[NU Sports] WILDCAT WRAPUP: Northwestern 28, Illinois 21

[SjT (Stephen J. Truog)]

If Rick Taylor were still the NU athletic director, he might have tried to
bill season ticket holders for a seventh game this season. OK, maybe that's
a tad harsh, but the fans at Ryan Field have enjoyed a lot of extra
football this year ... a full four overtimes in three games, with the
Wildcats emerging victorious in each battle. The latest was Saturday's
28-21 OT win against Illinois, keeping the Sweet Sioux trophy in Evanston
and keeping Northwestern bowl hopes alive.

The win also gives the Cats a 5-3 league mark, good for sole possession of
fourth place in the Big Ten, a perfect conference home mark for 2004 ...
and it closes the season with the Wildcats on a five-game home win streak.
Three of those wins came in overtime, the other two by three points each.

Talk about getting your money's worth!

On an overcast November Saturday in Evanston, instate rivals Illinois and
Northwestern slugged it out for the 98th time in a mistake-filled game that
may not have always been pretty, but provided a lot of excitement in the
final minutes. Just as you'd expect on Senior Day at Northwestern.

On paper, the Cats had everything to play for and the Illini nothing. But
it's a rivalry game - so throw out those records. Plus, the Cats walked
into Champaign last year and literally walked over the Illini, not even
bothering to throw a pass in the second half en route to a 37-20 rout. On
top of that, Illinois coach Ron Turner is on his way out after three
straight disappointing seasons, and there are few things in football more
dangerous than a coach who has nothing to lose.

Northwestern's offense played perhaps its worst game of the season on
Saturday. Brett Basanez looked to have aggrivated that shoulder injury or
something else was wrong, because his throws were well off the mark. And
the Illini clearly had watched game tapes of last year and were keyed in on
the run. NU only ran 10 offensive plays in the first half and had a
whopping zero first downs after 15 minutes.

To make matters worse, we also played -- by far -- our sloppiest game of
the season. The Wildcats had made great strides in reducing the stupid
penalties from last year ... usually isolating them into one drive per
game, where we'd get 3 or 4 in a row to kill a promising series of plays,
but then play self-inflicted-wound-free the rest of the day. On Saturday,
NU compiled more penalty yards in the first quarter than actual yards ...
and had it not been for one big pass play in the second, the same would
have been true at the half.

A lot of those flags seemed suspicious to the disappointly small but loyal
and loud crowd at Ryan Field. Often, the two or three officials around the
play didn't see fit to call a penalty, but the back judge, a good 30 or 40
yards away, would run in late and toss a flag. Especially on punt returns.
Either this guy just had lasik surgery or he's got a different
interpretation of the rules than the rest of the zebras out there, because
when fans in the upper deck are closer to the play than you as an official
are, you shouldn't be the one making the call.

And the zebra follies didn't all cut against Northwestern either ... near
the end of the half, NU ran a 6-yard play on 2nd and 17, but the official
stepped in and signalled for the clock to stop ... for a measurement? Oops.
There were :25 left on the clock and Turner had to be livid that this time
wasn't running. Finally, when the refs noticed their error, they added time
... a second or two more than was on the clock when the play stopped. Some
of the crew were officiating their final game and they were not going
quietly into retirement, calling at least 16 penalties, with NU compiling a
whopping 112 yards of penalty yardage. Ouch. Let's just say it wasn't a
banner day for the players, coaches or officiating crew in Evanston.

Whatever the reason for NU's sloppy, mistake-prone play and inability to
move the ball, the Wildcat defense did show up on Saturday. Despite the
Illini enjoying starting field position around midfield for most of the
day, they bent, but didn't break to the orange and blue attack. Illinois
had one solid drive where they moved the ball downfield, but their other
two TD drives were set up by a Basanez interception and a series of
penalties on the punt return and defense. We were gashed more than you'd
like by Illini back Pierre Thomas, who really showed a lot of escapability
and potential ... but the D did their part to keep the game within a score
at all times. And that was important, because given our lack of a passing
game and inability to move on the ground, falling behind by 10 or 14 would
have been disastrous.

The Cats offense somehow managed to strike first in the game. After a
scoreless first quarter where the Illini dominated but were stripped of the
ball near the goal line by NU's defense, the Cats took over and Basanez
utilized his biggest asset - pocket mobility - to roll to the right and and
find Ashton Aikens for a 44-yard gain on 3rd and 8. That energized the
dormant attack for a few plays at least, and a few plays were all they
needed. A reverse netted 2 yards to move the ball to the UI 36, and Noah
Herron did the rest -- dashing through the Illini defense on two runs, the
second being a a 23-yard scamper to the end zone, giving NU the game's
opening touchdown.

