Top Ten Highlights of Your NU Football Fandom

[GOUNUII]

In no particular order, here's mine:

1. Seeing NU Purple in the end zone of the Rose Bowl. Watching Barnett nail it on the Tonight Show.
2. Watching Matt Rice beat the double team and stuff Robert Farmer to preserve the 95' win over ND.
3. Being in the stands with my sons to witness Fitz stuff Timmy B. at the goal line and Matt Hartl's TD in NU's first win over Michigan since Cadillacs had fins. Sharing the joy with the team afterwards.
4. Darnell Autry on the cover of Sports Illustrated. Double takes at reading "Powerful Northwestern" and The "Real Deal"
5. 54-51
6. Having an inside seat to all that went on in 95' and 96' through Greg Meyer. The echoes of Keith Jackson calling the PSU and USC games.
7. The opening of the Fitz Carlton.
8. Hammering Iowa in Iowa City. Embarrassing the Badgers in Madison. Doing the same to Sparty in East Lansing. Silencing bell cows in Jacksonville.
9. Witnessing NU beat OSU like a drum at the LOS ... and on the scoreboard as well ... with a whole bunch of recruits from Ohio.
10.Meeting player parents, fellow alums and friends of NU who share my passion for the players. Knowing they are in great hands with Fitz, Phillips, Shapiro and Ryan....and many others.

 

[StreamCat]

1. Watching NU beat Penn State with my father in '95.
2. Leaving the ND game in '95 and calling my parents.
3. After the '96 Michigan game comeback, running on the field and having a student run up and hug me saying, "I'm so f*****g happy!"
4. Beating OSU and shaking the quarterback's hand, telling him "God bless you!"
5. Numerous memorable tailgate parties.
6. Sticking out that Iowa game with NUDog where we came back in an unbelievable fashion. Was it two successful onside kicks? Hey, Dog, what was the score? He never forgets.
7. Watching Mike Adamle rush for over 300 yards.
8. Finally seeing a bowl win with one of my best friends and my son.
9. Listening on the radio as NU held at the goal line to beat Woody Hayes. My dad went nuts!
10. Eating a hot dog with my grandfather in the stands.

Honorable mention: The Wildcat fans' camaraderie. We are a special kind of crazy.

 

[StreamCat]

It's usually the other way around, but shouldn't this be moved to the football board?

 

[GOUNUII]

It's usually the other way around, but shouldn't this be moved to the football board?

Yes Stream. It should. Maybe FloridaDude can help us with that.

Thanks for sharing your own thoughts. You obviously have pre and post dark ages memories. Good for you. I have only dark ages and post dark ages to draw upon.

GOUNUII

 

[StreamCat]

Yes Stream. It should. Maybe FloridaDude can help us with that.

Thanks for sharing your own thoughts. You obviously have pre and post dark ages memories. Good for you. I have only dark ages and post dark ages to draw upon.

GOUNUII

This is the kind of thread I love. Thanks for starting it.

 

[FloridAlum]

It's usually the other way around, but shouldn't this be moved to the football board?

Yes, I think it should be on the football board. That is really odd. I am used to threads moving the other way

 

[FloridAlum]

Yes Stream. It should. Maybe FloridaDude can help us with that.

Thanks for sharing your own thoughts. You obviously have pre and post dark ages memories. Good for you. I have only dark ages and post dark ages to draw upon.

GOUNUII

Are you mopes ever going to get the hang of this? You can get through law school pass the bar and still not get the grasp of the report button. A moderator cannot read every post in every thread, but when you hit report a little alert thingy lights up at the top of the page and stays lit up until a moderator takes action. So if you accidentally post on the wrong board and do not know how to move it yourself, report your own post and say please move it to a different board. It really is not very difficult.

 

[GOUNUII]

Are you mopes ever going to get the hang of this? You can get through law school pass the bar and still not get the grasp of the report button. A moderator cannot read every post in every thread, but when you hit report a little alert thingy lights up at the top of the page and stays lit up until a moderator takes action. So if you accidentally post on the wrong board and do not know how to move it yourself, report your own post and say please move it to a different board. It really is not very difficult.

Thanks for doing the heavy lifting here FloridaDude. We'll spare you the trouble down the road. Now for YOUR top ten. Real fans want to know.

