Randy Walker doesn't kid himself into thinking his Wildcats were a dominant team last season, but one thing they learned again at Northwestern was how to win.

And how to win when it doesn't look good -- when it's difficult, unlikely, and might even look to some as downright lucky.

"Take three plays away and all of a sudden we've won five games last year. We're 5-6," Walker said with an equal amount of earnestness and rascality in his voice. "But it's not that simple."

He's quick to follow that point by noting that one play does not make a game, or a win or a loss.

"We had to be in position to be in position," Walker said. "If Wisconsin's kicking our butt 41-14, that (last-second) field goal doesn't matter. The fact was they weren't. We lined up and played the defending Big Ten champs toe-to-toe in their stadium."

And won, 47-45.

And it's the same feeling he holds for the last-second victory over Michigan, and the amazing 27-point comeback against Minnesota that culminated with the last-play Hail Mary ...

So that's the lesson to be learned from Northwestern's rise from 10th to first. The big play gets the headlines, but the toe-to-toe toughness gives the big plays a chance to be big, and the games to be won.

An overabundance of attention was paid last season to the unique qualities of the Wildcats' spread offense -- as orchestrated by quarterback Zak Kustok and All-American tailback Damien Anderson -- but the players' dedication to tough-minded play and a staggeringly difficult workout program triggered Northwestern's renaissance.

Will Northwestern stay at the top of the heap in 2001? It certainly has the means to win at least a share of its (gasp!) fourth Big Ten championship in seven years.

• The Wildcats retain 36 of their top 44 players on last year's depth chart, including 10 starters from the offense that finished third nationally in total yards and ninth in scoring.
• They bring back an all-senior linebacker crew, led by potential NFL first-rounder Napoleon Harris.
• They rededicated themselves in conditioning drills and in the weight room, to the point that Walker was bragging on their "significant gains in strength, size and speed from a year ago."

And just in case the Wildcats were feeling satisfied, in their most recent football game, they were flattened by Nebraska, 66-17, in the Alamo Bowl.

Northwestern isn't going away from its four-receiver sets, shotgun formation and no-huddle tempo, but Walker wants more variety this fall and has asked offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson to put more oomph into the offense.

"I want to be able to run a power-style offense," Walker said. "It's a blow to my pride that we couldn't run the ball on third-and-2 and get a first down last year."

That shouldn't be too difficult to do with the top returning Heisman Trophy vote-getter in Damien Anderson (2,063 yards, 23 TDs) and five veteran linemen, led by all-Big Ten candidates Austin King and Jeff Roehl.

At the same time, Walker wants to be able to see Kustok (2,389 yards, 19 TDs, 7 INTs last year) take control of a game when opponents gear up to stop Anderson.

Kustok welcomes back four of the five receivers who caught more than 25 passes last year, led by senior slot man Sam Simmons (team-high 38 catches, 498 yards, 5 TDs).

While Northwestern's offense might even improve on last year's 36.8-point average, it won't mean a lot if the defense continues to cough up 33.3 points an outing.

"We were last or next-to-last in almost every defensive category," Walker said. "It is unlikely we will repeat as champions with the same performance. We need to play with a different attitude on defense."

He pointed to improved discipline as a key place for his defense to cut down on the big plays.

Senior Salem Simon and junior Pete Chapman are veterans at tackle, but senior Pete Konopka, junior Onaje Grimes and converted offensive tackle Ben Kennedy must get up to speed quickly at the ends.

Junior cornerback Raheem Covington (1 interception, 4 breakups) returns in the secondary.

"We want to fix things," defensive coordinator Jerry Brown said. "I think the key thing is chemistry -- make sure we have the right people in the right places."

If that happens, Northwestern might be the right team in the right place at the right time again in 2001.

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