on October 21, 2006.
The Wildcats have also been nicknamed the "Cardiac 'Cats" after several seasons with highly contested games, with victories in the final seconds or in overtime. The team first earned the nickname during the 1996 season, and would go on to apply during the 2004 season, when four of the Wildcats' games went into overtime.
The students and the Northwestern University Wildcat Marching Band generally sit in one section near the goal line. The cheerleaders and marching band lead the students with certain cheers, such as "Go U, NU," and "Let's go 'Cats!" In a tradition called the "Growl", started by the marching band in the 1960s, the students extend their arms and make a claw with their hands like that of a wildcat while screaming to intimidate and confuse opposing teams' offenses.
Cheerleaders, along with Willie the Wildcat and the marching band's "Spirit Team", perform push ups after every touchdown, equal to Northwestern's cumulative score. The student section will follow suit, usually hoisting selected fellow students up into the air while in the stands, counting out the number of NU points on the scoreboard. Northwestern students also sing the fight song after scoring. The "Alma Mater" (the traditional school song, different from the fight song, "Go U Northwestern") is usually sung at the end of the game and played by the marching band at halftime.
Other notable traditions include the jiggling of keys before every kickoff; the origin of this tradition is unclear. Some people have claimed that jingling of keys was to insinuate that the opposing school's graduates would one day be parking the cars of the Northwestern graduates. Another version claims the tradition began in the 1940s when Northwestern students had vehicles, while their state school opponents weren't fortunate enough to enjoy such luxuries. The generic "State School" chant is also employed.
The cheerleaders used to perform the "Gator Chomp," but that was subsequently dropped during the 1999 season due to complaints that Northwestern was mimicking the University of Florida. Another previous tradition was the tossing of marshmallows into the tubas of the marching band.
The Wildcats and the University of Illinois battle yearly for the Sweet Sioux Tomahawk Trophy. The winner of the annual game retains the trophy.
The Gary Barnett Era
It was during the 1995 season, under head coach Gary Barnett and the trio of quarterback Steve Schnur, running back Darnell Autry, and linebacker Pat Fitzgerald, when a dramatic turnaround was accomplished. "Expect Victory" was the motto, even as Northwestern began the season as 28-point underdogs. A shocking 17-15 season-opening win over the heavily favored Notre Dame Fighting Irish, along with other unbelievable wins over Michigan (19-13) and Penn State (21-10), catapulted the team into the national spotlight and made them media darlings. Northwestern achieved a ranking of #3 in the nation and a Big Ten Championship. They faced off against USC in the Rose Bowl. The Cinderella season came to an abrupt halt with the Wildcats losing 41-32.
The subsequent 1996 season lived up to expectations, with the Wildcats repeating as Big Ten Champions (Co-Champions). The team was nicknamed the "Cardiac Cats" for many dramatic, last second victories, including a 17-16 comeback over the University of Michigan. Down 16-0 entering the fourth quarter, the Wildcats scored 17 unanswered points, culminating with heart-stopping fourth down conversions and a last second field goal to complete the comeback. They earned an invitation to the Citrus Bowl, only to come up short against the Peyton Manning-led University of Tennessee, 48-28.
The Randy Walker Era
After Barnett was signed away by the ColoradoBuffaloes following the 1998 season, Coach Randy Walker (formerly of Miami University in Ohio) was called to lead the team. Coach Walker, a former standout tailback at Miami University, placed special emphasis on developing Northwestern's offense, especially at the running back position. The 2000 season, fueled by Damien Anderson, saw the Wildcats emerge with an exciting "spread offense." The spread offense employed many wide receivers to spread out the defense, thus allowing more cracks in the defense for running or passing plays. A 54-51 shootout victory over the University of Michigan led commentators to dub it "basketball on grass." That game became an ESPN Instant Classic and was representative of the season, which saw frequent high scores and dramatic finishes. The high-scoring offense usually was enough to overcome the porous defense, and the Wildcats earned their third Big Ten title in six years (co-champions). Anderson also finished second nationally in rushing yards (behind LaDanian Tomlinson). However, the Wildcats were blown out by the Nebraska Cornhuskers in the Alamo Bowl 66-17. The Wildcats did not make the postseason again until December 26, 2003, when they lost to Bowling Green by a score of 28-24 in the Motor City Bowl. In 2004, the Wildcats beat then-ranked #6 Ohio State in double overtime to garner their first win over the Buckeyes since 1971, but that victory was the season's only national highlight. The 2005 season was Northwestern's best since 2000, finishing 7-5 and ending up ranked #25 in the BCS poll. The team appeared in the AP and Coaches' polls for the first time since October 2001. The Wildcats earned an invitation to the Sun Bowl, only to lose to UCLA, 50-38.
Randy Walker died unexpectedly on June 29, 2006 of an apparent heart attack at the age of 52. Pat Fitzgerald (seen by many before the tragedy as Walker's eventual successor once his contract expired) was promoted from linebackers coach and recruiting coordinator to head coach on July 7, 2006. Walker's death was not the team's only loss; the Wildcats also had to replace their offensive coordinator, offensive line coach, and Brett Basanez, the team's former four-year starter at quarterback and holder of dozens of school records. Hence, the 2006 season was a departure from the previous years' successes. The season began with a win at Miami University, Walker's alma mater, an emotional game that featured several tributes to the late coach1. However, the season went downhill from there. The low point was the October 21 home loss to Michigan State, in which the Spartans staged the largest comeback in Division I-A history. A win against Illinois in the final game gave the Wildcats a 4-8 record for the year and saved them from finishing last in the Big Ten.
Before the beginning of the 2007 season, Northwestern showed potential for improvement upon last year's record. ESPN.com's Mark Schlabach stated that Northwestern has the 7th-easiest schedule in college football, 2 and SI.com's Steve Megargee claimed that Indiana is the only Big Ten school with an easier schedule.3Running backTyrell Sutton was one of 64 players in college football to be put on the Maxwell Award watch list for the nation's best college football player.4
The Wildcats began the season with their first shutout since 1997 in a 27-0 win against the Northeastern Huskies.5 On October 7, quarterbackC.J. Bacher broke Brett Basanez's school record for single-game passing yards by throwing for 520 yards in a victory over Michigan State. Bacher went on to be named the Walter Camp National Offensive Player of the Week, as well as the Big Ten Conference Offensive Player of the Week.6 Another strong performance in a win against Minnesota earned Bacher Big Ten Conference Offensive Player of the Week honors for the second week in a row.7
