Davion Fleming’s knowledge of his Northwestern football history goes back decades. The piece of history that stands out the most to the junior defensive back is one the Wildcats would rather not have.

It’s been 64 years since the Wildcats’ last bowl win. Fleming was quick to say that he has never received a negative comment.

“We have a lot of fans that have been waiting to win a bowl game for a long time,” Fleming said. “Every year in the community, there’s encouragement on getting that bowl win.”

The Wildcats open their quest to end that drought this Saturday when they take on Syracuse in the Carrier Dome at noon. Northwestern has made bowl games in four consecutive seasons under head coach Pat Fitzgerald, but the team has lost each time — part of a nine-game, bowl-losing streak since its last postseason victory in 1948.

But Fitzgerald knows that each season is a new entity of its own. The head coach said it’s too early to start talking about bowl wins — the team needs to earn a bowl berth first.

“It’s one of those situations where there are a lot of things you can’t control,” Fitzgerald said. “We’ve played four darned good bowl games, so that’s disappointing. It’s one of the big picture things, macro things. We’ll focus on going 1-0 each week, and see where that takes us.”

Fitzgerald’s approach has been a successful one despite the postseason shortcomings. The passionate coach is 40-36 in seven seasons at the helm.

When Jeremy Ebert began practice at Northwestern his freshman year, Fitzgerald introduced a simple yet powerful system of communication: the leadership council.

Under the system, players were elected by their fellow teammates to serve as liaisons to the coaching staff. Players would take their issues and concerns to the council, which would in turn meet with the coaching staff to express the concerns.

“It’s about keeping everyone accountable, starting with the head coach,” Ebert said. “With so many players, you want everyone’s voice heard. It’s an easy way to give everyone a chance to send a message and take a role.”

Ebert graduated in May and moved on to the New England Patriots, but he and his teammates left a foundation of success for future Wildcats to follow. Northwestern made a bowl game in all four of Ebert’s seasons since the inception of the council, including Outback and Alamo Bowl appearances.

The Wildcats hadn’t earned a bowl bid in the previous two campaigns.

The Wildcats lost all four, some in disappointing fashion. Northwestern fell to Missouri and Auburn in overtime in 2008 and 2009, along with seven- and 11-point defeats the next two years.

Alumni took notice.

Eyes follow the program in the Chicago area and across the country. Former players like Ebert live away from the Midwest. But, he still finds time to communicate with his Northwestern brethren.

Ebert calls the Northwestern environment a family atmosphere and his actions back up the attitude. New England’s seventh-round draft choice talks to his Wildcats position coach Dennis Springer every week and frequently talks to Fitzgerald on the phone or via text message.

“They’re like a family,” Ebert said. “No matter where I go, I know I’ll have their support. I take pride in my school. (A bowl win) would mean everything.”

But before the team can win a bowl game, it must make it back to a bowl game. A bowl invitation must be earned, and it starts by playing well in the regular season.

The Wildcats adopted a “one-day-at-a-time” approach throughout training camp. The players feel that success is a byproduct of hard work and repetition, and have taken that perspective to heart.

“One day at a time,” backup quarterback Trevor Sieman said. “Whether it’s a workout, practice or film session, we’re just trying to do it one step at a time, and then we’ll see where we are in November or so.”

Fitzgerald’s approach keeps the team focused each week. The former Wildcats linebacker helped lead the team to a Rose Bowl berth in 1996 and carried the intense football personality into his way of coaching.

Through systems such as the leadership council, he shows his team that he values the family attitude that Ebert appreciates, and his current players have taken notice, too.

“He loves his team and he loves his guys,” Sieman said. “He’s awesome to play for. We’re all motivated to work for a guy like that. Every time you talk to him one-on-one, or when he talks to us as a team, he’s just real passionate.”

Regardless of enthusiasm, areas for improvement exist on the field. The Northwestern pass defense ranked last in the Big Ten in 2011, when the defense as a whole allowed 31 or more points on seven separate occasions, including five consecutive games against Big Ten foes.

So Fleming and the rest of the Wildcats secondary worked hard in training camp, trying to make sure those disappointing defensive statistics don’t carry into this season.

“We’ve been getting in the playbook, seeing what went wrong last year,” Fleming said. “(We had) a lot of breakdowns here and there, and we’re looking to eliminate that. We’re also challenging receivers a lot more.”

While the season itself hasn’t started, the Wildcats know the work they put in now will play dividends in later months. Any given matchup can produce the difference between winning and losing.

Four months from now, that could be the difference in breaking that 64-year, bow-win drought.

The Wildcats won’t know if their work will be enough for a while, but they recognize what they need to do. They know how much a bowl win would mean — to themselves, coaches, fans and alumni — and don’t want to leave anything on the field.

“We’re trying to win in everything that we do,” Fleming said. “One play at a time, winning our one-on-one battles. If we do that, then we’ll win a bowl game.”

Published on August 29, 2012 at 3:13 am

Contact Kevin: kmprisei@syr.edu