SAN ANTONIO — After Northwestern’s season finale against Illinois, coach Pat Fitzgerald knew his team would have more than a month off before its bowl game. So he drew from the experiences of his former mentor to keep the Wildcats focused.

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ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The headlines were big and bold.

“Michigan sets 129-year futility record,” said ESPN.com.

“Michigan sank to an all-time low on a day as miserable as its season,” said the Associated Press lead.

You’d think the season-old story of Michigan losing games could take a back seat to something bigger that was produced on the other sideline.

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Introducing NU Football Insider’s new feature, “The Vault.” Each week, we’ll publish a story from our football archives, which otherwise are gathering dust in a corner of the newsroom. We hope to provide students with a look into NU football’s past and longtime fans with a bit of nostalgia.

Today’s entry, a Nov. 9, 2001 feature by Matt Donnelly, sorts out who would replace senior Damien Anderson after an injury against Indiana ended his career.

The Man is gone.

Northwestern coach Randy Walker suspects that Damien Anderson’s college career ended last week at Indiana. The star running back’s departure creates the largest gap in NU’s offense that Walker has seen since he started coaching in Evanston three years ago.

Walker likes a running back who can lead, and with Anderson sidelined, the search begins for The New Man — a role one of the candidates could certainly carry into next season.

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BLOOMINGTON, Ind. —
In the eyes of Pat Fitzgerald, it’s never a good idea to look too far ahead in life.

It’s also never a good idea to dwell too much on the past.

So why not try to be victorious, one challenge at a time?

As Fitzgerald and the Wildcats learned Saturday, football is a little more cumulative than the notion of going 1-0 each week makes it out to be.
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Tyrell Sutton goes through the same pre-game routine every week. He gets his ankles taped, puts his pads on and listens to coach Pat Fitzgerald’s inspirational speech.

The senior running back then lines up inside of the tunnel alongside senior wide receiver Eric Peterman and junior safety Brendan Smith, and he gets ready to take the field.

As his teammates file out in front of him, Sutton gives Peterman and Smith a hug and handshake, and prepares himself for battle.
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Introducing NU Football Insider’s new feature, “The Vault.” Each week, we’ll publish a story from our football archives, which otherwise are gathering dust in a corner of the newsroom. We hope to provide students with a look into NU football’s past and longtime fans with a bit of nostalgia.

Today’s entry, an Oct. 6, 2000 feature by Junji Noda, looks into how former coach Randy Walker developed the offense the Cats still use today.

Quite frankly, Randy Walker admits that he’s a copycat. Asked about his newly installed offense, the Northwestern coach fesses up.

“If I see a good play on tape, I’ll steal it,” Walker said proudly. “There are no copyright laws in our business.

“It’s like a kid in a candy store. If you investigate things, you can find a lot of stuff that looks good. It all looks good. Man, this looks good; well, this looks good.”
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Introducing NU Football Insider’s new feature, “The Vault.” Each week, we’ll publish a story from our football archives, which otherwise are gathering dust in a corner of the newsroom. We hope to provide students with a look into NU football’s past and longtime fans with a bit of nostalgia.

The Recruiting Crap Shoot

The inexact nature of evaluating high school players, along with NU’s academic standards, pushes Cats coaches to uncover hidden gems.

By: Tania Ganguli

Posted: 10/29/04

Nobody wanted him, but not many people knew about him.

He spent his junior year of high school watching from the stands as Notre Dame courted one of his teammates and best friends at St. Patrick’s High School in Chicago. There wasn’t anything he could do about his broken foot, so Tim McGarigle waited.

He burst into view his senior year, but by then it was almost too late.

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