Wildcats bringing
new tradition

Northwestern hopes its days
of being a doormat are over

Ask middle-aged football fans about Northwestern's tradition, and they recall protracted stays in the Bottom Ten and questions about why the Wildcats remained in the Big Ten.

Northwestern at Hawaii When: Tomorrow, 6:05 p.m. Where: Aloha Stadium Tickets: $35 sideline, $30 south end zone, $22 north end zone (adult), $18 north end zone (senior citizens), $17 north end zone (students 4-18), $3 UH students. Available at Aloha Stadium, Stan Sheriff Center, UH Campus Center, RainBowtique at Ward Centre, and Windward Community College's OCET Office. Or call (808) 944-2697 or go to hawaiiathletics.com on the Internet. TV: KFVE (Channel 5), delay at 10 p.m., rebroadcast Sunday at 9 a.m. Also available live on pay-per-view. Call 625-8100 on Oahu or (808) 643-2337 on neighbor islands. Radio: Live, KKEA, 1420-AM. Parking: Gates open at 2:30 p.m. Parking is $5. Alternate parking at Leeward Community College, Kam Drive-In and Radford High School. Traffic advisory: 1420-AM is the official traffic advisory station and provides updates before each home game. Bus: Roberts Hawaii School Bus will run shuttles to and from the stadium with pick-ups at several locations. Call 832-4886 for information and reservations.

Ask college football players the same thing, and the surprising answer is "winning."

Northwestern (6-5) plays Hawaii (5-5) in a must-win game for both schools' bowl hopes tomorrow at Aloha Stadium.

Warriors cornerback Abraham Elimimian is 22. He was just beginning to pay close attention to football in 1995, when coach Gary Barnett led NU to its first winning season in 24 years.

"I remember the old days with Darnell Autry. I liked the way he ran and carried his team. He was pretty good. I remember it was 'Autry this, Autry that,' " Elimimian said. "I didn't know they were bad before that. When I thought about them, I thought 'winning.' "

Strange stuff, considering that in the real "old days," Northwestern was the very symbol of college football futility for around 50 years, its record over the past four years is just 19-28, and the school's most famous living sports-related alumnus is Washington Post columnist and "Pardon The Interruption" co-host Michael Wilbon.

But the Wildcats' football reputation still gets mileage from great seasons in 1995 and 1996, when they went 19-5 and won at least a share of two Big Ten titles.

The emergence wasn't a magical fluke occurrence. NU's football makeover included a $30-million renovation of 70-year-old Dyche Stadium (which was renamed Ryan Field).

"The university decided a decade ago to make a financial commitment to football and athletics in general," current coach Randy Walker said. "They made a significant investment. Gary got it going, and it fell off a little bit. The institution rose the expectations.

"(The program is) still a work in progress. We're a long way from where we want to be," he added.

The biggest challenge is for Northwestern to maintain its academic integrity while improving its athletic programs. So far, so good; the school graduated 89 percent of its student-athletes last year, tops in the nation among Division I-A.

Still, things haven't been perfect at the private school just north of Chicago. There's been scandal and tragedy.

A gambling investigation involved football players from the 1994 team, and Barnett's recent problems at Colorado led some to question the purity of his success at Northwestern.

Former basketball coach Ricky Byrdsong was murdered in 1999, and football player Rashidi Wheeler died during an unsupervised summer workout in 2001.

Meanwhile, the Wildcats have been competitive on the field, winning another Big Ten co-championship in 2000. But they haven't attained consistency. The lack of steady winning seasons, however, helped Walker secure one of his best current players after a 3-8 season in 1999.

"I was excited about joining a program I could help turn around," said senior running back Noah Herron, who has rushed for 1,291 yards this year and is a key player in tomorrow's game.

The good "old days" factored in, too, Herron said.

Like Elimimian, Herron's childhood recollections of Northwestern were of a championship team, and that helped the Wildcats win a recruiting battle they wouldn't have dreamed of in previous decades.

"My first memory, really, is of 1995. I grew up in Michigan, so Michigan and Michigan State was always big. But in '95, Northwestern was beating everybody," Herron said.

Rice and San Jose State are just two institutions where the wisdom of investing money in sports has been questioned recently. Walker said that happens everywhere, but the Northwestern administration remains firmly behind athletics.

"Heck, if we're going to be in the game, let's be in the game. Do the things we need to do to be successful. Not just football, all sports," Walker said.

He said no one asks why Northwestern is in the Big Ten anymore.

"Everybody knows now," he said.

Moenoa out: Warriors offensive lineman Uriah Moenoa did not practice again yesterday due to hamstring and knee injuries, and will miss his third game in a row, coach June Jones said.

"He's out. He'll probably dress, but we'll hold him out," Jones said.

Moenoa's replacement at center, Samson Satele, returned to practice yesterday after missing Wednesday's workout for an excused personal reason.

Linebacker Ikaika Curnan (ankle) remains "iffy," Jones said.

Satcher off roster: Hawaii true-freshman quarterback Brandon Satcher is not on the team, but is expected to return to the Warriors next season, Jones said yesterday.

Satcher played against San Jose State, rushing six times for 34 yards and completing one pass in one attempt for 23 yards.

Satcher, a highly recruited athlete from North Augusta, S.C., is still in school and is dealing with a personal problem, Jones said.

Jones declined to specify Satcher's issue, but he said it is not homesickness. Another freshman, running back Andrew Pearman, is homesick, according to his father, Alvin Pearman, and is contemplating transferring closer to home in Charlotte, N.C.

Kafentzis earns more time: Junior safety Landon Kafentzis is listed atop the UH two-deep at free safety after a good effort against Idaho last week of four tackles including a sack.

"Landon had his best game," defensive backs coach Rich Miano said. "He played the aggressive kind of football you need to play."

Been here: Walker has coached a team in Hawaii before.

He was an assistant at North Carolina in the 1986 Aloha Bowl, when Arizona beat the Tar Heels 30-21.

Moving up: With a win tomorrow, Jones ties Dave Holmes with 46 victories for fourth in UH coaching history.

Otto "Proc" Klum (1921-39, 84-51-7), Dick Tomey (1977-86, 63-46-3) and Bob Wagner (1987-95, 58-49-3) are ahead of Holmes (1968-73, 46-17-1) and Jones (45-30-0 since 1999).

Leaner times

Northwestern and Hawaii own two of college football's more-notable losing streaks. More recently, the Wildcats and Warriors have combined to play in five bowl games in the past five seasons and both remain in postseason contention going into tomorrow's game. Here's a look at the bad old days for the two programs:

Northwestern

Streak: 0-34 from Sept. 22, 1979 to Sept. 18, 1982

Shutouts: 8

Heartbreaker: 21-20 to Indiana, Sept. 12, 1981

Worst blowouts: 64-0 to Iowa, Oct. 3, 1981; 70-6 to Ohio State, Nov. 14, 1981

Finally: Beat Northern Illinois, 31-6, Sept. 25, 1982

Notable players: Chris Hinton, Steve Tasker

Hawaii

Streak: 0-19 from Oct. 18, 1997 to Sept. 4, 1999.

Shutouts: 2

Heartbreaker: 23-22 loss to Notre Dame, Nov. 29, 1997

Worst blowout: 62-7 to USC, Sept. 4, 1999.

Finally: Beat Eastern Illinois, 31-27, Sept. 11, 1999

Notable players: Adrian Klemm, Kaulana Noa, Jeff Ulbrich