GOUNUII

 

[FloridAlum]

Thanks for doing the heavy lifting here FloridaDude. We'll spare you the trouble down the road. Now for YOUR top ten. Real fans want to know.

GOUNUII

The lifting was not very heavy, takes about 15 seconds and one finger, Quite frankly it is usually my right thumb. Move the original post and all responses automatically go with it. Similarly if the original post is deleted, all the responses disappear.

As far as a top 10, off-the-cuff I immediately think of one. After that I am not sure. Maybe later I will just describe one and leave it at that.I tend to think of memorable purple parties and gatherings instead

 

[Alaskawildkat]

In no particular order - and these are just some that immediately come to mind as truthfully there are dozens of others that would qualify:

1. Meeting up with FEW for the first time at then Dyche Stadium.

2. Randy Walker handing me the Sammy Sosa jersey I had just "won" at a NGN auction.

3. Gary Barnett handing me a signed copy of his "High Hopes" and some autographed footballs at the Bookstore in the Norris Center.

4. Being in attendance with an NU attending son and his friends at the two successive "Instant Classics" as we watched the incredible comeback culminating in "Victory Right" in the Metrodome one week and the 54-51 nail biter with its storming of the field the next week.

5. Having to "pay up" to my just admitted to NU son by keeping my promise that if he got admitted and Northwestern made it to the Rose Bowl I would fly him and his siblings to the game in Pasadena.

6. Just by chance running into FloridAlum and the Mesacats at breakfast at an obscure restaurant in Arizona and on that same away trip meeting up for the first time with Gladeskat (who was disappointed I didn't look like his image of a Sourdough Alaskan since I didn't sport a beard) and Westcoast Wildcat among others at the "Purple Party."

7. Cashing in on the "prize" I won at a NGN Auction which consisted of a hosted meal by FEW, Waterboy, and GoUPurple at a steak house in Evanston at which another of my then attending NU sons joined us - though I had to pick up his tab so the benefactors would not run afoul of the NCAA rules regarding contributions to student athletes.

8.At the first Alamo Bowl, meeting up with so many here from the board for the first time accompanied by introducing the NU faithful to Alaska Reindeer Sausage at the original Purple Party which then became a tailgate tradition for multiple tailgates thereafter.

9. The Rally/Mojo Moose appearing for the first time as it walked by my window as I was sitting here at my computer here in Alaska chatting during a game.

10. Catching on camera some incredible plays including Anwawn Jones blocking the field goal attempt that gave us a victory over Michigan State in a 1997 19-17 victory and Kyle's one-handed grab that made Sports Center's Play of the Day.

Captions credit to GoUPurple of HailtoPurple.com

The 2016 Indiana game provided fans with one of the greatest plays in Northwestern history, a play that ranks with the 2000 Victory Right hail Mary and the 2001 Victory Right II play. Kyle Queiro, wearing a cast on his left hand, made one of the most astounding interceptions ever. The play would go on to be the #1 feature on ESPN's SportsCenter show that night. In this photo by Alaskanwildcat, Queiro eyes the Hoosier pass...

...And here is Queiro's stunning one-handed catch, captured in an instant of Wildcat glory.

 

[TXnumbCAT]

1) Being at the Rose Bowl
2) Watching NU beat ND in 1995 (Ron Pawlus tripping and falling)
3) Seeing NU beat Michigan in 1995
4) Seeing Lee Gissendaner's incredible game-winning TD catch right in front of me to win at Illinois in 1992.
5) 54-51, watching it in Evanston with an old Michigan-fan friend
6) Seeing G.B. say "we're taking the purple to Pasadena" at the men's hoops game
7) Meeting G.B. and having a nice chat with him in Las Vegas a few years back (he was there to call the bowl game on the radio)
8) Being booed, as part of NUMB, at the Cleveland "home game" vs OSU in the early 90s (a different type of "sell out")
9) Singing the fight song with the team after any road victory
10) The Wrigley game experience (a controversial pick)

 

[Hungry Jack]

