Deja vu all over again

Today's exciting Bears win - over the Lions on an interception return in overtime, recalling the 2001 season - got a small measure of regional revenge, but yesterday's Northwestern game was incredibly depressing. Basanez looked erratic and had his worst game of the year, Sutton did very little (besides have a fumble get returned for a touchdown in a bad 14-point-swing early in the game that basically set the tone), the Cats squandered a valiant second-half effort by their defense by doing nothing offensively, and they ended up losing 33-17.

The game reminded me a lot of the 2000 Iowa game. Why? Because under Randy Walker, this Wildcats team does not seem comfortable playing the favorite, even to a minimal degree. Consider the following situation:

November 11, 2001: A week after beating Michigan 54-51, Northwestern goes to Iowa and loses 27-17. Looking at the raw numbers doesn't tell the whole story, as Damien Anderson still ran for 132 yards, but Zak Kustok was sacked eight times and NU was down 20-3 as late as two minutes left in the third quarter before scoring a couple late and ultimately meaningless touchdowns.

So why did they perform so badly against a team that finished 3-9? Some would say simply that this was "a classic letdown game," and in fact the USA Today recap said just that. On the other hand, Northwestern had significantly more talent than Iowa and had scored at least four touchdowns in six straight games. So what was the problem? I would argue that Northwestern simply responded poorly to being the favorite, and not just the favorite, but the one with all the attention.

Generally speaking, being a fan of Northwestern is much more rewarding than being a fan of a Michigan or Ohio State. Not because NU does more winning - obviously not - but because of what individual Northwestern seasons mean. If Northwestern has a mediocre or bad season, fine - we all expected that. When they have a good season, that's great - if NU wins nine games, that's amazing, while nine wins by Ohio State is just another season they didn't win a national championship. Then you've got Michigan fans fighting internal battles with themselves when they have even an average season (and the Wolverines will certainly still make a bowl). That's why I'm glad not to be a Yankees fan, or Duke basketball fan (Tyler's recent "I hate it when we're ranked preseason #1" posts get very little sympathy from me), or whatever. It's not because success bores me per se - although that's really more or less true - but because I firmly believe (and I said as much to Craig in a conversation we had around the same time that he made that linked post) that you cannot appreciate the good without the bad. If you win the Big Ten championship six times out of ten, then a season in which you go 8-3 or 7-4 is suddenly a crippling disappointment. Of course, Northwestern will almost certainly never win a national championship, but que sera sera.

But here's the problem with all of this. Sometimes, that general sense of playing the underdog perpetually serves as a kind of inspiration for the team - witness the success of Gonzaga from double-digit seed lines in the NCAA Tournament and their subsequent early-round failings with seedings like #3 and #2. Northwestern seems to do a similar thing. In 2000 and again this year, they managed to get some attention nationally, but most of it seemed to be of this variety: "Those feisty Northwestern Wildcats! They score so many points and have no defense! That's adorable." However, after beating Michigan in 2000 - and coming back from a 28-10 deficit in the second quarter to do it - the attention was a little more like "Wow, this team could be for real!" At which point they promptly lost to a vastly inferior Iowa team.

A similar thing was true here. Northwestern was actually ranked ahead of Michigan for the first time at their meeting since 1959, and everyone made a big deal out of that. NU was playing at home, where they had won in 2000, and they were racking up tons of points and yards; meanwhile, Michigan was unimpressive and failing to live up to their preseason ranking.

So, of course, Northwestern lost and looked terrible doing it in exactly the place where everyone would have expected them to succeed - on offense. Some credit goes to Michigan's defense, but Northwestern really beat themselves with the overthrown passes, the critical fumble, the holding penalties, and the works. (Plus, Michigan had at least one blatant interference penalty not called on them, though it would likely not have made an ultimate difference.)

I realize, of course, that it's a little hypocritical to call out Michigan fans for complaining about a mediocre season and then get so huffy over Northwestern's lack of success, but of course I don't have various national championships to fall back on, and there is little expectation that Northwestern will be back next year, once Basanez leaves. So... it was disappointing. On the other hand, this team is almost certain to make a bowl (it would take an embarrassing loss to Illinois - and losses to Ohio State and Iowa - to avoid bowl eligibility), so at least there's that, even though it will probably be the Motor City again. Oh well.