By West Lamy
Northwestern is completing their final team preparations including the television series “24” for movie night before the January 1st Outback bowl in Tampa, Florida. “Jack Bauer, that is all that need be said, he is the modern day MacGyver” Coach Pat Fitzgerald said in the early news conference. The Wildcats are making their first trip to a January bowl game since 1997, and the 11 a.m. ET kickoff is less than 24 hours away. And for two straight years, before all games their team activity has been watching the television series.
Northwestern watched “24” an action/drama television series last year before last season’s 30-23 overtime loss to then-No. 25 Missouri in the Alamo Bowl. For those unfamiliar with the show, the story of “24” is presented in the semblance of real time. Each season depicts a 24-hour period in the life of Jack Bauer, who works with the United States government as it fights fictitious terrorist threats to the United States. “That is part of the Wildcats bonding together as a team throughout the season every Friday night, watching an episode just to be together as a Northwestern football family” Athletic director Jim Philips said.
“24” is the second longest-running espionage series in television history, behind the Mission: Impossible series by number of episodes and The Avengers by longevity of broadcast. Northwestern has not won a bowl game since 1949. 8.5 points favor the SEC representative Auburn Tigers. “Northwestern has a chance to re-write our own history, that is the message that we are sharing as a team in practice with the players and coaching staff, ” Philips said. This will be the first meeting on the gridiron for the Tigers and the Wildcats. Auburn is 6-3 in bowl games against Big Ten opponents, while Northwestern lost its only previous bowl meeting with an SEC team, 48-28 against Tennessee in the 1997 Citrus Bowl.
External notes from 1990-2009 IMDb.com, Inc.