With no bowl game, Northwestern is embracing 'Wildcats Classic' at Wrigley Field
Peter Skoronski hopes to re-create an image of his grandfather running out of a Wrigley Field dugout in a Packers uniform more than 50 years ago.
Only this time, Skoronski will be dressed Saturday in a Northwestern uniform that he and coach Pat Fitzgerald hope will represent a springboard for future football games at Wrigley.
"It's almost like a bowl game in that sense," Skoronski said of the "Wildcats Classic" against Big Ten foe Purdue.
Skoronski and the Northwestern football community can dream big for now, especially with a 3-7 record that makes them ineligible for a bowl game.
Part of the Cubs' 1060 Project completed in 2015 made Wrigley more feasible to host a football game than in 2011, when field limitations forced the offenses of the Wildcats and Illini to play in one direction.
There will be some adjustments Saturday, such as the Wildcats using the Cubs' bullpen under the left field bleachers for their halftime meetings, and the benches of both teams situated on the same sideline.
But there are reasons to believe that Wrigley can host at least one game a year and maybe more as Ryan Field awaits a $480 million renovation.
"That's something we're looking at," said Julian Green, the Cubs' vice president of communications. "We're open to hosting bowl games."
A bowl game isn't far-fetched. Yankee Stadium has hosted the Pinstripe Bowl since 2010, and the Wildcats beat Pitt 31-24 in the 2016 matchup.
Wrigley Field could at least serve as a temporary site for a bowl game, pending approval of a new stadium in Arlington Heights that would be more attractive for bowl organizers to promote on a permanent basis.
"I would 100 percent support a bowl game in Chicago, absolutely," Fitzgerald said with resounding conviction. "I think it would be spectacular for the city. I think the two teams that would have the privilege to play in that game would enjoy like we've enjoyed every community we've enjoyed the privilege of going to for bowl games.
"I think the fan bases would have a blast."
Wrigley Field provides uniqueness, a word Fitzgerald used repeatedly in praising the opportunity to play at the storied venue, as well as history.
"I'd be open to anything," said Fitzgerald, whose contract that runs through 2030 gives him the best job security in Chicagoland sports. "We're going to have to play remotely (soon). We'll see how that all plays out."
The field dimensions have been approved by the NCAA and Big Ten, Green said. The renovations included the installment of more rows of seats in the area that usually occupies the Cubs' portable third base dugout, which is covered up discreetly.
The football field remains configured in an east-west direction, with padding covering the ivy-covered wall in right field to lessen the blow of any collisions in the east end zone.
Unlike Chase Field (which hosts the Guaranteed Rate Bowl at the Diamondbacks' home in Phoenix), portable bleachers won't be installed on the outfield grass. But enough intimacy exists.
Some fans won't be able to see some plays in the southeast corner of the field, but the installation of a videoboard in 2015 alleviates some inconvenience.
Green said the transformation to a football venue took only a few weeks. Nevertheless, playing more than one game at Wrigley during the Ryan renovations might cause the Wildcats to backload their home schedule to November, even though the Cubs are in the midst of a rebuild and likely won't host an October playoff game for several years.
Cal navigated its 2011 home schedule while renovations were conducted at Memorial Stadium by playing its first game at since-razed Candlestick Park before shifting to AT&T Park (now Oracle) on Sept. 17. By that time, the baseball Giants had completed their home weekend schedule and eventually fell out of playoff contention.
Meanwhile, Peter Skoronski, a Maine South grad, needs only to look at a photograph of his grandfather running onto the field to understand the historical significance of playing a football game at Wrigley, home of the Bears from 1921 to 1970.
Bob Skoronski played 11 seasons as an offensive tackle for the rival Packers, five for an NFL championship team under legendary coach Vince Lombardi that played against Bears Hall of Famers Dick Butkus, Gayle Sayers and Dick Butkus.
"It's exciting and important when you represent your city in a venue like that," Peter Skoronski said.
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Purdue vs. Northwestern
When/Where: 11 a.m. Saturday at Wrigley Field
TV: Big Ten Network
Radio: WGN AM-720
• This is the first college football game at Wrigley Field since 2010 - 11 years to the day - when Northwestern hosted Illinois.
• This is the second time in series history (since 1895) the teams are playing outside of Evanston/West Lafayette.
• NU (3-7, 1-6) and Purdue (6-4, 4-3) played at Soldier Field Nov. 28, 1931.
• Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald's 109 career wins rank 14th all-time in the Big Ten, two shy of Ohio State's John Cooper. Fitzgerald is the fifth longest tenured head coach in FBS.