The Illini quickly answered with their own impressive drive (aided by a
nice kickoff return to midfield), and added a touchdown following the
interception of Basanez (simply a bad read and too quick a throw off a play
fake) to head into the locker room ahead 14-7. Illinois dominated the first
half, doubling NU's time of possession and winning the field position war.
The yardage was almost even, but throw in the Cats' penalties and the edge
goes to UI again. Also, the Cats had as many first downs, five, as they did
3-and-outs. Would the offense wake up in the second half?

After exchanging punts in the second half, Northwestern put together its
one impressive drive of the game (each team had one impressive drive ...
one drive aided by a big play , the UI pickoff and the NU 44-yard pass, and
one wild card -- a fake FG for UI, a punt return for NU -- before
overtime). For a series, it looked like the Wildcat team that dominated the
Illini in the trenches last year had finally emerged. The Cats shoved the
ball right down the throats of the Illini. It started at the 22, but after
-- you guessed it -- a false start on NU, it became an 83-yard march
downfield. A Baz scramble for a few ... a Noah release pass for a first
down ... a Baz run ... a Terrell Jordan run ... a first down via Illinois
penalty ... Noah on the option ... Jordan up the gut ... Baz again ... Noah
gashing ahead for 14 ... Noah to the 1 ... Noah for SIX!

So after the penalty moved the ball to the 17, we attempted only one pass,
and that was a swing pass to Herron. The rest of this game-tying drive was
all on the offensive line. Northwestern pounded the ball right at the
Illini and moved it downfield for the tying score. Momentum had swung
Northwestern's way and both the fans in purple and those in ornage at Ryan
Field felt a sense of deja vu all over again. The Cats had come out of the
locker room trailing Illinois by a score, but were starting to manhandle
the Illini and run over them for TDs on the ground. Would this be the
wake-up call the O needed? Would this be the game-changing moment? Would
the Illini wilt again? Would history repeat itself?

Well, no. The Cats held on the following UI series, thanks to a great
chasedown sack by Loren Howard and had good field position. But the drive
was killed by -- you guessed it -- a flag for holding (stupid
self-inflicted-wounds!) and the Cats punted. If it's a punt return in this
game, then there must be a flag, and sure enough, our good friend the back
judge came running a good 20 or 30 yards to air his dirty laundry and set
up the Illini in strong field position. The D forced third down when -- you
guessed it -- a flag comes in and Dominique Price is called for
interference to keep the drive alive. The Illini capitalized and got down
to the 1 yard line at the end of the third quarter, tied 14-14, when things
got interesting.

You could feel a trick play coming from the opening kickoff. Turner was a
coach with nothing to lose and it's tough to know what a coach will do when
he can throw caution to the wind. But Turner played a fairly
straightforward game for three quarters. No fake punts or fourth down plays
on all those first half midfield possessions. Was he just lulling the Cats
to sleep?

After a brilliant goal line stand by the Wildcat defense (great stuff on
first down at the line ... great sack by Pickens on second down where UI
barely got the ball away without a knee touching or a grounding call and
another great stuff on third), the Illini lined up for the field goal to go
ahead 17-14. But in the immortal words of Admiral Ackbar: "It's a TRAP!"

Northwestern went for the block, and the Illini kicker simply hurdled the
diving defenders to walk into the end zone and give the Illini a 21-14 lead
with 13:25 remaining.

So now it was time for the Cats to wake up and for the O to take over,
right? Not quite. NU goes 3-and-out and asks the defense to keep them in
the game. They hold, and the Cats get the ball back at the 7 yard line with
7 minutes remaining. A couple of nice passes to Sean Herbert on Baz
rollouts moves the ball up to midfield, but the Cats stall at midfield.
After going for it on 4th and 2 (with Noah's sheer willpower the only
reason NU made the first down), Randy Walker opted to punt on 4th and 6
with just over 4 minutes remaining. We had three timeouts, but the pressure
was all on the Wildcat defense.

Again, the D stood up and held the Illini to a 3-and-out with 2:29
remaining in the game and forced the Illinois punt. Time was ticking away
and a trick play by the Illini on special teams was looking more and more
like it would spoil Northwestern's season. Would the Cardiac Cats and their
offense finally wake up NOW and get back in this game before it was too
late?

