FanHouse is counting down the ten best, ten worst, and ten weirdest moments in Big Ten football history.
ABOVE: "Interstate 94, Northwestern 0" was a common joke in Evanston during the early 1980s.
Every team has an off season now and then. Northwestern had a couple of off decades, and they were called the 70s and the 80s. Right in the middle of that stretch, the Wildcats racked up an accomplishment which may never be equaled by any other Division I-A Football Bowl Subdivision program.
Northwestern coach Rick Venturi took over for the deposed John Pont in 1978. Pont's Wildcats had put together back-to-back 1-10 seasons, which is enough to get anybody fired. You might think there's nowhere to go but up from that point. You might want to think about that again.
Northwestern went winless in 1978, losing ten games but tying one. That one tie came in Venturi's debut, when the Wildcats tied Illinois, 0-0. (It wasn't a very good time for football in Champaign, either.) A 27-22 win over Wyoming in the second game of the 1979 season (it wasn't a very good time for football in Laramie, either) had to feel like an incredible relief. Venturi certainly savored his first win as Northwestern's coach.
Wait, did I say Venturi's first win? My bad. I should have said Venturi's only win as Northwestern's coach.
FanHouse is counting down the 10 best, 10 worst, and 10 weirdest moments in Big Ten football history.
Howard Stern could take over for Katie Couric on the CBS Evening News. Your cat could win the Nobel Prize in physics. Guns 'N Roses could actually release Chinese Democracy. Those are three things which seem as unlikely now as Northwestern's 1995 Rose Bowl run seemed at the time.
Northwestern had occupied a certain niche in the Big Ten's ecosystem, that of the perennial homecoming date. The Wildcats could be counted on to show up sometime between late September and late October to provide an all but guaranteed W for the returning alumni. And as long as they still played football in Evanston, every Big Ten team knew that no matter what other outrageous fortune befell them, they wouldn't go winless in the conference unless it was one of those years Northwestern just wasn't on the schedule.
A lot of coaches sacrificed large parts of their careers coaching in Evanston, trying to face up to the challenge of turning around a football team that hadn't won a conference title since 1949. But not even legitimately good coaches like Lou Saban, Ara Parseghian, and Dennis Green could accomplish anything with the Wildcats. So how did Gary Barnett do it?
As the third quarter wound down Saturday in Evanston, it appeared Minnesota was well on their way to getting their first Big Ten win under coach Tim Brewster.
However, Northwestern had other ideas, and for the second straight week, the Wildcats won an exciting, high-scoring game. It took a comeback from a 21-point deficit, along with a stop on a two-point conversion attempt in double-overtime, but the Wildcats stunned Minnesota 49-48. As a result, hopes for bowl eligibility for Northwestern are alive and well. That bowl bid would be huge for second-year head coach Pat Fitzgerald.
Four Adam Weber touchdown passes had the Gophers up 35-14 late in the third quarter, and a defense that had been maligned for not making enough plays made a play. With Northwestern driving, the Gophers forced a fumble inside their ten, and they took possession at the 13. Three running plays netted Minnesota a first down, but Weber was intercepted on that first-down play, giving the Wildcat offense the ball with great field position. C.J. Bacher cashed in on the first play with a touchdown pass to make it 35-21.
On the first play of the fourth quarter, the Gophers faced a third-and-five at their 45, and Weber was intercepted again. This pick also led to a Northwestern touchdown, as Bacher ran it in from six yards out on fourth down. The Gophers still had the lead, but it was quite precarious at 35-28.
It's a shame that such a fantastic and wild game can be overshadowed by the Michigan State coaches going into complete brainlock in overtime. There's no avoiding it, though. Michigan State Coach Mark Dantonio deserves a lot of questioning for this loss.
Northwestern had the ball first in the overtime and scored a touchdown to go up 48-41. The Spartans had accumulated 295 total rushing yards (8.9 yards/carry) with Javon Ringer accumulating 185 on just 12 carries. He never saw the ball. In fact, the Spartans passed on 1st and 10, 2nd and 10, 3d and 10 and of course on 4th and 10. They never picked up a yard. Passing on every down? Brian Hoyer had been 16-26 for 186 yards before that. Not horrible, but rather conservative and not exactly where you should want to place the burden of scoring upon.
