By Ben Bolch
Cats earn their place among the Top 10
The wind was blowing Saturday at Wrigley - er - Dyche Stadium, and Northwestern fans lined the rooftops across Central Street to watch Wisconsin get whipped around like a hot dog wrapper in a 100-mph gust.
35-0. Seven Badger turnovers. The first Wildcat shutout in the series since 1960.
On a day in which the Georgia Techs and Iowa States racked up points against the Florida States and Colorados, one of the best teams in the Big Ten could muster zilch against NU.
Nada. Zero. Nothing.
The only drama on this marshmallow-soggy, 40-degree afternoon day was not whether NU would win, but whether the Badgers would score on the game's final play.
On fourth-and-goal at the NU 1-yard line, with Cat faithful standing in anticipation of their first conference shutout since a 0-0 tie with Illinois in 1978, Wisconsin tailback Aaron Stecker was nailed for a two-yard loss by cornerback Chris Rooney, who hasn't even earned a varsity letter.
Students left their seats to mob NU players, not even approaching the goalposts that were once demolished and dumped into Lake Michigan after every home win.
It was only fitting after this lopsided victory that I would tape record NU coach Gary Barnett's voice over that of Bob Voigts, the celebrated Rose Bowl coach whom I had interviewed earlier in the week.
For with this win, Barnett proved he very well can "take the Purple to Pasadena" as promised after a 47-year absence. In the course of one tail-whipping, the No. 8 Cats were assured of both their first non-losing season since 1971 and their second-ever bowl appearance.
The Citrus, Alamo and Outback Bowl scouts, who have been hanging around Dyche lately like a bunch of nerds around a posted sheet of final exam scores, may lose out to the highest bidder.
I hear Pasadena's nice this time of year - and around New Year's Day, more importantly.
Rose Bowl officials take note: NU finally has earned the respect that wins over Notre Dame and Michigan somehow could not provide. For even with the first sellout at Dyche in 12 years and a No. 11 ranking vs. a No. 24 ranking, NU was still a two-point underdog.
"It just felt like being an underdog given the situation that people sort of thought we were Cinderella, and sooner or later the glass slipper was going to come off," Barnett said. "That didn't look like Cinderella out there to me."
It certainly didn't. Cinderella is a team that beats Notre Dame, loses to Miami of Ohio and then packs up shop. NU (6-1, 4-0 Big Ten) responded to its 30-28 Redskins setback as if it were a shot of adrenaline.
The Cats stuck it to Michigan in Ann Arbor, rallied to beat Minnesota and pasted Wisconsin (2-3-1, 1-2) into their now-packed 1995 highlight reel.
Want respect? How about the media blitz - which all but ignored the Cats' first home game after the Notre Dame win - rushing Dyche as if it were hosting the Super Bowl? There were columnists and cameramen everywhere.
"It's a good thing I don't have stage fright," said Barnett, gazing over an uncomfortably cozy postgame press conference.
"What are all you guys doing here?" asked Cat linebacker Pat Fitzgerald while entering the press room a few minutes later. "It wasn't like this before."
If there was one symbol of how far NU has come in so little time, of how far expectations around here truly have risen, it was a comment made midway through the fourth quarter. A guy near the rear of the student section, unsatisfied with NU's 29-0 lead, said in a monotone voice, "Another touchdown would be nice."
The insatiable fan got his wish. The question now is whether he will get a long ball blown out of Wrigley, um, Dyche. Blown straight to Pasadena.
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