EVANSTON, IL- SEPTEMBER 16: Head coach Pat Fitzgerald of the Northwestern Wildcats celebrates a play against the Bowling Green Falcons during the first half on September 16, 2017 at Ryan Field in Evanston, Illinois. (Photo by David Banks/Getty Images)Auburn and Northwestern are set to face off in one of today’s undercard bowl games, the Citrus Bowl in Orlando. The bowl’s official Twitter account had some fun with the Wildcats this morning.
Back in late November, Northwestern picked up one of its biggest wins of the season, knocking off Big Ten West power Wisconsin 17-7. Before that game, Pat Fitzgerald’s team got some very interesting bulletin board material.
Previewing the game, ESPN’s Joey Galloway downplayed Northwestern’s chances of competing at the top of the Big Ten, calling the Wildcat athletes “a bunch of Rece Davises,” downplaying their athleticism. The team ran with it after beating Wisconsin, owning the nickname and jabbing back at Galloway.
This morning, the Citrus Bowl Twitter account got one over on people. It tweeted out a pretty convincing photoshop of the field for today’s game, with “Fightin’ Rece Davises” in Northwestern’s end zone, instead of the school name. It’s pretty perfect.
ok we stayed up all night but we think we got this right pic.twitter.com/kkLvNyhNpJ
— Vrbo Citrus Bowl (@CitrusBowl) January 1, 2021
Unfortunately, it was too good to be true. AL.com Auburn beat writer Tom Green is at today’s game in Orlando, and tweeted an actual picture of the field. Northwestern’s end zone says… just Northwestern, sadly.
Dang, end zone is not real. Oh well. https://t.co/4ihreObS3Z
— Adam Rittenberg (@ESPNRittenberg) January 1, 2021
The Rece Davises from Evanston have a chance to put a stamp on one of the best seasons in recent school history. The Wildcats are 6-2, falling in an upset loss to Michigan State and a very competitive Big Ten Championship to Ohio State, which went on to reach the College Football Playoff.
Auburn faces an interesting situation, playing the game after Gus Malzahn was fired. Defensive coordinator Kevin Steele, who did not successfully land the head coaching job, will lead the team as interim coach today, as Bryan Harsin prepares to take over the program in 2021.
Today’s Citrus Bowl kicks off at 1 p.m. ET on ABC.
