On November 4, 2000, one of the greatest college football games of all time took place at Ryan Field. Believe it or not, the Northwestern Wildcats were ranked 23rd in the country at the time and they beat the 12th-ranked Michigan Wolverines 54-51. The Wildcats went on to win a share of the Big Ten championship that season, their third in five years.

I was a 12-year-old die-hard fan and I sat in the stands that night in my Damien Anderson number-20 jersey that I still wear today. Luckily for me, I was a fan in the middle of the Northwestern football renaissance.

In 1949, the Wildcats won the Rose Bowl. Little did Wildcat fans know that it would take 47 years for them to return to a bowl game—and they returned to Pasadena, only to lose to USC. The 1995 season marked the beginning of the renaissance. Head Coach Gary Barnett’s team, led by All-American linebacker Pat Fitzgerald and Heisman candidate running back Darnell Autry shocked the country en route to a Big Ten Championship. Autry made the cover of Sports Illustrated as he helped bring the Purple back to Pasadena. I’ve been along for the ride ever since and finally, 13 years later, expectations are high again for a football team that’s known nationally for its futility.

Heading into the 2008 season, Northwestern has been to five bowls since 1995 (though they still haven’t won a bowl game since the ’49 Rose Bowl). They have won or shared three Big Ten titles and have the sixth best overall record in the Big Ten since 2003. The miracle of 1995 gave way to a program that still owns the record for the longest losing streak—34 games. The ‘Cats went on to the Citrus Bowl in 1996 and then, after some rebuilding years, returned to the top of the Big Ten in 2000.

In 2005, led by freshman running back Tyrell Sutton and quarterback Brett Basanez, the ‘Cats continued the renaissance, making it to the Sun Bowl. Current seniors will remember that season and the excitement that surrounded it, but everyone else on campus in 2008 pairs Wildcat Football with mediocrity.

But 2008 should be different. And if there’s a year for the ‘Cats to return to the postseason, this is the season to do it.

One of the biggest contributors to the beginning of the Wildcat renaissance was then-linebacker, now head coach, Pat Fitzgerald. The 33-year-old is the youngest head coach in the country after taking over following the untimely death of Randy Walker before the 2006 season. Fitzgerald, who was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame this year, was the defensive player of the year in 1995 and 1996.

Fitzgerald has become the face of Northwestern football. His impact on the field as a player and now as a coach represent his passion for the university. “He is the perfect ambassador to lead our football program going forward,” says new Athletic Director Jim Phillips. “You can’t undervalue the enthusiasm you have to have for this place, and he exudes that in a significant way.”

Phillips came from nearby Northern Illinois in spring 2007 and his enthusiasm for the Wildcat program seems matched only by Fitzgerald. “Northwestern is a wonderful place. We have high academic aspirations—why wouldn’t we want them athletically in all our sports?” he asks. Phillips calls football the “engine that drives the athletic department” because of its revenue and visibility.

While he has worn many hats in his day (Illinois, Northern Illinois and Notre Dame), he said there is no question where his allegiance lies. “My blood is purple, my ties are purple and I have a severe allegiance to this place that’s giving me this wonderful opportunity,” says Phillips, who grew up 15 minutes away from Ryan Field.

Phillips was known for putting Northern Illinois football on the national map through nationally televised games at his time in Dekalb, and fans are hoping he can do the same here. In the final, nerve-wrecking minutes of this season’s victory at Duke, Phillips paced the sidelines. When the clock hit zero and the ‘Cats had escaped with their second victory of this 2008 season, he gave emphatic handshakes and hugs to the members of the NU football family.

With star players returning for their senior season, an easy non-conference schedule, a Big Ten schedule without perennial powers Wisconsin and Penn State, and two new coordinators, it’s no wonder that expectations around Evanston are high. The marketing posters for Northwestern show pictures of the team in the past decade, leading fans to believe that another bowl game is coming this year.

In the 21st century, the Wildcats’ biggest Achilles heel has been its defense. But this offseason, Northwestern hired Mike Hankwitz from Wisconsin to be the new defensive coordinator. He has plenty of experience and he’s a well-respected defensive mind in college football. His defense stepped up in the non-conference slate so far this season, holding three opponents to single-digit scoring. On the other side of the ball, Fitzgerald hired Mick McCall from Bowling Green to be the new offensive coordinator. McCall will bring back the no-huddle offense that was so successful in Evanston in 2000.