1. That last drive vs. ND in 1995 to run out the clock. DA broke their back and made them humble like the Iron Sheikh.
2. NU 17 UM 16 - My bud, a ND grad, told me in the third quarter as we sat baking in the sun in the south end zone that "the bloom was off the rose" when in was 16-0. Nuff said. We broke their back and made them humble.
3. NU 35 WI 0 - I could not see the final play as WI tried to run wide left into the north end zone. But I knew the shutout was secure when the crowd let out a roar like a jet engine. We broke their back and made them humble.
4. 54-51. Broke their back and made them humble.
5. NU 33 OSU 27. Noah ran his ship into the zone, and broke OSU's back and made it humble.
6. Game Day at WF. Little Hungry was 2 months old. I strapped him to my chest and we walked all around WF. Ran into Glades stumbling along Sheffield Avenue. He said my baby was cute. Good thing he did, otherwise I'd have broke his back and made him humble.
7. Playing flag football in Lincoln Park against Steve Schnur, Rob Johnson and a few other guys from 1995 team. I was playing the D line against Johnson. He broke my back and made me humble.
8. NU 21 PSU 10. That third quarter saw the Lions get the ball again and again, and they could not get anywhere. The defense broke their back and made them humble.
9. 47-44. Broke Kelly's back and made him humble.
10. Having breakfast with Jango and CatsDad. No one got hurt.

 

[CoralSpringsCat]

In no particular order, here's mine:

1. Seeing NU Purple in the end zone of the Rose Bowl. Watching Barnett nail it on the Tonight Show.
2. Watching Matt Rice beat the double team and stuff Robert Farmer to preserve the 95' win over ND.
3. Being in the stands with my sons to witness Fitz stuff Timmy B. at the goal line and Matt Hartl's TD in NU's first win over Michigan since Cadillacs had fins. Sharing the joy with the team afterwards.
4. Darnell Autry on the cover of Sports Illustrated. Double takes at reading "Powerful Northwestern" and The "Real Deal"
5. 54-51
6. Having an inside seat to all that went on in 95' and 96' through Greg Meyer. The echoes of Keith Jackson calling the PSU and USC games.
7. The opening of the Fitz Carlton.
8. Hammering Iowa in Iowa City. Embarrassing the Badgers in Madison. Doing the same to Sparty in East Lansing. Silencing bell cows in Jacksonville.
9. Witnessing NU beat OSU like a drum at the LOS ... and on the scoreboard as well ... with a whole bunch of recruits from Ohio.
10.Meeting player parents, fellow alums and friends of NU who share my passion for the players. Knowing they are in great hands with Fitz, Phillips, Shapiro and Ryan....and many others.

Ummm...that list of ten has about twenty or so moments!

I'll include a few firsts during the Barnett era:

Lee Gissendaner running back a punt for six vs. the Boilermakers in West Lafayette. First "W" of the Barnett era.
Lenny Williams to Giss - TD grab in the end zone vs Illinois to finish "The Comeback"
Eric Scott streaking down the sideline for a KO Touchdown vs. #22 Boston College - first top 25 victory
Greg Gill stripping Brent Moss to secure an NU victory and keeping WI from becoming bowl eligible

And of course the comeback victory in South Bend in 2014 - Mitchell, Trevor, Prater, Van Hoose, so many heroes in that one!

 

[eastbaycat99]

Others have listed many of mine (sitting in the Rose Bowl, taking in the pregame above the purple end zone is probably tops).

I will add the Cats’ final drive against Nebraska in 2011, their first year in the conference, in Lincoln. The Huskers had scored a TD with 2 point conversion to reduce the Cats lead to 3, and kicked off with 8:30 to go and the collective Red Horde anticipating a quick out from the Cats, followed by a game winning drive.

Instead, the Cats ran 13 consecutive running plays, driving the length of the field and scoring the clinching TD while taking 7 minutes off the clock. The collective disbelief of the crowd was palpable. Not a single pass. Against the "Blackshirts". It was a priceless moment.

 

[GOUNUII]

Ummm...that list of ten has about twenty or so moments!

I'll include a few firsts during the Barnett era:

Lee Gissendaner running back a punt for six vs. the Boilermakers in West Lafayette. First "W" of the Barnett era.
Lenny Williams to Giss - TD grab in the end zone vs Illinois to finish "The Comeback"
Eric Scott streaking down the sideline for a KO Touchdown vs. #22 Boston College - first top 25 victory
Greg Gill stripping Brent Moss to secure an NU victory and keeping WI from becoming bowl eligible

And of course the comeback victory in South Bend in 2014 - Mitchell, Trevor, Prater, Van Hoose, so many heroes in that one!

