January 8, 2004

Motor City Bowl a good show

Thousands of Wildcat football fans trekked to Detroit Dec. 26 to watch the Wildcats in their fifth postseason game.

University officials, trustees, faculty, staff, students and alumni made the trip to the Motor City Bowl only to see the ’Cats lose 28-24 to Bowling Green State University.

The Wildcats, in their second bowl game during Randy Walker’s five years as head coach, led for most of the game until Bowling Green’s 14 fourth-quarter points sealed the victory.

Fans converged on Detroit, some coming in four buses chartered by the NU Alumni Club of Chicago that left Ryan Field at 8 a.m. the day after Christmas.

Almost 500 attended the Northwestern Alumni Association pre-game tailgate party in Ford Field’s Hall of Legends.

Despite the loss, the fans came away with memories of a team that overcame defeats early in the year to finish 6-6 overall and 4-4 in the Big Ten to earn the bowl invitation.

They saw Jason Wright set bowl and team records as the ’Cats’ rushing attack, second in the Big Ten and 21st in the country, rolled up 357 yards.

The team, which was 2-4 in mid-October, is only the eighth in Northwestern history to win six or more games.