Still, Fitzgerald says his basic expectations haven’t exactly changed. He knows what’s possible, but he still needs to make it happen. “Our fundamental belief is that we should challenge for championships every year,” he said. “We’ve gotten over the hump of whether or not we can win and win championships.”

In 2005, the team was led by a freshman running back—Tyrell Sutton. The Big Ten Freshman of the Year helped lead the ‘Cats to the Sun Bowl but has been plagued by injuries in his sophomore and junior seasons. Without him, the running game stalled, in spite of some good games last season by Omar Conteh. Sutton came out of the Ohio game this season with an injury and the team couldn’t reestablish a run game. But when he’s healthy, he’s proved to be one of the best in the conference.

At Big Ten Media Day in July, some of the best players in the conference walked into the Hyatt Regency in Chicago. The 5’9’’ Sutton—or so he is listed—is not as imposing a figure as the other players, but his performance on the field has earned him respect around the conference. What he lacks in height he makes up for in strength and determination (he’s the active leading rusher in the Big Ten). He’s known for never going down with the first hit. In the opening game against Syracuse this season, Sutton carried defenders an extra five yards at the end of a long run. “For us seniors,” he says, “there is a sense of urgency because this could potentially be our last season.”

The modest running back claims he “had no clue” he was the leading active rusher in the Big Ten or that he came into the season in reach of Damien Anderson’s school records for career rushing yards and career all-purpose yards. He shrugs off the personal attention with a laugh. “We know we should be in a bowl game every single year. We’ve had a lot of games that we’ve lost that we should have won,” he says. His constantly smiling demeanor became serious when saying that the ‘Cats are better than what they were in ’06 and ’07. “There’s no reason we should be sitting at home in December.”

Joining Sutton as the face of the program is senior quarterback CJ Bacher. Bacher set the school record for passing yards in a season and threw 19 touchdown passes in 2007. When he was on, the ‘Cats were winning. But Bacher also threw 19 interceptions and some of those let huge leads became losses. The soft-spoken signal caller describes the urgency and pressure of getting to a bowl game this year. “We’re hungrier than last summer. We want to have a special season as this is our last go-around,” he says. “We have a lot to prove.”

Bacher, like Sutton, doesn’t like to talk about personal accolades. He’d like to see more team successes than broken records. “If we went to the Rose Bowl, that’d be my ultimate goal. My aim is to get this team to the right place and the Rose Bowl is what we are shooting for,” he says.

One of the most unknown players at the press junket was Eric Peterman. The senior wide receiver, who played quarterback in high school, put up big numbers last year, making him a premiere Big Ten wide out. In the opening game against Syracuse, fans saw how respected Peterman has become as the Orange’s defense always had him covered, forcing Bacher to throw to his other receivers.

Peterman embodies what Fitzgerald and Phillips love about Northwestern—strong academics along with strong athletics. He holds a 3.33 GPA as an Industrial Engineering and Management Sciences major and economics minor, and he holds a leadership certificate. He said he was “honored” to be included in the media day.

Like his teammates, Peterman recognizes that this will be his last season at Northwestern, and for most of the team’s players, the end of their football careers. Peterman was also one of the few freshmen who played on the 2005 Sun Bowl team, and he wants to help return the ‘Cats to a bowl. “I expect to win, I expect to go to a bowl game every year and I don’t take lightly to losing,” he says.

“A college football student section is the only place on earth where Greeks, geeks, seniors, freshmen, wannabe millionaires and
soon-to-be-dropouts can stand shoulder to shoulder and throat to throat with one common, noble belief: Dude, we are so going to kick your ass.”

—Ryan McGee,
ESPN Magazine

Ryan Field has a capacity of 49,256 fans. 16 percent of that encompasses the Northwestern student section, making it second to last in the Big Ten for percent of students who show up. While that stat’s understandable given the undergraduate population is significantly smaller than the rest of the conference, it’s also a number that could be improved.

And this is the season when it might actually happen.

