Game 272: Duke @ Northwestern

Our annual Northwestern tailgate was the highlight for those wearing purple this Saturday. Willie the Wildcat even made a guest appearance. Too bad the Wildcat offense failed to show up today, as well.


Northwestern classes begin in late September, so the typical early September and underwhelming non-conference crowd shuffled in for today’s Brain Bowl against Duke.

The game felt like a lecture on game efficiency, as all the scoring occurred in the first half – 21-7 Duke. The second half felt like an offensive funeral march to the finish line. The defenses looked solid, but, it shifted an already sleepy early morning crowd in to snooze control.

So, back to the tailgate. Our setup overlooking Lake Michigan was unbeatable. Couple that with the new space age practice facility providing a nearly 360 degree view of campus, lake, and the Chicago skyline – it gave even more hope for the future of Northwestern football.

We crammed in a breakfast tailgate complete with all sorts of extracurriculars. Willie the Wildcat made his way over and took a group picture with us. Of course, he first approached the few members of our group wearing non-Northwestern attire and stripped them of it prior to the photo opportunity. It made for a rather hilarious scene.

Many questions hover over the Wildcat program this season. The hope is that there are answers in time for the arrival of Michigan, Nebraska, Wisconsin, and Notre Dame to Evanston.

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