B1G Bounceback: Northwestern

CHICAGO - Northwestern avoided fancy T-shirts and slogans this off-season, which is just as well after a 5-7 finish.

The Wildcats entered the 2013 season with '5:03” emblazoned upon their chests, reminding the team of how close it came to an unbeaten 2012 campaign. That year Northwestern was 5 minutes and 3 seconds from regular-season perfection. Ten wins and the program's first bowl victory since 1949 wasn't enough, and the players let the world know they were gunning for perfection in 2013.

Instead, their season unraveled. A year that started with such great promise with a national ranking turned into a disaster. Northwestern found new, unique and excruciating ways to lose Big Ten football games. One ended on the game's final play in Nebraska. Two more were lost in overtime. Ohio State outlasted the Wildcats in the Big Ten opener, and Northwestern seemingly overlooked Minnesota. Every loss was topped more painfully the following week.

'If you look at any of those games, we lose on a Hail Mary, we lose on a ridiculous field goal from Michigan,” Northwestern quarterback Trevor Siemian said. 'I don't know if there was much carry-over from the week before. I think it was just a set of critical plays each day that we lost. I don't know how much momentum (factored in).”

The intensity instead has ratcheted up and the themes were subdued this off-season. The players worked off the bluster and the coaches re-evaluated the team's message.

'I don't think we have any 5:03 message or anything like that,” Northwestern safety Ibraheim Campbell said. 'It's really just taking on every moment one at a time and living in the moment because you can't worry about the past, you can't worry about the future. I think guys realize that from last season.”

'I think we lost track from, first of all, not sticking to what we value,” Northwestern Coach Pat Fitzgerald said. 'You look at the way we didn't respond very well from things that were out of our control, and that's been the hallmark of program.”

Northwestern's off-season already has become a test in resolve. In the spring, former quarterback Kain Colter spearheaded an effort to form union, and a regional office of the National Labor Relations Board upheld the effort. The players voted but the results are not yet disclosed. The school has appealed to the Washington D.C. branch of the NLRB.

Adversity on the field also is an issue. Just this week, running back Venric Mark elected to transfer Wednesday and leading wide receiver Christian Jones suffered a torn ACL. Jones led the Wildcats in catches last year with 45. Mark, an All-American punt returner in 2012, played in only three games last year because of injuries and already was suspended for the first two games for violating team rules. Mark had the opportunity to stay, Fitzgerald told reporters after Thursday's practice, but elected to transfer.

'We were in the discussions of doing that,” Fitzgerald said. 'He made a decision that was right for him and his family to move on, and we supported that.”

While the losses of Mark and Jones - along with Colter's graduation - causes some concern for the Wildcats, the team returns enough talent and playmakers to become a bounce-back candidate this year. Northwestern returns nine players who started games on defense, including the entire secondary and all but one defensive lineman.

Offensively, Northwestern brings back five starters along the offensive line, plus Tony Jones at wide receiver and Dan Vitale at superback. Treyvon Green started eight games at running back while spelling Mark. Quarterback Trevor Siemian had two starts at quarterback, played in every game the last two years and threw for 2,149 yards in 2013.

Siemian was Northwestern's designated passer, while Colter shifted among several positions on offense. Siemian doesn't have Colter's versatility and was inconsistent at times last year, but he has confidence his coaches will put him in position for success.

'I'm not going to be nearly the athlete he was,” Siemian said. 'I'm not going to fool anybody doing that, trying to run around back there and make guys miss and bring that dynamic playmaking with my feet. Our offense, and Coach (Mick) McCall's philosophy has always been players, formations, plays. Tailoring the offense to whoever's back there.”

Northwestern gets the chance to permanently revive border series with Purdue and Wisconsin as well as extended hotly contested rivalries with Illinois and Northwestern in the new Big Ten West Division. The idea of playing those games with a title at stake has Campbell excited.

'Being able to play teams that are closer to you geographically is pretty cool,” Campbell said. 'To kind of establish your dominance in that area will be a lot of fun. We look forward to that challenge.”

Fitzgerald has changed the culture at Northwestern, where a 5-7 season once was cause for celebration. He took the Wildcats to five consecutive bowls before underachieving last year. Injuries took a toll and that version lacked mental toughness and depth. He vows that won't happen again.

'We've all owned that in Evanston, we've taken that challenge on in the off-season, and I believe you'll see a much improved football team this season,” he said.

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