n o r t h w e s t e r n f o o t b a l l • D I G I T A L P R O G R A M • N O R T H W E S T E R N v s . M I C H I G A N S T A T E
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The television cameras catch Coach Pat Fitzgerald pressing his palms
together above his head, signaling safety even before the officials do.
As Joe and his teammates celebrate, Fitzgerald, grinning, pumps his
fist, wearing the look of a man who just realized he struck gold with his
redshirt freshman defensive end from Scituate, Massachusetts.
AND SO THE LEGEND OF
JOE GAZIANO BEGAN.
Watching video of that sequence today, in
which Joe looks nearly unstoppable, you forget
that, up to that point in his collegiate career, he
hadn't seen much regular playing time. But an
injury to a starter the week before had forced
him into the lineup against Michigan State, and
he finished the game with four tackles to go
with his highlight-reel sack. As Joe puts it, for
the first time since he arrived in Evanston, he
felt like people stopped and took notice of him.
"That was my coming out party, I guess," he
says. "I was put in that position and thought,
this is my time to shine. I took advantage of the
opportunity."
His performance that day was just a glimpse
at what was to come. Joe recorded three more
sacks over the final six games of the 2016
regular season, then led the Big Ten in sacks the
following year with nine, including one in the
Music City Bowl. Over the past two seasons, he
has the second-highest number of sacks of any
player in the Big Ten. He was named to the All-
Big Ten Defensive Team in 2017 and in 2018 he
earned second-team All-Big Ten honors in the
coaches' poll (third-team in the media poll).
Still, Joe talks about having more to prove as he
prepares for his senior season; he doesn't want
to merely be remembered as a good Wildcat
player; he wants to go down as one of the best
ever.
"Playing at an All-Big Ten level," he says without
hesitation when asked what he wants to
accomplish in 2019. "I've been second-team,
third-team, but I've never cracked first-team
All-Big Ten. That's a goal I've set for myself."