Northwestern is no longer the laughing stock of the Big Ten, yet many students still don’t believe that. They still associate the team with mediocrity—which makes sense given the last two seasons. But with high expectations from the media (many outlets picked the ‘Cats to return to the postseason) and the players, 2008 should give underclassmen a reason to come back and seniors may be reminded of the thrill of 2005.

11 a.m. is too early. The games are cold. I have to take a shuttle. We’re going to get killed. I have homework to do. “There’s a football game today?” Those are a few of the things students say when they don’t make it to Ryan Field on Saturday.

After every victory, the players run to the student section, remove their helmets, and sing the fight song with their classmates. They don’t run to the boosters or their family members, nor do they head to the locker room. “When we look to the stands and see purple, it gets us going,” says Bacher. “We play for ourselves, the program, but most of all for the fans. If we can have them at full force, we’re going to play much better.”

Northwestern is one of the only schools in the BCS conference (Big Ten, Big 12, Big East, SEC, ACC, Pac-10) that allows undergraduate students to attend all football games for free. But the student turnout still isn’t overwhelming, and it’s hard to imagine what it might look like if people had to pay.

The advantage of for the cheering fans is that it is on Saturdays and free. Like performance groups on campus, Wildcat Football is benefited by a large turnout of students. It’s not just a pep rally. “It’s a tremendous home-field advantage. Just like when our students are a part of Waa-Mu or Dance Marathon and they look out and see the room packed,” says Fitzgerald. “That’s who we are. Those are our traditions and that’s our identity as a university.”

Phillips’ approachability as an athletic director is something you can’t get at other Big Team schools. He’d like to see each game become more of a university-wide event, but he also understands the reality of students’ lives doesn’t always allow that. “Maybe there’s a way we can make it a better student experience for them. If that’s the case, we want to hear that.”

Fitzgerald has become a recognizable face in both the Northwestern and Evanston communities, from appearances at Dance Marathon to singing the seventh inning stretch at Wrigley Field. He was a player in the early 90s when student turnout wasn’t great—but when the renaissance began in 1995, the support was incredible. It’s those off-years, or rebuilding years, that have brought back the idea that the Wildcats are a mediocre football program. “I think the community that was NU at that time was really excited to say: I go to Northwestern,” he says.

On October 2, 2004, the renaissance was still in full stride. The sixth ranked Ohio St. Buckeyes came to Ryan Field—a team the ‘Cats had not beaten in 33 years. I was a junior in high school who wanted to go to Northwestern. As running back Noah Herron ran into the end zone to cap off one of the greatest upsets in college football history, I ran from my seats and onto the field. I ran and yelled with everyone from the student section.

Will the team challenge for national championships? Probably not. Will they challenge for Big Ten championships? Not every year, but once in a while. The most important effect the renaissance has had on the program is that Northwestern is part of the postseason. These new expectations let fans expect the ‘Cats to be playing in December, if not January. Seniors can remember that from 2005, and 2008 shouldn’t be too far from it.

Those expectations don’t always live up to what everyone would like, but it’s worth putting in perspective the significance of the team’s ability to consistently challenge getting into bowl games. In 47 years, from 1949 to 1995, the Wildcats never made it to a bowl game—any bowl game. They racked up the longest losing streak in college football history (34 games) in the 80s—a record that still stands. But since 1995, the team has won or shared three Big Ten championships (1995, 1996 and 2000) and has advanced to five bowl games. When asked about the disappointed 6-6 season in 2008, Fitzgerald simply says, “If we had won six games back in 1993, there would’ve been a purple parade down Central Street.”

And 2008 has already gotten off to the start everyone expected. For the first time since 1963, the ‘Cats have gone undefeated against non-conference opponents (as of this magazine going to press). And for the first time since 1962, Northwestern has started the season 4-0 heading into the Big Ten season. When the Big Ten teams roll into Evanston, all fans are used to seeing the opposing colors dominating the stands, but it might be about time that inferiority complex was flipped on its head.
After all, nowhere else in Evanston can everyone from north and south campus get together to, well, win. There’s not much we do as a pack on this campus, but there’s at least one thing worth looking forward to this fall, as Fitzgerald says, “and that’s football Saturdays.”