Northwestern has one week to prove the program is salvageable

Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty ImagesThe day after Northwestern fell 47-14 to Illinois last season, snapping the Wildcats’ six-game win streak over their rivals, Inside NU’s own Daniel Olinger wrote, “Bad seasons will happen, but they shouldn’t happen like this.”

The column came on the heels of Northwestern’s second 3-9 season in three years, and discussed the frustration of Wildcat fans as the team appeared to enter an offseason where there were more questions than answers. For the first time in a long time, the Northwestern fanbase lacked hope as the season came to a close.

“Northwestern under Pat Fitzgerald has also been awful before, but even in those years there was an olive branch of…