Nope ... but only because they never got a chance. A booming Illinois punt
sent Jeff Backes retreating to the 28 yard line. The Ohio speedster turned
around, shook off a couple Illini tackles and raced 72 yards to the end
zone to tie the game. Welcome back, Mr.Backes! After that dazzling return
at Minnesota, we've really missed this guy -- on defense for sure, but
especially on special teams. After the Illini surprised NU with a special
teams TD off a trick play, NU returned the favor with a trick of its own --
rare special teams execution and a game-changing touchdown.

But we weren't done with special teams. With 2:12 left, Wildcat fans had
barely got done celebrating when they had flashbacks to the 2001 MSU game
and Charles Rodgers answering an NU punt return TD with his own kickoff
return for a TD. Pierre Thomas nearly duplicated the feat, racing the
ensuing kickoff back to the NU 30. And with 2:00 left, the Illini were 30
yards away from beating their in-state rival.

The Wildcat defense came through again, though, bending a bit but forcing
the field goal attempt with Illinois' freshman kicker. Mr. Reda may not be
Mr. Nugent from OSU yet, but they do share a common trait in 2004 ...
missing a clutch field goal kick in Ryan Field. With the game on the line,
Reda hooked it wide left and guess what? We. Have. OVERTIME. For the fourth
time this season and the third time in Ryan Field, 60 minutes was not
enough time to determine a winner in a Northwestern football game.

Northwestern lost the toss and got the ball first. The offense didn't play
a good game today, but they did show up when it counted, promptly driving
to the end zone in overtime, picking up the blitz well and running the
ball. The game-winning touchdown came on a great call on 3rd and 2, faking
the run and rolling Baz out. He threw it to Jonathan Fields, who had
dropped two sure-catches earlier but snagged this one for six.

Once again, this game turned to the defense with NU players, coaches and
fans pleading with the D to salvage a win out of a sloppy game. The D
delivered, forcing the Illini to fourth down twice on their series from the
25. The first time, UI converted by barely crossing the 15. The second
time, there was a little contact but -- surprise! -- no flag thrown. Not
even from 30 yards downfield. The pass fell to the ground and the purple
people erupted in joy once again. The four Big Ten games in Ryan Field this
year literally came down to the last play, and the Cats emerged victorious
in all four. Bad for the ticker perhaps, but some exciting and
extraordinary football.

Whew. Three OT games at home ... four overall ... a couple more that came
down to the final minutes ... just another year of Wildcat football, folks.
We didn't play our best game today by a longshot, but when it came down to
crunchtime, this special group of Wildcats found enough to win the game.
And winning without your best stuff is a sign of a solid team. Hopefully
they can do it again next week so this incredible class of seniors can
finish their college careers in a bowl game. How great is this group? Well
...

Consider that this season, NU ...
- Finished 5-3, in sole possession of fourth place in the Big Ten
- Ensured a fifth .500 or better (in league play and overall) season in the
last decade
- Is one game away from a fifth bowl trip in ten years
- Went 5-1 at Ryan Field, 4-0 in Big Ten games
- Has a current home winning streak of five games
- Defeated (at the time) ranked teams in Ohio State and Purdue and lost to
only one (at the time) unranked team ... in triple overtime, on the road in
the opener

Consider that at one time or another, our quarterback, top running back,
top receiver, top D-lineman and starting linebacker and cornerback have
been injured this season, there were plenty of chances to pack it in.

Consider how this team fought back after two heartbreaking losses to start
the season and a 1-3 September with a tough Big Ten slate ahead of us. We
finished the season strong (winning 6 of the last 8 if we can win at
Hawaii) for a second straight season and have a chance to go bowling.

Thank you seniors. The fifth year seniors have a chance to go to three
bowls in their NU career -- something no other Cats class has done. Your
leadership has helped build this program. Hopefully you have two more games
in purple remaining. It was a pleasure to watch each of you play for the
past four or five years.

Thank you NUMB seniors ... cheerleading and Ladycat seniors ... and student
section seniors. Pro football, while a great sport, can't compare to the
excitement of college football and each of you are a huge reason why autumn
Saturdays in Evanston are so special.

Thank you seniors.

