SAN ANTONIO — Before getting down to the pundits’ musings before Northwestern’s bowl game, I have a few musings of my own (reflections on the season, if you will.) Bear with me.

Is it just me, or does the outside of the Alamodome look like something out of Battlestar Galactica? http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/49/Alamodome,_San_Antonio.jpg/800px-Alamodome,_San_Antonio.jpg

The worst moniker for this game? The “Prose” Bowl, as coined by ESPN’s Mike and Mike in the Morning, referring the elite journalism schools at Missouri and Northwestern. Thank you, Joseph Pulitzer.

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They say the pen is mightier than the sword.

And when it comes to Northwestern and Missouri, the pen has typically been mightier than the forward pass.
NU’s Medill School of Journalism has long been known as one of the best journalism schools in the country.

Despite a dip in perception after hiring a new head coach … strike that, dean … it still brings in the best aspiring journalists from around the country to its hallowed, cell phone signal-dropping halls. Continue reading »

According to the Gospel of Pat Fitzgerald, football is 10 percent what happens to you and 90 percent how you respond.

For once, I think Fitzgerald has not taken one of his mantras far enough. Northwestern’s 9-3 season has been 100 percent about response.

By winning nine games, this team has achieved something only four others in school history have. To do it, the Cats had to overcome more obstacles than a reporter trying to get Fitzgerald to admit to his team’s overall record.

First, there have been the injuries. Every team has them, but NU has had more than its fair share of serious ones. Since summer practice, the Cats have lost five starters plus two regular contributors for the season. On top of that, quarterback C.J. Bachér missed two games.

If those setbacks bothered the Cats, they did not show it.

Jordan Mabin stepped in at cornerback for Justan Vaughn and leads the team with three interceptions. Nate Williams stepped in at middle linebacker for Malcolm Arrington and has played well, culminating in a 10-tackle performance in the regular season finale. Stephen Simmons has scored a pair of touchdowns and shown some improvement since replacing Tyrell Sutton and Omar Conteh. Mike Kafka took over at quarterback for Bachér and led the team to a crucial victory at Minnesota with a record-setting rushing performance.

The list goes on.

“The team embraced responding,” Bachér said. “I don’t know if it was anything the coaches said as much as just having a lot of character and a lot of guys that have invested so much in this program, and when their number was called, they were able to step up.”

Bachér went on to say that the tough times he and his teammates have been through over the past few years are part of the reason the team has been able to react to adversity so well this season. He’s probably right about that.

This program had to fight through the tragic death of coach Randy Walker. And while everything else pales in comparison to that unfortunate situation, NU also had to swallow a bitter pill last season, when a 1-3 finish left them 6-6 and one win shy of a bowl berth.

The Cats seem determined not to repeat their mistakes of a year ago by not allowing losses to snowball into losing streaks.

When NU suffered its first defeat of the season by getting blown out in the first half by Michigan State, it came back the next week and waxed Purdue. When the Cats dropped a potentially devastating road contest to lowly Indiana, they went on the road the next week and eked out a win against a hot Minnesota squad. And after a third-straight blowout loss to Ohio State three weeks ago, they returned in the following game and earned a rare victory in the Big House against Michigan.

It’s all due to that one word: respond.

“This season, we’ve faced a lot of adversity — losing Tyrell, Omar and Malcolm — but guys have stepped up in their place, and each time we’ve lost a game, we’ve come back strong the next game and been able to pull out a victory, so that’s been a huge theme for us,” Bachér said.

But Saturday against Illinois, the Cats accomplished something they had not accomplished in a while, responding to a win with an even better win.

NU had not won consecutive games since beating Ohio and then following that with a victory over Iowa in the Big Ten opener. But after topping the Wolverines last week, the Cats came out Saturday and put together their best, most complete performance of the season to defeat their in-state rivals.

Now we just have to see how the bowl representatives respond to that performance in choosing who goes where for the holidays.

a-simon@u.northwestern.edu

To those who bet against Northwestern football this season, my deepest condolences.

When I saw the Wildcats listed as three point underdogs against the Fighting Illini at home, I was puzzled.

Why pick an underachieving road team that has been mediocre at best all season, over a home team that had taken strides every week to produce one of its best seasons in school history?

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No. 17 MICHIGAN STATE (9-2, 6-1) at No. 7 PENN STATE (10-1, 6-1)
Time: 2:30 p.m.
Place: State College, Pa.
Line: Nittany Lions by 14.5
TV: ABC

What’s at stake: Two teams enter, one leaves as Big Ten champion. Or co-champion. Penn State is the only team that controls its destiny in the conference. If they win, they go the Rose Bowl. If Michigan State wins, Ohio State will have to lose to Michigan to win the Big Ten title.

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As ridiculous as it sounds, there are 34 bowl games this year, and you undoubtedly know little about many of them.

Take the following quiz to brush up on your bowl knowledge before they get started.

1. Who sponsors the Liberty Bowl?
a) Amnesty International, b) Auto Zone, c) the descendants of Thomas Jefferson, d) Hot Pockets

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Our moment of glory is finally here. I know the anticipation has been killing you, because it has been killing me.

After weeks of anticipation, Northwestern finally gets to play for a coveted rivalry trophy. The Sweet Sioux Tomahawk.

Pour some teriyaki on this one, because this is going to be as sweet and sour as a rivalry game gets.

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First, the betting lines, and this week’s line might be my favorite of the year. We’ve seen Northwestern get shafted (underdog at 3-7 Michigan? really?). Now, the 8-3 Wildcats are a three-point underdog at home to an Illinois team that’s 5-6 and lost to Western Michigan two weeks ago.

Coach Pat Fitzgerald consistently talks about his team not caring what the media and the outside world writes or says about the Cats. But if the players need any extra motivation, they should take a look at that line.

On to the Week 12 musings around the local newspapers…

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Before I clear up the bowl alphabet soup facing Northwestern, a quick shout-out to sophomore defensive tackle Corbin Bryant, who is out for the season after suffering a knee injury against Michigan. Bryant has been one of the keys to the Wildcats’ stifling run defense, anchoring the middle of the field along with John Gill. He’ll be sorely missed.

Also, here’s a random important stat this week. In the Cats’ four Big Ten road games, they have given up a total of seven points in the second half. That’s one touchdown in eight quarters of football. Indiana scored a third-quarter touchdown, and that’s it.

Quite an improvement for this defense.

Anyway, back to the bowl picture. For starters, the Big Ten conference has contracts with seven bowls. Those bowls pick in this order:

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