When Northwestern football coach Pat Fitzgerald took to the podium at Big Ten Media Days, he was probably already aware of the Cleveland.com poll that picked his team to finish last in the Big Ten West Division this season. During his time on dais he did not field a question about this poll, or any other pundit prognostication about how the Wildcats will do this season, but as Fitzgerald’s time on dais was winding down, and reporter interest in asking him a question dwindled, he provided the best line of his session:
“that’s what happens when you win three games. Not a lot of questions.” The Wildcats certainly do have a lot of questions, on both sides of the ball, and the chance to start answering them begins Saturday, when they take on Nebraska at Aviva Stadium in Dublin, Ireland.
Kickoff is Saturday, August 27, at 11:30am CT. It’s the season opener for both squads, and if you’re doing some football wagering, like you would do at Rushbet Casino, you’ll see that Northwestern are 9.5 point underdogs. WGN Radio AM-720 will carry the game, with Eanet, Albrecht and Carman on the call. It will be televised on FOX, with Benetti and Huard calling the game. Nebraska absolutely obliterated the Wildcats in their meeting last season, so it is easy to understand why the point spread is so big here.
No matter the result, this trip to Ireland will be about much more than just football, for both teams. There will be a lot of culture to be taken in and good times to be had next Sunday.
However, Northwestern is one of just three programs that have won the Big Ten West (the current divisional format was installed in 2014), and just like the other two (Iowa and Wisconsin), they have won it at least twice.
While Wisconsin, who have won the division four times, are the favorite, Northwestern football, under Fitzgerald, is always a threat to surprise with his merry band of Cats.
However, they are coming off Fitzgerald’s worst season as a coach, a 3-9 campaign punctuated by an utter destruction at the hands of Illinois in the season ending Land of Lincoln Hat trophy game. They also lost their best overall player, Safety Brandon Joseph, in the transfer portal to Notre Dame.
Not to mention the quarterback position (Ryan Hilinski has all but officially won the starting slot) doesn’t inspire a lot of optimism. Still, as Fitzgerald will tell you, they are at their best when underestimated. When the Wildcats fly under the radar, well that’s when they’re the most dangerous.
Look at the two division title winning years (although 2020, a covid pre-empted season, was bizarre for everyone involved so take all records from that season with a pinch of salt). Look again at the 10 win season of 2015. “The way that we went through the summer workouts, I felt like we had our squad back,” Fitz said at his weekly media availability on Monday, adding that he feels “great” about the chances of his time bouncing back this season.
Northwestern football has seen consistency under Pat Fitzgerald, three double digit win seasons since 2010 is very impressive, so don’t write them off just yet.
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager of The Bank (TheSportsBank.Net) and author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” as well as “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune, and he co-hosts the After Extra Time podcast, part of Edge of the Crowd Network. Follow him and the website on Twitter and Instagram.