12 Northwestern

To be a Northwestern football player is to perform under a shadow of doubt. The Wildcats have won or shared the Big Ten title three times in the last six seasons—as many as Michigan has and more than Ohio State (two), Wisconsin (two) and Penn State (none) have in that time—but skeptics of the program remain. Dealing with that became a lot less important last Friday, however, when senior strong safety Rashidi Wheeler suffered a severe asthma attack on the practice field, collapsed and died. "Rashidi was full of life and was an unbelievably gifted athlete," said new secondary coach Pat Fitzgerald. "He had the size and speed to play on Sunday."

Wheeler was one of the few bright spots on a defense that needs to improve quickly and dramatically, because last year Northwestern needed every bit of its offensive firepower to win games by scores of 54-51, 47-44, 41-35 and 52-33. There is no such concern on offense. Coach Randy Walker estimates that 10 schools sent staff members to Evanston during the off-season to learn his team's spread offense.

Last fall the Wildcats led the conference in total offense (475.6 yards per game) and scoring (38.6 points a game), thanks mainly to a scheme that capitalized on their multitude of receivers and on quarterback Zak Kustok's ability to recognize defenses, thus neutralizing teams that had superior speed. With 10 offensive starters returning, Northwestern should be even more efficient this year. The best of the lot is 5'11", 204-pound senior tailback Damien Anderson. In 2000 he finished second in the nation in rushing (2,014 yards) and set or tied 23 school records.

There's a lot to like about Walker's style of football. In particular, his players don't give up. Last year they twice won on the last snap of the game and another time pulled out a victory with 20 seconds to play. Sad to say, the Wildcats have to learn how to handle adversity off the field as well.