[NU Sports] Wildcats defeat Iowa--10 years ago today

[John Labbe]

"It was a cold November afternoon in Iowa City when the Northwestern 
Wildcats faced off against the twenty-third-ranked Iowa Hawkeyes.  The 
Wildcats were the defending Big Ten champions, but they were coming off 
a decisive defeat the week before on the road at Penn State.  After 
their weak showing in Happy Valley and with their final road game 
looming at Kinnick Stadium, the Wildcats' chances of a repeat Big Ten 
championship looked slim.

In the first half, the Wildcats jumped out to a 10-0 lead after a 
twenty-three-yard Dwayne Bates touchdown pass.  But the Hawkeyes fought 
back to narrow the halftime score to 13-7.  In the second half, as the 
snow began to fall and the gray skies turned to night, Wildcat running 
back Darnell Autry stole the show, scoring four touchdowns, three 
rushing and one receiving.  Autry finished the day with a career-high 
240 yards rushing, as the Wildcats dismissed the Hawkeyes 40-13, 
keeping Northwestern in the hunt for the Big Ten title."


---That's my own eye-witness recollection of the last time the Cats won 
in Iowa City before this past Saturday.  It was exactly 10 years ago 
today (November 9, 1996).  It ranks as one of the best Northwestern 
games I've attended.  Of course, Pat Fitzgerald played in that game.  
(I would have worked his stats into the above narrative, but I couldn't 
find a box score with those details.)

How much do you want to bet that Fitzgerald recounted that very game 
last week to his players as they prepared for Iowa?  It's a triumphant 
story of responding to adversity on the road at a tough place to play.

The difference between Fitzgerald and Barnett?  Fitzgerald didn't have 
to paint his team's locker room pink to get his players up for the 
game.

Let's beat those Buckeyes.

John Labbe