Northwestern gets down to business of changing bowl history

Posted December 31, 2009 10:00 pm

By Matt Forman

TAMPA -- When Mike Kafka, Corey Wootton and Brendan Smith first stepped onto Northwestern's practice field, coach Randy Walker etched one image into their minds.

That image was a mountaintop, with a bowl victory perched at the peak.

Five years later, the players, coaches and expectations have changed. But their goal is the same: The Wildcats want to win a bowl game.

"We don't say, 'We have to win,' because that puts too much pressure - kind of an emergency brake - on what you're trying to do,"senior wide receiver Zeke Markshausen said. "We like to say, 'We want to win,' because that puts a passion, a fire behind you."

But there's reason for weight to be pressing on NU, a force coach Pat Fitzgerald has likened to a monkey on his team's back. The Wildcats haven't won a bowl game in "a couple of moons" - more than 60 years.

And now the mountain is steeper than ever. Fitzgerald considers Auburn (7-5) the best team NU (8-4) has faced all season, and the Wildcats are playing on arguably their biggest stage since the 1996 Rose Bowl.

NU will play on New Year's Day for the fourth time in school history at Friday's Outback Bowl (10 a.m., ESPN).

In NU's previous bowl trips, it has dealt with the likes of top draft selections Keyshawn Johnson (1996), Peyton Manning (1997) and Heisman Trophy winner Eric Crouch (2000). The Wildcats have also suffered come-from-ahead losses (2000, 2003 and 2008), part of the reason why Fitzgerald stressed NU has "some unfinished business" to complete.

While Auburn doesn't feature a star-studded offensive attack, it will offer a challenge for defensive coordinator Mike Hankwitz. Tigers offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn, a spread guru, has completely re-tooled the team's offense.

"(They don't just have multiple formations), they are multiple, multiple," Hankwitz said. "They're going to give you all these exotic formations, and they're going to add motions with it, to try to get your eyes diverted, looking somewhere else. Yet, when you look at them, they're a very physical, hard-nosed run team."

Auburn's grueling ground game starts with 220-pound senior Ben Tate, who has rushed for 1,254 yards and has 8 touchdowns. Tate is similar in stature and skill to Wisconsin's John Clay, and the team's no-huddle, hurry-up spread resembles Michigan State, but the two together present a new wrinkle.

"Some teams have given us some of those formations and motions and reverses, but never all in one package," Hankwitz said. "In this game, we'll see all of them that we've seen all year in one game."

Defensively, Auburn fits the SEC stereotype - fast, athletic and physical - and has lived and died by forcing miscues. The Tigers have created 17 combined turnovers in their wins but just two in their losses. Auburn defensive coordinator Ted Roof likes to play cover-two and cover-four man schemes, blitzing on third-and-long situations.

"Their linebackers and secondary are going to give us all we want," offensive coordinator Mick McCall said. "We just have to control them, and do what we do on offense."

NU's spread offense runs through senior quarterback Kafka, who completed 66 percent of his passes and rushed for 7 touchdowns.

Roof said he is most concerned with stopping the dual-threat signalcaller, which he was unable to do two years ago in the same position at Minnesota, when Kafka rushed for a Big Ten-quarterback record 217 yards.

The mountain's summit is within sight. To keep his players focused on their one goal, Fitzgerald has stressed his W.I.N. motto, "What's Important Now."

"When it's time to eat an all-you-can-eat lunch from Outback, you get after it and you get plenty of those wet napkins so you can clean your fingers up," he said. "But we've got a game to play. This is a business trip."

Outback Bowl

Northwestern (8-4) vs. Auburn (7-5)

When: 10 a.m. Friday at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla.

TV: ESPN

Radio: WGN 720-AM, WMVP 1000-AM, WNUR 89.3-FM

Net: <a href="http://ESPN360.com" target="new">ESPN360.com</a> and <a href="http://wgnradio.com" target="new">wgnradio.com</a>

Coaches: Pat Fitzgerald (27-22, fourth year at NU); Gene Chizik (7-5 in one year at Auburn, 12-24 overall)

Oddsmakers say: Auburn -8.

Sagarin's Predictor says: Auburn by 12.

Skinny: On the 61st anniversary of the school's only bowl victory, Northwestern hopes to erase what stands as "the last negative associated with the program," according to head coach Pat Fitzgerald. The Wildcats get two hours of national exposure before any other bowls begin, which is nice. But for the fans, it's a chance to see NU and Auburn pack about three hours of football in that 120-minute package. Both teams' spread offenses like to work quickly, so the sparks should fly early and often. Fitzgerald's biggest concern regarding Auburn? "To me, this is the most athletic team we've played all year."

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