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

[John A. DeGroat]

Taylor showed how cluelesss he was by raising hell with Barnett for 
having painted the locker room at Dyche  pink before the Iowa game as a 
motivation gimmick.  No wonder Barnett left.

John DeGroat

Jeff Beamsley wrote:

> 
>As I recall, the pink locker room was something that Hayden Fry did to
>intimidate and aggravate opposing teams.  What GB did was, IMHO, clever and
>profound.  By painting NU's locker room pink, he turned the whole Fry thing
>on its head.  It not only said that we're not afraid of you.  It also said
>that we are smarter than you.  We have turned your sorry misogynistic ploy
>into a joke and the joke's on you.
>
>I think you underestimate Fitz.  I would hope that he learned this and more
>from the time that he spent playing for GB.  What I read in the tribune
>regarding his strategy this year is pure Barnett.  After the MSU loss, hopes
>for a bowl game were gone, but the opportunity for glory was not.  Fitz told
>the team to view every remaining game as a bowl game and promised the same
>sort of national recognition that they would receive by winning over the
>holidays.  The team went out and played like champions, beat Iowa, and got
>exactly the recognition Fitz promised.  
>
>Just like me, I'll bet they are all eager for Saturday to get here, because
>it is another opportunity for glory.
>
>Jeff
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: nwu-sports-bounces at tssi.com [mailto:nwu-sports-bounces at tssi.com] On
>Behalf Of John Labbe
>Sent: Thursday, November 09, 2006 12:25 AM
>To: 'nwu-sports at tssi.com' List Sports
>Subject: [NU Sports] Wildcats defeat Iowa--10 years ago today
>
>"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
>
>
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