NU, Illini net nice New Year’s Eve gigs
Most every projection had Northwestern headed to Detroit for the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl — so it was a pleasant surprise when the Wildcats’ bowl trip turned out to be Houston.
Northwestern will line up against Texas A&M in the Meineke Car Care Bowl on Dec. 31 at 11 a.m. in Reliant Stadium. This is NU’s second straight bowl game in Texas, having visited Dallas for the TicketCity Bowl last year.
Illinois ended up in a nice spot — San Francisco’s AT&T Park to face UCLA in the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl on Dec. 31 at 2:30 p.m. Both games will be televised on ESPN.
Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald has made Houston one of his priority targets in recruiting. The Wildcats have five regulars from the Houston area — linebacker David Nwabuisi, cornerback Demetrius Dugar, defensive lineman Will Hampton, receiver Christian Jones and return specialist Venric Mark.
“They always brag about it and everybody else is sick of hearing about it,” quarterback Dan Persa joked, referring to his teammates from Houston.
What is there to brag about, exactly?
“Greatest place on Earth,” safety Brian Peters said. “Something along those lines.”
No matter the location, the Wildcats (6-6) will be anxious to end their eight-game bowl losing streak. Northwestern hasn’t won a postseason contest since the 1948 Rose Bowl.
“We’re not very pleased with the way we played this year. I thought I made that crystal clear after the Michigan State game,” Fitzgerald said. “So we’re going to get some things fixed. We’re going to get some guys playing more consistently, or they’re not going to play.”
Northwestern will be without senior cornerback Jordan Mabin, who needed surgery after suffering a shoulder injury in the loss to Michigan State on Nov. 26.
Texas A&M (6-6) started the season ranked No. 8 and it’s debatable whether the Aggies’ season should be considered a failure.
In Weeks 3 and 4, Texas A&M lost to Oklahoma State and Arkansas — two teams still ranked in the top 10 — by a combined 5 points. Following 3 straight wins, the Aggies lost to Missouri, Oklahoma, Kansas State in 4 overtimes and to Texas by 2 points.
But close isn’t good enough in College Station, Tex., and coach Mike Sherman was fired after going 25-25 in four seasons. Houston’s Kevin Sumlin is rumored to be the replacement.
Illinois (6-6) just fired coach Ron Zook after ending the season on a six-game losing streak. For now, defensive coordinator Vic Koenning is preparing the team for the bowl game.
“We have a lot of redemption to do,” Koenning told reporters in Champaign.
The Illini visited Houston for their bowl trip last year and pounded Baylor 38-14. Illinois has never won bowl games in consecutive seasons.
“Obviously, it’s been a pretty crazy week in general for us,” said Illini quarterback Nathan Scheelhaase. “It’s a chance to get the bad taste out of our mouths, to redeem ourselves, to finish our season on a positive note. We know how much we enjoyed going to a bowl game last year.”
UCLA (6-7) had a rough ending to its season, losing 50-0 to crosstown rival USC, then 49-31 to Oregon in the Pac-12 championship game. The Bruins got a waiver from the NCAA to go bowling with a losing record since they went to the conference title game only because division winner USC is on probation.
Notre Dame headed to Florida:Notre Dame (8-4) earned a trip to the Champs Sports Bowl in Orlando, Fla., on Dec. 29. coach Brian Kelly#146;s Irish will face Florida State (8-4) in a matchup to be televised on ESPN.Northern Illinois going south:After their thrilling last-second victory over Ohio to win the Mid-American Conference crown Friday night in Detroit, the Northern Illinois Huskies have quite a wait before their final game of the season.Record-setting quarterback Chandler Harnish and the Huskies (10-3) grabbed a berth in the GoDaddy.com Bowl in Mobile, Ala., on Sunday, Jan. 8, where they will meet Arkansas State (10-2) at 8 p.m. The game will be televised on ESPN.