Otherwise this was a thoroughly entertaining game. Close to 1100 total yards. The Wildcats had only 90 yards on the ground and over 500 throwing. Michigan State was just as entertaining on offense with just under 300 rushing yards.
The Wildcats snapped their 3 game losing streak and Michigan State after two straight squeaker losses begins to assume a familiar sense of fading and implosion. It doesn't seem to matter who is coaching.
After a scary first half against Northwestern, Michigan turned to an old friend to help them out in the second half.
As a result, the Wolverines have a 2-0 Big Ten start. They beat Northwestern 28-16 Saturday afternoon in Evanston, scoring the game's final 21 points.
Henne started the game, hitting four of six passes on the opening drive. He capped the drive with a touchdown pass to Mario Manningham, and then left the game for the rest of the half.
Freshman Ryan Mallett took over and struggled mightily, completing less than half his passes. Northwestern wasn't exactly lighting the place up, but the Wildcats managed over 300 yards in the first half and led 16-7 at halftime.
Henne then took over again at the start of the third quarter, and he was magnificent. He hit 14 of 21 throws, tossed two more touchdowns, and led the Wolverines to the comeback win. Manningham caught ten passes for 123 yards, and Mike Hart rallied from a tough first half to top 100 yards again.
The Michigan defense was solid in the second half, intercepting Northwestern's C.J. Bacher twice and holding Omar Conteh to 43 yards rushing after allowing over 70 in the first half. The Wildcats had five turnovers on the day to none for Michigan, and that was a huge difference in the game.
Michigan (3-2 overall, 2-0 Big Ten) moves out of conference play next week, hosting Eastern Michigan. On October 13, the Wolverines have a homecoming battle with Purdue for their return to Big Ten play.
(NOTE: Earlier, I stated that Mallett threw an interception. Not true. Thanks to commenter jbrons for noting that for me. Not sure what I was looking at there, since I later said Michigan didn't have any turnovers.)
No one will accuse Northwestern or Indiana of being among the Big Ten favorites entering this season.
Michigan and Iowa, however, were.
The Wolverines and Hawkeyes are in trouble on this day, however. Michigan (2-2 overall, 1-0 Big Ten) trails Northwestern 16-7 at halftime. In that game, the Wildcats (you know, the team that lost to Duke) have already gone over 300 yards in total offense. QB C.J. Bacher hasn't been wonderfully accurate, hitting 15 of 26 passes with an interception. However, he's already thrown for 213 yards and run for 23 more. Northwestern's spread offense is causing Michigan fits. Omar Conteh, filling in for injured feature back Tyrell Sutton, ran for 72 yards and a touchdown in the first half.
Meanwhile, Michigan's offense is struggling, and kicker Jason Gingell missed a chip-shot field goal on Michigan's last offensive series of the first half. Mike Hart has been held to less than three yards per rush, and freshman QB Ryan Mallett, who took over after Chad Henne led Michigan to an opening drive touchdown, is just 5-for-11 for 62 yards.
(UPDATE: Henne has started the second half for Michigan. Not sure if this is going to be permanent or if Mallett will play again this afternoon.)
Iowa needed a 33-yard touchdown pass by Jake Christensen on the final play of the first half to get on the board against Indiana. The Hoosiers lead 21-7 thanks to emerging star QB Kellen Lewis, who has already thrown for 198 yards. Lewis also has a 70-yard fumble return touchdown. On that play, Lewis hit Josiah Sears for a nine-yard pass, but Sears fumbled. Lewis picked it up and ran for the rather unusual offensive touchdown.
Outside of that freak play, the stats are virtually even at halftime. Both teams are struggling to run the ball, but Indiana has a bit of an edge because, unlike Wisconsin, the Hoosiers are okay throwing the ball with some regularity. Lewis has been sharp so far and he will need to remain that way, because Indiana's defense is simply not strong enough to hold Iowa down all day.
