Photo: Derek Tam
Saturday’s win reminded us all why we’re fans. It legitimized us for putting up with a disappointing 5-4 start to the season that included an embarrassing loss to Syracuse and a painful conference-opening defeat to Minnesota. It showed us why we wake up early for all those 11 am kickoffs and make all the noise that a small student section can muster in a stadium that sits half-empty more often than not. Because in the end, it can be a freakin’ blast.
Perhaps it was while hopping a fence and onto the field after Northwestern’s exhilarating 33-31 defeat of then-#16 Wisconsin that I realized how much fun these last two seasons have been as an NU senior who put up with frustrating 4-8 and 6-6 seasons his first two years in Evanston. The two bowl seasons been flawed no doubt, with embarrassing pitfalls in Indiana and upstate New York dotting otherwise impressive records, but perhaps that’s what makes this all so fun when things go right. NU is not a perfect team and certainly not your traditional powerhouse, but it’s sure as heck entertaining.
Of course I’d trade a rollercoaster 8-4 in for a Texas-like 12-0 cakewalk, but at a relatively small private school facing the unique obstacles that NU does, our football team is certainly something to appreciate. Sadly, many students continue to see the purple as an over-matched lightweight compared to the Ohio States of the conference without appreciating what we have for what it is, because if you step back, it’s special. I should know, because a few years ago I couldn’t stop comparing Wildcat football to one of those traditional heavyweights.
As a kid growing up in football-crazed Georgia, football probably meant too much to me. A loss by my beloved Bulldogs could ruin not only a Saturday, but an entire weekend, sometimes spilling over to Monday. Packed 90,000-seat stadiums are a given every week back home, and tailgating on a Saturday in Athens is a bit like experiencing a weekly version of Dillo Day (complete with bands and 7 am wake-up calls) except with a football game at the end. So suffice it to say that Saturdays in Evanston were a culture shock for a Southern boy whose parents own season tickets to Georgia games.
Eventually, I realized that to compare the two college football experiences was at best futile and started to truly enjoy what we have in Evanston. The tailgating may not be as widespread or elaborate, but with a good group of friends it can be just as fun. The stadium may not be packed and deafening, but a sense of familiarity and camaraderie with those actually at the games can make for a fun atmosphere. And on Saturday, I experienced a sort of delirium that I’d never seen sweep over Ryan Field when Jordan Mabin made his clinching interception in the game’s final minute. I can honestly say that being there for the win on Saturday was as much fun as I’ve ever had at a football game, and that’s saying something.
As I poured out with the rest of the student section over a fence and onto the field to join the team in a midfield celebration, I knew this to be the perfect way to end my own undergraduate career at Ryan Field. The program has advanced remarkably in my four years here, so much that I didn’t really care when Georgia embarrassed itself at home against Kentucky later that night.
i’m gonna miss nu football….