You bet it does Coral. I did my best to cut it down, but couldn't help myself. The cutting room floor has another 1000 or so.

Go Cats!!!!

GOUNUII

 

[its_the_sauce]

Schnur to Bates for the game winner in Madison 96 after Dayne put the ball on the ground. Made even better since I was at the game.

 

[NorthNJCatsfan]

First NU game in ‘03 ( a win over PSU ) and discovering that college football was a thing. Growing up as a Giants fan, I never spent 1 minute thinking about college football.

 

[GOUNUII]

Schnur to Bates for the game winner in Madison 96 after Dayne put the ball on the ground. Made even better since I was at the game.

From the cutting room floor.

1. Victory Right. And all the insane 4th down conversions that preceded it.
2. My 8 year old son getting a get well card while in the hospital with personal notes from Schnur, DAI and Bates.
3. Having lunch with Barnett last year in Arizona and talking all things NU football with the man himself.
4. Corey Wooten's ankle breaking end zone sack in Iowa City.
5. Joe Gaziano's welcome to the BIG ten end zone de-cleater of Lewerke in East Lansing.
6. Brad Phillips' stone cold, hope you'll be OK next week, stop of Shon Greene in Iowa City.
7. Barry Gardner succeeding in a big way at NU and beyond.
8. All things Justin Jackson.
9. OSU and its 1st round NFL talent having no answer for Austin Carr.
10.Playing a round of golf in a twosome. Just me and Randy Walker ... when he was an obscure assistant under Francis Peay.

GOUNUII

 

[StreamCat]

Are you mopes ever going to get the hang of this? You can get through law school pass the bar and still not get the grasp of the report button. A moderator cannot read every post in every thread, but when you hit report a little alert thingy lights up at the top of the page and stays lit up until a moderator takes action. So if you accidentally post on the wrong board and do not know how to move it yourself, report your own post and say please move it to a different board. It really is not very difficult.

I'm going to report your thread for calling me a mope.

 

[phatcat]

1. Michigan 1995. I was literally the only person standing and cheering in my section. Opposite end zone from the modest purple contingency at the other end. I was like Jason Alexander on that old Rold Gold commercial at a hockey game and he is imagining himself as a goalie dominating the game. He stands and cheers (for himself) and everyone else is silently sitting. After the game I said, that was the most fun I've ever had outdoors.
2. Michigan 96. A couple of days later, the Detroit paper was remarking on Michigan's arrogance, which they said was now buried under a huge pile of losses to Northwestern.
3. Michigan y2k. Any Michigan loss is a good one, particularly to NU. Heart stopping
4. NIU 1982. My junior year, with my fiance/now wife. Death to the streak. Loved that team. We were competitive !! Thanks Denny Green
5. Iowa 2008. I'm an Iowa resident at the time, Before the game, at Kinnick, an Iowa fan tossed me purple beads, so I lifted my shirt (yes, I'm a guy). Peals of laughter. Brad Phillip's clobbers their running back.
6. Noah Herron v dOSU. I was pretty heavily sedated but it is a good memory
7. Iowa 1995. MAN WAS IT COLD. The sound of muffled, gloved claps. Poor Fitz breaking his leg. Hudhaifa
8. Victory Right. I was driving on the expressway, using every cuss word I could muster for most of the game. I almost drove off the road when we won. My poor son's eyes were as big as saucers
9. Ped State 2014. Rode the bus up with some DC alums. My wife and I didnt know anyone. I was sure we would get killed. I have numerous pics of late game scoreboard/empty stands. After the game, the players rushed over to cheer with us, but they waited for the Ped State band to clear. Such class. I love our kids. After the game we all celebrated on the bus for, not kidding, 30 seconds, then were lost in our smart phones. Nerdwestern
10. Gator Bowl. Those of you harping on our bowl record, how about a nice hot cup of STFU.

Why are we so emotionally attached to a bunch of kids chasing a ball around?

