For those of you who don’t believe 6-6 teams should go to bowl games, then I challenge you to watch the 2016 Pinstripe Bowl and take in the effort by this Northwestern football team. The Wildcats upset a #23 Pitt Panthers team that was 8-4, and two of those eight wins were over Clemson and Penn State.
The Cats started 1-3 this past season, but finished 7-6, and we’ll see in 2017 if that positive momentum (6-3 to end the year) translates into next season.
Said Northwestern Safety Godwin Igwebuike after the game:
“We talk about getting respect, as a program, now coming in and beating a top 25 team, one of the best offenses, who beat some great teams, Clemson, Penn State, coming in here and getting that kind of win, it says a lot. to the doubters, we’re here to stay, and for our team, it gives us a little more swagger going into next year.”
And again getting back to the “there are way too many bowl games” crowd, you’re only thinking on the micro level, focusing on the one game. You have to look at the whole bowl experience- everything that the teams, fans, alumni, donors, tourists, media etc. get to do on the bowl trip. Take a look at this link, highlighting all the wonderful experiences this Northwestern football team had in New York City to see an example.
A bowl games gives a team 15 extra practices to fine tune their skills, a nice advantage over the teams home for the holidays. It also gives the program additional publicity, which helps in recruiting. Those of us in the Chicago media who cover college football, we produced Northwestern football stories in December. We weren’t doing stories on Notre Dame, Illinois or Northern Illinois this past month. Hey, every little bit here and there helps in the arms race that is college football.
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Northwestern football coach Pat Fitzgerald is certainly a strong advocate of the bowl game experience. He plenty of positive things to say about not just the experience he just had, but bowl game experiences in general.
That said, let’s now take a look and where Northwestern football went in 2016, and where they could be headed in 2017
OFFENSE
Said superback Garrett Dickerson: “our passing offense has definitely made strides from last year, and we’ll only expect that to continue to improve.”
Indeed it did. An offense that was brutally boring to watch in September became explosive and entertaining as the year went on.
Wide receiver Austin Carr rewrote the Northwestern football record book in the receiving department, and replacing his production will be priority number one. Like Zeke Markshausen in 2009, he was a very late bloomer, but really blossomed upon finding his stride.
Carr also leaves behind a legacy as the most interesting man in the college football world.
“Coach told us from right when we found out about the bowl game this is about a legacy,” said Carr after his final collegiate game.
“A legacy game not just for the seniors but for the program, we want to win and carry this momentum into next year- Big Ten champs. When you talk the younger guys, they’re very happy we won, but this makes them even hungrier for a better bowl and to be B1G champs next year.”
Replacing Carr’s leadership and intangibles will be critical to Northwestern football success in 2017.
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Quarterback Clayton Thorson broke the school single season record for passing TDs. Amazing when you remember just how many Northwestern football fans were calling for his benching early in the season.
He still makes too many mistakes for someone with all the experience he has, but if you look at where he ranks in the record book for all the major Northwestern football passing records, you’d be surprised. Seriously, his 2016 numbers were very productive, and he has extremely impressive rankings within all the major NU passing milestone lists; especially for a guy who has two years of eligibility left.
Said Thorson: “finished with a winning record, win a bowl game- that’s huge for us, it doesn’t happen a lot around here and we’d like to make that a main stay coming into next year”
Receiver Flynn Nagel really stepped up this season, and he’ll likely have to be the go-to guy next year. Either him or Flynn Nagel.
Looking ahead to next season, the Wildcats only lose two starters on offense (Carr and RT Eric Olson) and just two more from the second team offense. Thus, there is tremendous reason for optimism. You might have noticed that we focused entirely on the passing game in this section.
That’s because the running game with Justin Jackson is such a reliable constant.
He’s the second leading rusher in NU history, with a year of eligibility remaining. Coming off a MVP performance in the Pinstripe Bowl, his confidence will be sky high next year.
DEFENSE
Linebacker Anthony Walker declared early for the NFL Draft and that’s obviously a huge loss, but it’s not the end of the world. Walker had a rather disappointing season and he now projects as a round 2-4 kind of prospect. I can’t his say that his decision to leave early was either or good or bad, because it was essentially rather neutral.
His draft stock substantially declined as the season went on, but now he has the combine and pro days to drastically change that. Maybe he can get himself back into the first round conversation.
Igwebuike tested the NFL waters, but he will return for his senior season and that’s a huge boost. The Cats only lose two starters on the defensive side of the ball, and just two from the second unit. Although back-up right end Ifeadi Odenigbo is a big loss, both in the soundbite and the pass rush department.
Overall, the future looks pretty bright for Northwestern football as they return 9/11 starters on both sides of the ball. Also, that much talked about lakeside practice facility is being built, and that’s only going to help move the program forward even more.
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.
He also consistently appears on numerous radio and television talk shows all across the country. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram and Sound Cloud.