Northwestern defensive end Corey Wootton said he gets emotional before most games.
But the butterflies might feel more like bees at 2:30p.m. Saturday, when he jogs onto Ryan Field for the final time.
Wootton is one of 21 Northwestern seniors who will leave, in the words of coach Pat Fitzgerald, “a foundation of success unparalleled” in NU history. (That history includes a 3-62-1 record from 1976 to 1981.)
A few accomplishments:
*Four bowl-eligible teams in five years.
*Three straight wins at Iowa’s Kinnick Stadium.
*Four victories over rival Illinois in five seasons.
“Hopefully we’ll be able to win a bowl game, something we haven’t done since 1949,” Wootton said. “That would be a tremendous legacy.”
A victory over Wisconsin (8-2) would give the Wildcats (7-4) an outside shot at the Jan. 1 Outback Bowl in Tampa, Fla. More likely is the Big Ten’s No. 4 bowl, the Dec. 29 Champs Sports Bowl in Orlando, Fla., if Iowa or Penn State joins Ohio State and lands in a BCS game.
Northwestern hasn’t played Wisconsin since 2006, a 41-9 drubbing by the Badgers at Camp Randall Stadium. One year earlier, the Wildcats gained a school-record 674 yards in a 51-48 victory at Ryan Field.
“Anyone on the defensive side of the ball,” Fitzgerald said of that game, “was wishing that they weren’t.”
Though Fitzgerald and Badgers coach Bret Bielema are close, NU defensive coordinator Mike Hankwitz probably will not run to shake Bielema’s hand after the game. Bielema dismissed Hankwitz after two seasons as his defensive coordinator in Madison.
Hankwitz will meet with reporters Wednesday.
