Northwestern opened its 2002 season at Air Force, where the Falcons scored the first five times they had the ball.
That was a harbinger of the countless sieves to come.
By the time that year ended, the Wildcats had surrendered an average of 41.1 points and 502.3 yards per game.
When it opens at Kansas on Saturday night, Northwestern begins its new season with this salient thought:
“We really need to see our defensive line come off the ball and kind of punch the offensive linemen in the mouth,” senior linebacker Pat Durr said. “Just get after it from the get-go.
“That’s the tone-setter, that first snap, that first hit. We want to let Kansas know we’re here to play and that we’re a completely different defense.”
It is on defense that the Wildcats clearly must improve if they hope to resurrect themselves after a pair of desultory (4-7, 3-9) seasons.
Young, inexperienced and overmatched physically and mentally a year ago, they are now bigger, stronger, wiser and operating with a new mentality.
Gone is its singular reliance on the basic and conventional 4-3 set. In are multiple formations fashioned to attack with only three down linemen and a variety of linebackers and defensive backs.
“What we’ve tried to do is become more assertive, come after people more,” coach Randy Walker said. “We’re going to try and be very multiple, and out of the multiplicity, we’re going to come after you from a lot of places.”
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Edited by Phillip Thompson (plthompson@tribune.com) and Michael Morgan (mnmorgan@tribune.com)