 

[TerraCat]

1. Meeting many NU players through the years, notably Matt Hartl, Zak, Damien, Dwayne Bates, Zach Strief, and coaches, Pat, Randy and Gary, and loving the vibe and ethic of our program from start to finish!
2. The win at Michigan after the loss to Miami of Ohio! I know we had beaten Air Force and Indiana but Michigan put us back on the map.
3. Almost every game of the 2000 season, but 54-51 topped 'em all.
4. Gator Bowl - Got the monkey off their backs! And beat my wife's alma mater!!!
5. Dunsmore's catch in the Outback bowl...I don't think I ever screamed as hard, or as loud or as long...
6. Northern Illinois September 1982 - It was the first NU win I ever saw!
7. 33-27 October 2nd 2004 - need I say more?
8. Notre Dame 1995 - where it all began.
9. 17-16 1996 Michigan win. Down 16-0 against Michigan, and to win...doesn't get much better...
10. Michigan State 2001 - best game of a disappointing season. My favorite of the cardiac Cat wins...
10a. Listening to Keith Jackson call the Rose Bowl game with NU playing.

 

[GOUNUII]

1. Meeting many NU players through the years, notably Matt Hartl, Zak, Damien, Dwayne Bates, Zach Strief, and coaches, Pat, Randy and Gary, and loving the vibe and ethic of our program from start to finish!
2. The win at Michigan after the loss to Miami of Ohio! I know we had beaten Air Force and Indiana but Michigan put us back on the map.
3. Almost every game of the 2000 season, but 54-51 topped 'em all.
4. Gator Bowl - Got the monkey off their backs! And beat my wife's alma mater!!!
5. Dunsmore's catch in the Outback bowl...I don't think I ever screamed as hard, or as loud or as long...
6. Northern Illinois September 1982 - It was the first NU win I ever saw!
7. 32-27 October 2nd 2004 - need I say more?
8. Notre Dame 1995 - where it all began.
9. 17-16 1996 Michigan win. Down 16-0 against Michigan, and to win...doesn't get much better...
10. Michigan State 2001 - best game of a disappointing season. My favorite of the cardiac Cat wins...
10a. Listening to Keith Jackson call the Rose Bowl game with NU playing.

One minor edit. It was 33-27. No. 33 scored our 33rd point on his 33rd carry to beat OSU for the first time in 33 years.

The Dunsmore catch and run vs Auburn is a great addition to our bank of memories here. There's a great picture of it somewhere in the universe. Wish I had saved it.

GOUNUII

 

[seavue617]

Sorry, I only have one. Sitting on the 50 yard line at the Rose Bowl with good friends and watching us play on New Years Day. Having graduated in 1969 and lived through the Dark Ages of NU football, I never thought that I would live to see that. And to see so much purple in the Rose Bowl - truly amazing.

 

[GOUNUII]

1. Meeting many NU players through the years, notably Matt Hartl, Zak, Damien, Dwayne Bates, Zach Strief, and coaches, Pat, Randy and Gary, and loving the vibe and ethic of our program from start to finish!
2. The win at Michigan after the loss to Miami of Ohio! I know we had beaten Air Force and Indiana but Michigan put us back on the map.
3. Almost every game of the 2000 season, but 54-51 topped 'em all.
4. Gator Bowl - Got the monkey off their backs! And beat my wife's alma mater!!!
5. Dunsmore's catch in the Outback bowl...I don't think I ever screamed as hard, or as loud or as long...
6. Northern Illinois September 1982 - It was the first NU win I ever saw!
7. 32-27 October 2nd 2004 - need I say more?
8. Notre Dame 1995 - where it all began.
9. 17-16 1996 Michigan win. Down 16-0 against Michigan, and to win...doesn't get much better...
10. Michigan State 2001 - best game of a disappointing season. My favorite of the cardiac Cat wins...
10a. Listening to Keith Jackson call the Rose Bowl game with NU playing.

Here's 10 more.