It's funny, I was sitting in a barber shop on Saturday morning next to a man in a Northwestern sweatshirt. As we were both sitting there waiting for our haircuts, the talk quickly became focused on college football. I told him I was a Notre Dame fan, and of course, he gave me some crap for it. That's how bad it's gotten: Northwestern fans are talking smack about the Irish.
So later on that day while I was at my sister's wedding, and I saw that Duke had snapped it's 22-game losing streak by beating Northwestern in Evanston, it brought a small smile to my face.
When riding a 22 game losing streak, and that last win was against 1-AA VMI in 2005, it doesn't matter who you beat. All that matters is just getting the win.
Duke finally got a win. A win that ends so many losing streaks. By beating Northwestern 20-14, they did more than snap a 22 game losing streak. It was their first 1-A win since beating Clemson in 2004 (24 games), and their first road victory since 2002 (25 games).
That's an amazing run of ineptitude and bad football that rivals the giants of bad football -- Temple, Buffalo, FIU, Baylor and Eastern Michigan. Duke has been the king for the past couple of years.
At long last, the Blue Devils can, for at least a while, escape the conversation of worst team in 1-A for the year. Congrats to Duke and Ted Roof for getting his 6th career win as the Duke HC.
Two Big Ten teams had to sweat out super football games Saturday afternoon. While neither Northwestern nor Minnesota are expected to contend for the Big Ten crown, their ability to pull out wins does help a beleagured conference save some face.
(In fact, the Big Ten is 5-0 so far today. Choke on that, Michigan. On second thought, don't choke on that. Win, for crying out loud.)
Both games were dramatic, and both featured super comebacks. In Northwestern's case, it was Northwestern's comeback. In Minnesota's, it was opponent Miami (Ohio) who pulled off the great comeback.
Minnesota led all day against Miami. They scored on their opening drive, opened a 14-3 lead in the second quarter, and then responded to nine straight Miami points with two touchdowns in a row to take a 28-12 lead in the fourth quarter. Game over, right?
Nope.
Miami rallied behind backup quarterback Daniel Raudabaugh, scoring 16 straight points to force overtime, then scoring first in overtime. The RedHawks wouldn't score again, as they missed a potential game-winning field goal in the second overtime, and Raudabaugh was intercepted in the end zone in the third overtime.
After a missed field goal of their own in the second OT, Amir Pinnix scored in the third extra session to give the Gophers a 41-35 win. It's the first win of the season for the Gophers, and the first win of Tim Brewster's head coaching career.
If you missed any portion of our Big Ten Football Preview, or if you're a masochist and want to read any of it over again, consider this your one-stop shop for the wealth of solid information, mindless speculation, and occasional snark.
Predictions from our lovely FanHouse staff will be coming at the end of August. For now, as you enjoy our other conference previews, here's a look back at what we learned about the Big Ten.
The 2006 season was full of mediocrity, with two top teams proving how overrated they were by getting pounded in their postseason games. Or something. Oh, and it appears that we're really going to miss having John L. Smith to kick around.
As the third quarter wound down Saturday in Evanston, it appeared Minnesota was well on their way to getting their first Big Ten win under coach Tim Brewster.
It's a shame that such a fantastic and wild game can be overshadowed by the Michigan State coaches going into complete brainlock in overtime. There's no avoiding it, though. Michigan State Coach Mark Dantonio deserves a lot of questioning for this loss.
After a scary first half against Northwestern, Michigan turned to an old friend to help them out in the second half. 
When riding a 22 game losing streak, and that last win was against 1-AA VMI in 2005, it doesn't matter who you beat. All that matters is just getting the win. 
Two Big Ten teams had to sweat out super football games Saturday afternoon. While neither Northwestern nor Minnesota are expected to contend for the Big Ten crown, their ability to pull out wins does help a beleagured conference save some face.
If you missed any portion of our Big Ten Football Preview, or if you're a masochist and want to read any of it over again, consider this your one-stop shop for the wealth of solid information, mindless speculation, and occasional snark.
