Northwestern vs. Texas A&M
12:00 p.m. Kickoff
New Year's Eve
ESPN
Northwestern picks off a Cal pass during the 1948 Rose Bowl
- 2011 is NU's 5th straight bowl-eligible season (a school record)
- Tomorrow is NU's 4th straight bowl (a school record)
- NU last won a bowl since the 1948 Rose Bowl (63 years, if you don't have a calculator nearby)
- NU has lost 8 consecutive bowls since that, our first, bowl game - a national record, I believe
- The last three bowl games have been decided by a touchdown or less. Two went into overtime and are considered some of the best bowl games ever watched by the college football community
Either because of or in spite of the above facts, all of our bowls were packed with purple. At least 10,000 Wildcat fans will be in attendance tomorrow.
Please read the following NU blogs (just two of many that I try to keep up with) for their always fantastic coverage and more facts, trivia, and strategies:
Now on to my personal bowl-watching story:
I will be watching at the Blackfinn in DC - voted the best Northwestern game watch in the nation. I've been there many times and count many friends among the DC Club members. If you're in the area, please show up and root for the 'Cats.
Despite what their 6-6 record indicates, Texas A&M has a scary team. Tannehill, their quarterback, loves to throw. If he were in the Big Ten, he'd be no. 2 in passing yards. He has quite a set of wide receivers to toss to. All statistically are better than our boys. Texas A&M will be throwing... a lot.
Unfortunately, our secondary suffered a few significant injuries and we have some young players going against Tannehill and his WRs. Our secondary is what caused many of this year's Wildcat headaches in our six losses. I'm conditioning myself for a tough game to watch.
But we're talking about the Northwestern University Wildcats football team. For what we lack in size and experience, we have in skill, athleticism, and determination. We have No. 7, PersaStrong, himself. Did you know he put up numbers that were BETTER than last seasons's? That's after missing the first three games and being injured several times! WOW!
Our no. 2 is no. 2 - QB/WR Kain Colter. I half-expect Fitzgerald to put Colter in on the defensive side of the ball just to prove the kid can do it all. He orchestrated some stunning series, pulled off amazing escapes, and put a lot of points on the board. Expect to see him throwing, rushing, and receiving.
On the other side of the line is Brian Peters who picked off an opponent with a broken hand. Enough said.
These three players and all of the others on the sideline and on the field give me a lot of confidence. We don't have the stats that Texas A&M has. We have Northwestern intangibles. Our team has history to make. We are the underdogs and relish that role. The bigger the opponent, the bigger the fight we put up. We're one of the nation's best road teams. That matters because we're playing only a couple of hours away from Texas A&M in front of a loud, raucous crowd of Texans. I expect to see all of our players smiling at the noise, knowing they can pull off the upset and get a W we've wanted for 62 years.
Up until a few days ago, I was feeling down about this game. Every stat and injury report I saw put knots in my stomach.
A few days ago, I remembered that this is more than numbers. Just like your 401(k) fine print says: statistics are only from historic data and not a guarantee of future outcomes. The Northwestern players and coaches (and devoted fans) have always made our intangibles a 12th man.
I'm expecting a game for the history books tomorrow. A game that will make me yell at the TV, stand up in ecstasy, and collapse back to my seat in dismay. But I've been through all of that before and believe that, at the end of the game, we will have our first bowl win since 1948.
I look forward to being surrounded by my Wildcat family tomorrow and for more happy memories, win or lose.
Happy New Year and Go U Northwestern!
George R. Scott
Young Alumni Chair
Director of Philanthropy & Scholarship