1. Chris Hinton. The most dominant NU football player I have ever seen. The 4th pick of the greatest first round draft in NFL history.
2. 9-10-94 ... Barnett gets the 41-41 tie at home vs Stanford and their legendary coach Bill Walsh. Among the first signs of reason for hope in the Barnett era.
3. Matt Alviti winning a bowl game.
4. Chris Martin and Rodney Ray and Matt Rice and Ray Roby and Ron VanderLinden making ILB Pat Fitzgerald look like an All America player.
5. 2-3 becoming 10-3 and an end of season Top 20 ranking.
6. Paddy Fisher. OMG.
7. Hudaifa Ismaeli could not be blocked.
8. My son and his family moving to Wilmette in time for the 2018 season.
9. All things Pat Fitzgerald. Memo to Cat fans ... his stock continues to rise.
10.Meeting No Chores and thinking he was me before I was me.

GOUNUII

 

[Catreporter]

Love the lists; remember them all. I'd add one more from the 1982 season. Denny Green's team broke that horrible Big Ten losing streak vs. Minnesota but it was the way they did it that was remarkable. NU trailed 21-3 right before halftime. Minnesota had a 4th and 1 at their own 49. They respected us enough to punt (team's almost always went for short yardage on 4th down against us back then), but the snap went way over the kicker's head. The Cats recovered and scored to make it 21-10 at half. Then followed an amazing second half. 28 unanswered points, Chris Hinton opening gigantic holes for Allen Robinson, and Gophers being carted off the field several times. WE WERE ACTUALLY BACK PLAYING REAL BIG TEN FOOTBALL. I love it when Fitz acknowledges the guys who kept fighting against enormous odds back then to keep the program alive!

 

[stpaulcat]

Okay, this goes back a ways and starts with past history.
1. Stories about my fraternity brother Gene "Goose" Gossage.
2. Being #1 (yes, that was NUMBER ONE) in the AP Poll for two weeks in 1962.
3. Having another fraternity brother, Dick Uhlir in the cover of SI during that two week period.
4. Ara Parsegian in general. I got to know a young doctor in Philadelphia ten years later who was friends with ARA and, ironically, who Ara would call after EVERY ND football game to talk about how to deal with the stress of being the ND football coach.
5. My ONLY experience of the dark ages (I apologize to those endured the entire ordeal) was sitting in the east stands for an NU v. Minnesota game in the rain in 1983 with a UMN grad, to watch the Cats WIN!
6. The entire 1995 season, starting with seeing the headline in the Wisconsin State Journal, "Northwestern beats Notre Dame 17-16"
7. Sitting among Wisconsin fans on the 50 yard line at Camp Randall in 2000, to watch the cats come back to beat the Badgers.
8. 54-51.
9. Being at the Michigan State game last year to watch that incredible win.
10. The 2018 season.

There are so many others, but these stand out.

 

[Catreporter]

That rain soaked Minnesota win was in 1983. I was there too with my son. Not sure why we played them at home two straight years. The '82 win I described over them broke the Big Ten losing streak at 37.

 

[zbag51]

54-51 was my freshman year. My parents, sister, Aunt, Uncle, and cousin were all at the game with me.

Brendan Smith’s pick 6 vs Minnesota as time ran out. I was at my friends place and i can remember the whole play, we were yelling at the tv for him to go down so we could get a field goal opportunity, until we realized he was gonna go all the way. We went nuts.

Queiro’s one handed grab vs Indiana.

One year my friends and I were walking in to the spring game, and someone behind us says to us “thanks for coming out and supporting the team!” We turn around and it’s Fitz. Still have that picture.

I met coach Lou downtown in Chicago while he was a grad assistant. He invited my friends and i to a bowl game practice up in Evanston. Met Fitz again and he told us “don’t get hit by a ball, but definitely don’t get hit by a player!” Excited to have coach Lou back with the Cats!

I also met Corey Wootton one year at spring practice and still have that picture too. I look like a child standing next to him!

 

[ubercat]

In no particular order:

Watching Mike Adamle rush for 316 yards against Wisconsin.

A short hop down the timeline: arriving early at pregame warmup as the Illinois marching band gathered near the Cats calisthenics drills. They were playing the Mickey Mouse theme. We then went on to beat them like a drum. Howja like THAT, Goofy?!

Beating PSU in ‘95. We had officially arrived.

Watching us beat Michigan in ‘95. I was with my wife on a getaway weekend in Wisconsin staying at a hotel. She let me view it undisturbed.

Witnessing Willycat call security on some obnoxiously drunk Hoosiers in our section as Indiana was ahead at the time. As they were bounced down the steps to the exit, Andrew Brewer caught a touchdown pass to propel us to victory. Sweet schadenfreude!

