This weekend — and entire season, for that matter — might have been the best example of why I love college football as much as I do.
I still vividly remember the full Saturdays I would spend watching the biggest games of the weekend with my dad, waking up early enough to see College Gameday and keeping my eyes open long enough to catch the final 7:30 p.m. slate (Pac-12 after dark was where I had to finally draw the line).
And although some of the grandeur of college football has faded a little now
that I’m actually in college and thus the same age as a lot of these players, some of the child-like magic still shows up here and there, making me jump, clap, yell at my TV screen and go through a whole spectrum of emotions over the course of just three hours on my couch.
But in my opinion, that’s also the beauty of the sport And Northwestern’s win on Saturday against Penn State was the perfect example of what makes college football so amazing.
“As a kid, you always want to go to a Penn State game,” star wide receiver Griffin Wilde said postgame. “To come in here and spoil their homecoming, that’s something that you dream of as a competitor and football player.”
We are just over a month removed from the beginning of the season, when Penn State was ranked No. 2 in the country and looked like a bonafide national championship contender, while Northwestern was considered a “bottom feeder” of the Big Ten by fans across the country.
But, things change. Heading into what is widely considered one of the toughest places to play in the country, Northwestern handled the pressure of a hostile road environment in Happy Valley with relative ease. David Braun and the ‘Cats out-gained (282 to 274), out-passed (163 to 137) and were more disciplined (two penalties for 10 yards compared to Penn State’s six for 71) than the Nittany Lions through all four quarters, looking like the better team despite being three-touchdown underdogs.
But more than just a one-off win, Northwestern’s road victory over head coach James Franklin and Penn State represented the culture change that the Wildcats have seen under the leadership of Coach Braun. Since taking over as head coach for NU two seasons ago, Braun has consistently proved that expectations and preseason rankings don’t mean anything, and furthermore, that he believes NU can compete in and win any game it plays.
A mightily successful first year was good proof of that — after being voted by the media to win just one conference game, Northwestern went 8-5 and won a bowl game over Utah in the process — a “dream” season for a first-year head coach filling in after a scandal that rocked the program.
Now, two years later, Northwestern has bounced back in a big way from its 1-2 start, ratting off three straight and most recently beating a Nittany Lions team who many thought were poised for the College Football Playoff. Many might consider this game a “dream” win. Braun and Co. have begun to prove they can turn dreams into realities.
What might be even more impressive than going on the road and eeking out a hard-fought win over PSU is Northwestern’s continued “on to the next” mentality. All season long, Braun has preached the motto “comfort is our enemy” as a mantra for his group this season. In the press room immediately following yesterday’s win, he brought it up again.
“There’s going to be a lot of people that are going to want to pat us on the back after a great road win, it’s not time to listen to any of that,” Braun said. “It’s time to get back to work and position ourselves for a great week of practice this week.”
That mentality is easier said than done, of course. But Braun and Northwestern have proven over the past few weeks that it’s more than just words; it’s a way of life. NU could have gotten comfortable after snagging its first conference win over UCLA. It could have been perfectly content going 3-3 this week, like everyone was expecting. But that simply isn’t how this team operates.
“Something we said after the game was, ‘if the best thing we do all year is beat Penn State, then the season wouldn’t have been a success,” quarterback Preston Stone said postgame.
So now, less than 24 hours removed from one of the biggest wins this program has had in the past decade, Northwestern is already on to the next.
