Not to be overlooked
Football to play against an angry Northwestern squad seeking respect
The Northwestern Wildcats lost their first game of the season in humiliating fashion, but that doesn’t mean the Horned Frogs are about to take them lightly.
By Danny Gillham
Sports Editor

Appearances can be deceiving.

The Horned Frogs are facing the Northwestern Wildcats on Saturday. Owners of a 4-7 record last year, the Wildcats returned only 11 of their 25 starters.

To make matters worse, they lost their opening game of the 2002 season to Air Force, 55-3.

You would think that TCU might be expecting to humiliate Northwestern on Saturday, but this is hardly the case.

“They’ll be like a caged lion,” head coach Gary Patterson said. “They got embarrased in their first ballgame of the season. I think they were a little bit timid against Air Force, so I fully expect them to come out and get after us.”

The players share the same sentiment as Patterson.

Senior quarterback Sean Stilley pointed out that Northwestern plays in the Big Ten Conference, a league known for its fooball prowess, and doesn’t expect the Wildcats to be a pushover.

“They have a lot of good athletes and a lot of good players,” Stilley said. “They’re young right now, but that really doesn’t mean anything. We were young last year, and we beat a lot of good teams.”

In comparison to the Frogs 36-29 overtime loss to Cincinnati, Patterson said that the Wildcats are in a better position to rebound.

“I think it’s better to get blown out,” Patterson said. “As far as coming back, I don’t think you have the emotional drain of playing a tight ballgame. They had a chance to play backups.”

What made the loss so difficult for the Wildcats is that two of their defensive and team leaders were injured in the game. Senior linbacker Pat Durr injured his knee, and will be out for five to six weeks Senior cornerback Raheem Covington suffered a concussion and is questionable.

With all these factors going against them, senior punter Joey Biasatti said the Wildcats will probably come out with a little anger in their play.

“They’re gonna be mad and have something to prove,” Biasatti said. “What you play the game before has nothing to do with the next week. Everyone has a bad game, and we’re expecting them to come out gunning for us.”