 

[stpaulcat]

Oh, one other...pregames at the Uber tent all these years.

 

[SmellyCat]

I'm not sure I could stop at 10, but in no particular order

1) Walking into the Rose Bowl. 1/1/1996.
2) Lee Gissendaner's catch to beat Illinois in 1992. Our group of friends had just won the "Kick in the Grass" kickball tournament and were walking back to our dorm. I was the only one listening to the game on my headphones, so I announced it to like 10 of my closest friends as we all celebrated.
3) The last two minutes of the 2000 Michigan game. I bought a ticket from and sat with a stranger (well, a fellow NU fan) the day before the game. Best decision I ever made.
4) Ohio State, 2003. I had to go to dinner with new girlfriend's parents, but we got home just in time to see Noah Herron get his TD. Now we're married. Me and the girlfriend, not Noah Herron. It was the first time she'd seen just how nuts I was over this team and she still married me.
5) Michigan, 1996. Walked two or three miles home after the game. More like floated. Few football wins ever made me so happy.
6) Seeing Justin Jackson's face light up (after spouting mostly monotone clichés when talking about himself) when he was asked about Clayton Thorson in a postgame interview.
7) Joe Gaziano's sack against Michigan State.
8) Jack Mitchell's last field goal against Notre Dame. Again, out for dinner with in-laws before we went to a play. Watched the last field goal while walking from the restaurant to the theater. Then I couldn't pay attention to the entire show. I don't even remember what we saw.
9) Kyle Queiro's game-clinching interception against Stanford (though it wasn't as good as his one-hander against Indiana of course)
10) Tearing down the goalposts in 1990 and 1991. I somehow got a flag from the top of a goal post. I'm not that tall, and when the post was coming down, you could see a group of us angling to get the flag as it was coming. I somehow outjumped the rest of the group and pulled it out cleanly. A friend of mine went for the other flag and ended up bloodied and with only a piece of the flag. Another image ingrained in memory, even though I can't remember which game: tearing down the goalposts in the north end zone proudly doing whatever, and then looking south and seeing those posts on the way down too. And in 1991, for the Illinois game, going all the way to the lake and jumping in, because how much more wet can we get than we already were.

So...much...more...

 

[phatcat]

That rain soaked Minnesota win was in 1983. I was there too with my son. Not sure why we played them at home two straight years. The '82 win I described over them broke the Big Ten losing streak at 37.

I loved that rain game. It was so dark they had to turn on those eerie floodlights, giving everyone long shadows. IIRC, Ricky Edwards ran back a free kick for a TD. Also more Chris Hinton dominance.
Every time the ball would bounce, it would skid because of the rain puddling on our crappy AstroTurf

 

[No Chores]

Here's 10 more.

1. Chris Hinton. The most dominant NU football player I have ever seen. The 4th pick of the greatest first round draft in NFL history.
2. 9-10-94 ... Barnett gets the 41-41 tie at home vs Stanford and their legendary coach Bill Walsh. Among the first signs of reason for hope in the Barnett era.
3. Matt Alviti winning a bowl game.
4. Chris Martin and Rodney Ray and Matt Rice and Ray Roby and Ron VanderLinden making ILB Pat Fitzgerald look like an All America player.
5. 2-3 becoming 10-3 and an end of season Top 20 ranking.
6. Paddy Fisher. OMG.
7. Hudaifa Ismaeli could not be blocked.
8. My son and his family moving to Wilmette in time for the 2018 season.
9. All things Pat Fitzgerald. Memo to Cat fans ... his stock continues to rise.
10.Meeting No Chores and thinking he was me before I was me.

GOUNUII

You might recall that I had little interest in meeting you, but I certainly wanted to learn the identity of the beautiful woman on your arm! You've covered just about all of my personal highlights, except for the 10 year + period by which I preceded you at NU. The day that my roommate and fraternity brother Jack Cvercko returned to the House from Columbus with a victory over the Buckeyes in 1962 was probably No. 1 in that era. That win propelled us to the number 1 ranking. OSU led 14 - 0 at the half, behind Bo Scott and Paul Warfield, but the 'Cats scored 18 unanswered points in the second half to bring home the win