Northwestern must deal with
hype, player's death
Editor's Note:
This is part one of a 10-part series examining every football team in
the Big Ten other than Purdue. The Purdue preview Tailgate Guide will
appear Aug. 31.
By Paul Trembacki
Sports Editor
Back when he was
playing running back in high school, Northwestern coach Randy Walker
had a good game and couldn’t wait to read the paper the next morning.
But before he could
read the article praising his abilities, his dad snatched the paper
away from him.
"He told me
not to look at it," Walker said. "He told me ‘You’re
not as good as they say you are, and they’re not going to be as
bad as they say you are when that time comes.’"
That was Walker’s
attitude again earlier this month when it was announced that Northwestern
was the media’s preseason pick as Big Ten champion.
Northwestern returns
10 of 11 starters from an offense that set 27 team records last season
and garnered a share of the Big Ten tri-championship with Purdue and
Michigan. But Walker, in his third year as Northwestern’s coach,
said the recognition doesn’t excite him much.
 "Predictions
have never meant a lot to me," the 2000 Big Ten coach of the year
said. "As I told my players, you have to remember that the same
experts who picked us to finish last a year ago picked us to win it
this year."
Still, Walker and
Northwestern will have to deal with the hype. But their main concern
now is coping with the loss of starting safety Rashidi Wheeler, 22,
who died Aug. 3 of bronchial asthma after collapsing during a series
of wind sprints.
"Nobody knows how
to handle situations like this very well, but the one thing we know
how to do is play football," quarterback Zak Kustok said. "We're going
to use this as an inspiration because we know he's going to be with
us."
The players trust
Walker's conditioning drills, the subject of an ongoing investigation
by Wheeler's family and the university. After all, the Wildcats' ability
to run a no-huddle offense without becoming short of breath helped the
team go 8-4 and win a share of the Big Ten title for the third time
in six years. In 1999, Walker's first year, the team went 3-8 and finished
in last place in the conference.
The main reason
many think Northwestern will capture a title again is the return of
running back Damien Anderson. The media’s pick as Big Ten preseason
offensive player of the year, Anderson averaged 171.9 yards per game
and scored 23 touchdowns.
The offense seems
poised for more great things, but the main concern for Walker and his
team will be defensive consistency.
Making their fourth
bowl appearance ever, Northwestern got run over by Nebraska 66-17 in
the Alamo Bowl Dec. 30, 2000.
"We knew going
into that game that we had a long way to go toward becoming a great
program," Walker said. "We got a first-hand look at the truck
that ran us over."
A Big Ten championship
would automatically qualify the Wildcats for a Bowl Championship Series
appearance, possibly even a national title shot. However, Walker said
his team seldom talks about a national title, although he did admit
that "national championship" is a goal written on the board in the team
meeting room.
"Sure, it’s
there," Walker said. "But it was also there when we were that
pukin’ mess that showed up in 1999 and only won three games."
|
