TAMPA, Fla. (AP) -More than three years after the death of coach Randy Walker, the Northwestern Wildcats are still drawing inspiration from him.
Friday’s Outback Bowl will be the final game for a group of fifth-year seniors who were part of the last recruiting class to begin their careers under Walker. He died in June 2006 of an apparent heart attack after laying a foundation for continued success.
Four seasons later, the Wildcats (8-4) are playing on New Year’s Day for the first time in over a decade, hoping to upset favored Auburn (7-5) to end a 61-year drought without a bowl victory.
“We got through it and it wasn’t easy. It’s still ongoing. We think and pray about coach every day,” said Pat Fitzgerald, the former Northwestern player and assistant who succeeded Walker. Fitzgerald is 27-22 and has taken the Wildcats to two bowl games.
al. We’ve got 21 great seniors, the fifth-year players were the last group we recruited. … To be in this opportunity speaks volumes about what they’ve been able to overcome and fighting through the real life adversity. I couldn’t be more proud of them.”
It was a challenge Fitzgerald, the defensive leader on Northwestern teams that won or shared Big Ten titles in 1995 and 1996, wasn’t sure he was up to when he learned he was the choice to become Walker’s replacement.
“I didn’t think a lot about myself. I thought a lot more about Tammy (Walker’s wife), the Walker family, about coach and how I could help my players and coaching staff through that time period,” said Fitzgerald, who at the time was the Wildcats’ linebackers coach and recruiting coordinator.
“(Former Northwestern athletic director) Mark Murphy came over to my house and said, ‘We believe that you’re the best person to help get our program through this.’ The first thing I said was give me a day to think about it. I want to sleep on. Not that I didn’t want to have the opportunity to help the program through that, I wanted to make sure it was right. I slept on it, thought about some things, spent some time talking to my wife.”
Northwestern tied for fourth in the Big Ten this season and landed in the Outback by closing with a three-game winning streak that included a road victory at Iowa – stopping the Hawkeyes’ 13-game winning streak – and 33-31 upset of Wisconsin.
Auburn, completing its first season under coach Gene Chizik, is impressed by what the Wildcats have been able to accomplish down the stretch with a fast-paced spread offense similar to one the Tigers run.
Northwestern was second in the Big Ten in passing offense, with Mike Kafka throwing for 241.5 yards per game and 12 touchdowns. Auburn’s Chris Todd has thrown for 2,898 yards and a Tigers record 21 TDs.
“I think there are some similarities in the tempos,” said Chizik, whose hiring a little over a year ago was met with resistance by some Tigers fans.
“Obviously our tempos change a little bit. It’s not always fast paced. Just from a philosophical standpoint, we try to do it at the right times. … What was attractive to me was the fact it will still allow us to run the football.”
Despite losing five of seven after a 5-0 start, Chizik has the second-most wins by a first-year coach in Auburn history. Only Terry Bowden, who went 11-0 in 1993, produced more wins in his initial season on the job.
With one more win, Fitzgerald will do something no coach has done since the 1949 Rose Bowl – lead Northwestern to a postseason victory.
“It’s not like we’ve been in a bowl game every year and we’re 0-60,” the 35-year-old coach said Thursday, quickly adding that it would be nice to no longer have to answer questions about the school’s postseason track record.
“That goal … is right here in front of us. Our young men have earned an opportunity, and now they’re going to have to earn a win,” Fitzgerald said. “It’ not going to be easy. It’s going to be against the best team we’ve played all year. There are a lot of distractions involved, but we’ve handled it well to this point.”
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