It’s not now how you start, but how you finish,” the old adage maintains. Another saying that could apply to 2016 Northwestern football is “it’s not as important where we currently are, but where we are going.”
The Wildcats started the year off 1-4 with a truly ugly loss to lowly FCS foe Illinois State. The offense sputtered and the pitchforks we out for Offensive Coordinator Mick McCall.
However, the Cats rebounded to finish 5-2, 6-6 overall and 5-4 in B1G play. And the offense was like Stella, getting their groove back. Quarterback Clayton Thorson made some strides. Running back Justin Jackson finished the season as the school’s second all time leading rusher, with a year of eligibility remaining.
Most exciting of all, Austin Carr had a season that will see him earn the B1G Wide Receiver of the Year award, and quite possibly the Biletnikoff Award as the nation’s finest receiver. At times, the Cats had a Triplets Lite thing going on with their offense.
All in all, 6-6 is a big disappointment for season in which several key players returned from a 10-3 side, but it’s a tremendous accomplishment for a squad that started 1-4.
“I think you look at the amount of season ending injures that he had, and how we got real young, real fast, and it presented a unique set of challenges,” Northwestern football Coach Pat Fitzgerald said after his team absolutely crushed Illinois 42-21.
“We definitely had to adjust what we were doing and how we were coaching. That second loss, I’ve said it a bunch that’s squarely on my shoulders but I felt we needed to have that type of week. It was 100 degrees on the field and I think we had both lines of scrimmage puking their guts out. We didn’t show a lot of grit, we didn’t show a lot of mental, physical and emotional toughness there early, so we had to get that fixed in a hurry.”
“The credit goes to the young men, they’re the ones that responded, they’re the ones that went out and did it-a small group of seniors that are actually in starting roles, but very thankful for them and what they showed move forward. They’re the ones who led us through the tough times.”
In rolling up 278 yards rushing on the Illini, Northwestern had not but two 100-yard rushers. This is the second time Illinois has allowed two opposing rushers to hit the century mark this season.
Moving on, this is where the Wildcats could be going this holiday season. Remember that these projections usually get it wrong as much as they get it right.
Northwestern Football: Potential Bowl Destinations
-Pinstripe, December 28th, B1G vs ACC
CBS, one ESPN pundit, Sports Illustrated and FOX Sports has NU slotted here to play Pittsburgh. College Football News have them here as well but playing Georgia Tech.
-Foster Farms, December 28th, B1G vs Pac 12
One ESPN pundit have the Cats going here to face Stanford in a de facto home game for the Cardinal. USA Today has the Cats facing Mike Leach and Washington State.
-Quick Lane, December 26th, B1G vs ACC
Not seeing any projections with this one
-Holiday, December 27th B1G vs Pac 12
Ditto
-Heart of Dallas, December 27th, B1G vs C-USA
SB Nation has Northwestern football slotted here to take on Western Kentucky.
https://twitter.com/PaulMBanks/status/802604146163486720
It’s worth mentioning that Northwestern Athletic Director Jim Phillips is an expert at getting his program into better bowl games than one would expect. Several times in recent years Phillips has gotten Northwestern football to “leap the pecking order” so to speak.
Of course, there really is no pecking order as this is all pretty much about perceived ability to sell tickets, airline trips and hotel rooms in the particular situation. Thus, it’s very hard to predict.
Fitzgerald is looking forward to all the extra practice he’ll get with this team, and then how he can utilize that as a springboard for 2017 Northwestern football.
“Really excited about the experience we have coming back, but from a program stand point we’ve got to be better and that starts and ends with me,” said Fitzgerald.
“We got a long way to go, but I’m up for the challenge”
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network. and News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes regularly to the Chicago Tribune’s RedEye publication and Bold Global.
He also consistently appears on numerous radio and television talk shows all across the country. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram and Sound Cloud.