Northwestern linebacker Quentin Davie was cruising with family in southern California this summer when he peered out his window to find a glorious site — the Rose Bowl.
“I kind of got a shiver, a nice feeling,” he said. “Hopefully it was a sign from God.”
Davie hasn’t recounted that story to coach Pat Fitzgerald, who actually has a different philosophy regarding the Home that Keith Jackson built.
“I’ll never go back until we go as a team,” he said. “If we’re recruiting a kid in Pasadena, I’ll make sure we don’t drive by the Rose Bowl.”
Fitzgerald won’t even indulge in an In-N-Out Burger because he remembers feasting on the quintessential SoCal treat after NU’s walk-through before the game against USC.
“Haven’t had once since 1995,” he said.
Suffice it to say, Northwestern is hungry to return to the upper echelon of the Big Ten. The Wildcats landed the league’s fourth-best bowl slot last season, and they finished 2 1/2 yards short of a colossal overtime victory over Auburn.
Eight starters and a handful of NFL-caliber players have departed, including Bears defensive end Corey Wootton and Eagles quarterback Mike Kafka, but coaches are confident they won’t experience the extreme peaks and valleys seen at Northwestern under Gary Barnett.
NU’s entire starting offensive line returns to protect quarterback Dan Persa, who enters his fourth season having attempted just 34 passes.
But Persa’s teammates and coaches have complete confidence in the 6-footer from football-mad Bethlehem, Pa., because of his athleticism and diligence.
“He is, pound-for-pound, our strongest and best-conditioned athlete,” Fitzgerald said. “He’s the first to show and the last to go. On the field, he can do everything we ask our quarterbacks to do. He can make 10 guys around him better.”
Said NU superback Drake Dunsmore, an all-Big Ten candidate who roomed with Kafka two years ago: “That dude has worked his butt off. He has had his nose in the playbook since he stepped on campus.”
Persa will be trying to guide the Wildcats to a third consecutive bowl game. That would be a first in school history.
His key? Preparation.
“To be a complete quarterback,” he said, “you have to know your reads inside and out, be able to make every throw and be athletic enough to make a play once in a while.”
Northwestern will contend for a Big Ten title if
… the running game flourishes. The Wildcats averaged just 3.0 yards per carry last season, second worst in the league. And first-stringer Arby Fields has been slowed in fall camp by a shoulder injury. If Fields can’t go at Vanderbilt, the task will fall to the sturdy Jacob Schmidt and quick-hitters Stephen Simmons and Scott Concannon.
The indispensable Wildcats are
… Persa, Davie and cornerback Jordan Mabin.
In a word, the schedule can be described as
… friendly. Sure, Northwestern has road games with Vanderbilt and Rice. But the Owls didn’t make Sporting News’ preseason top 100 and the Commodores are 83rd. (Northwestern is 40th.) The Wildcats’ Big Ten “no plays” are Ohio State and Michigan and they get Illinois on Nov. 20 in the Friendly Confines.
Last season’s defining moment came
… when Wootton crushed Iowa’s Ricky Stanzi in the end zone. The resulting upset transformed NU’s season from disappointing to New Year’s Day bowl-worthy.
The season will be considered a success if
… the Wildcats can end their Cubs-like bowl drought in a warm-weather game. The Wildcats are 0-7 in postseason games since the 1949 Rose.
tgreenstein@tribune.com
