“We're not Watusi. We're not Spartans. We're Americans, with a capital 'A', huh? You know what that means? Do ya? That means that our forefathers were kicked out of every decent country in the world. We are the wretched refuse. We're the underdog. We're mutts!”
Pvt John Winger "Stripes"
I was scanning the WWL for some reading material tonight (Mrs. Navy is visiting her dad, and ACC Friday night football doesn't interest me) and found a great article from Adam Rittenberg. (Cue the ESPN hater comments.)
This season marks the 25th anniversary of the Northwestern Wildcat team that won the Big Ten and went to the Rose Bowl. For those of us who were around for that season, we remember 1995 mostly for #2 Ohio State's defense being unable to find an answer to some guy who's name I can't say or spell - we'll just call him "Tim." As a result of John Cooper's Buckeyes losing The Game (again), the Northwestern Wildcats won the Big Ten outright (NU and OSU did not play each other that season, as the conference only played 8 of the other teams plus 3 OOC games).
Entering 1995, the Wildcats had not reached a bowl since the 1949 Rose Bowl. They recorded a 34-game losing streak from 1979 to 1982, still the longest in FBS history. They logged another 0-11 season in 1989, and while there had been flickers of promise under Barnett, the team went 8-25-1 in his first three years.
Northwestern was the Kansas of the Big Ten for as long as I could remember, and that's only going back to 1975. Turns out, they had been at the bottom of the dumpster for longer than that.
Gary Barnett took over as head coach after winning a National Championship as the OC at Colorado in 1990. He went 8-24-1 in his first three season at the helm. It was a rough few years, but NU stuck with him.
Northwestern went 3-7-1 in 1994, but many players point to that season as a springboard. The Wildcats tied No. 24 Stanford, recorded two Big Ten road wins and led Ohio State 9-0 before falling 17-15 to a team that had beaten them by 48 the previous year.
And then, something magical happened in 1995. It started with the Wildcats beating Notre Dame, winning their home opener for the first time since 1975.
(Head Coach Gary) Barnett's first three openers were all losses to Notre Dame (combined score: 111-34). A similar result seemed likely when Northwestern kicked off the 1995 season against the ninth-ranked Fighting Irish as a four-touchdown underdog.
But the Wildcats never trailed, employing a formula -- stifling defense, just enough offense -- that became their trademark. When Northwestern took a 17-9 lead early in the third quarter, the unthinkable suddenly looked possible.
I'll leave the rest of the story for you all to read. If you like movies/stories, like Miracle, Remember the Spartans and Stripes, you'll like this article. Definitely worth 10 minutes of your time.
https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/29615643/one-greatest-u...
Anyone recognize this guy? He's the sixth longest tenured coach in FBS.
P.S. Northwestern is currently 2-0 and faces Nebraska tomorrow at noon. Could the Cats be the West's best shot 25 years later?
