A long road to success

"The dust of the traveled road shall touch my hands and face."

So goes the Carl Sandburg poem, and so it has been for Northwestern fifth-year standout Jeff Roehl. A USA Today high school and college honorable mention All American, Roehl has traveled several roads in his college football career. Following his graduation from Carl Sandburg High School in Roland Park, Ill., Roehl traded in his gold and blue Eagles jersey for a more prestigious gold and blue--that of the richest college football tradition in the country--Notre Dame football.

After his freshman year in the shadow of Touchdown Jesus, Roehl decided to venture from one small town to another, opting for the dusty, less football-enriched Evanston, Ill., over South Bend, Ind.

"I wasn't happy when I was a freshman, but it had nothing to do with football," Roehl said. "I'm not entirely saying that it wouldn't have worked out there, but my experience at Northwestern University has been great."

Donning the purple and white of the Wildcats would be more of a euphemism for most blue chip recruits, but for Roehl, this road to Evanston has made all the difference. After sitting out the 1999 season because of transfer rules, Roehl has been the force behind Northwestern's high octane offense. He has started in each of his 25 games for the Wildcats and was named honorable mention All-Big Ten and honorable mention All-America in 2001.

The 6'4, 305 pound lineman was dubbed the 12th best offensive guard in the nation by The Sporting News. He was also listed on the same publication's preseason All-Big Ten first team, and is a legitimate candidate for both All-America and Outland Trophy honors. Winning such awards, however, would pale in comparison to a championship season, Roehl said.

"You love to get individual honors but I put the team before anything," he said. "There's no doubt in my mind that I'd rather win a Big Ten championship."

Individual accolades may be Roehl's only realistic goal in 2002, however. His Wildcats are off to a disappointing--though not surprising--0-2 start. After being pummeled by Air Force and Texas Christian by a combined score of 100-27, the Wildcats are in desperate need of replacements for 14 starters from last season, nine of whom were selected in the 2002 NFL Draft.

The duo is doing their utmost to pick their teammates up--including 26 freshmen who have already seen the field this year--in time for Duke Saturday and then a brutal Big Ten schedule that includes national powers Michigan State and Ohio State.

The Wildcats refuse to be discouraged, as evidenced by Walker's optimistic outlook after last weekend's drubbing from Texas Christian.

"I'm not chucking the season and saying, 'Let's be a better team in November,'" he said. "The heck with that now. Let's be a better team next week."

That's where Duke comes in. The Blue Devils, who lead the all-time series at 7-5, last defeated Northwestern in 1998. Since then, the Wildcats have dominated Duke, including last year's shellacking led by Roehl, Northwestern's offensive player of the game.

"I hope we can contain him from having a huge game," Duke head coach Carl Franks said. "He's a good player. He's a physical guy. He's an athletic guy. We better be concerned about him."

Roehl, too, is wary of the vastly improved Duke defense under new defensive coordinator Ted Roof.

"Duke's a great football team that's made a lot of improvement," he said. "They always play hard and they got a good system."

So just as Tyrone Willingham cleans the tarnish from the Golden Dome, Roehl and his Wildcats are still sifting through the dark clouds of an eight game losing streak. When the fog moves on from little Wildcats feet, however, Roehl expects Northwestern to be a top 25 team once again.

Or at least off the road to nowhere.

Robert Samuel contributed to this story.