SjT GAME BALLS
==============
* NOAH HERRON: He didn't top 100, but he scored two big touchdowns and
passed some of the carries off to T.J. to build for the future. And on
those carries Jordan had, Herron demonstrated an impressive blocking
ability, busting holes on at least three nice runs. This guy's got it all
-- he showed breakaway speed last week at Michigan, he showed toughness on
the 4th and 2 call Saturday where Noah was hit at the line of scrimmage and
simply willed his way over the two needed yards of turf. He blocks, he
catches, he's licked any semblance of a fumble problem he had last year.
Noah Herron is the best running back in the Big Ten this year, period. And
while we've seen some good backs in Evanston during the last decade, from
the gifted Autry to the gritty Anderson to the hard-working Wright, I dunno
if we've seen as complete a back as Herron. This kid's special and
hopefully the pro scouts will look at all the things he brings to the table
and find a way to use him somewhere in the NFL next season.

* HOWARD, CASTILLO, CLARK, McGARIGLE, PICKENS, ROACH AND THE DEFENSE: The O
didn't show for most of the day and it was up to the D to keep us in the
game. They bent, but did not break -- always keeping the Cats within a play
of the lead. Castillo made some Herculean efforts to stuff the run,
McGarigle is a tackling machine much like his mentor, old #51 on the
sidelines, and Howard was just huge with those two sacks and other pressure
moments. If only we'd have had him for the whole season ... but it was a
solid defensive game, with a nice goal-line stand to boot, that kept our
bowl hopes alive and typified how far this unit has come this year. You
can't change your talent level overnight, but you can change your attitude
and the way you play as a team. These guys are primarily the same unit
gashed left and right the last few years. This year they've made tremendous
strides in making opponents one-dimensional and doing enough to get the
win. Kudos!

* JEFF BACKES: Wow. You wanna talk about a game breaker? After being
tripped up by the kicker at the NU 40 on his TD return, Backes was a mere
arm's length from the Illini defender. But from that point on, with the
defender in full run and Backes tripped up, the 40-yard-dash wasn't even
close. Backes breaks away from the defenders and scores. THAT's break-away
speed!

THINGS TO WORK ON
=================
* PENALTIES: I don't care if you had Big XII refs, you're playing Texas and
you're wearing a KU helmet ... 11 penalties for 112 yards is inexcusible.
Some of those may have been questionable, but a lot were stupid false
starts, sloppy holds and mental mistakes. We'd done so well on limiting
these all season ... hopefully this is a one-game blip on that mark.

* COME TO PLAY: The offense simply did not show up today. We never looked
energized. We never got in sync save one or two drives. And we never got a
rhythm going. We have to have a list of "starter" plays that are tried and
true yardage gainers to go to when we're stumbling to find some momentum.
And the line has to live up to its dominant potential on every series, not
just one drive.

* FOCUS: Memo to the NU team and coaches ... Hawaii is a beautiful place.
Thanksgiving is a family holiday. It's unfortunate that you have to miss
out a bit on both of those, but this isn't a game to take lightly. Focus on
coming ready to play, playing smart and playing together and after 60
minutes, you'll be back in the bowl scene. Get it done!

AROUND THE LEAGUE
=================
* After years of teams like Wisconsin and Northwestern watching "The Game"
and cheering for a Wolverine upset of the Buckeyes, it's fitting in this
bizarro world that the BUCKEYES play their game of the year and beat the
Wolverines ... only to watch MICHIGAN back door it into the Rose Bowl
anyway. A heck of a win under pressure and another road collapse for Carr
as his superfrosh finally showed their age. Now the OSU faithful have to be
thinking "we finally found a coach who beats Michigan consistently ... only
to have him get himself fired in a scandal? UGH!"

* The Big Ten has some of the nation's great coaches. John L. Smith has
worked near miracles his first two years in East Lansing. And Barry Alvarez
and Jim Tressel are as good as it gets. But no one has matched the job this
year of Kirk Ferentz at IOWA. These guys have been forced by injury to try
everyone but the waterboy at running back ... yet the haven't lost since
the end of September. Seven straight Big Ten wins later, including a
rousing thrashing of Wisconsin today, and the Hawkeyes have Ferentz' second
Big Ten title in three years. He's taken the Hawkeyes to three straight New
Year's bowls ... with a different offensive backfield each year. Amazing.

* As for WISCONSIN ... what a complete collapse to close the season. I'd
say it's unheard of, except that it almost mirrors Purdue's midyear
collapse following their loss to the Badgers. Here, Wisconsin rises to #4
and looks awesome in blitzing Minnesota in the home finale. Then they hit
the road and that cocky swagger and trash-talkin' defense fails to show up
for two straight weeks in East Lansing and Iowa City. And this happens when
everyone's back from injury and the freshmen have had nine games under
their belt? What happened?

* Perhaps PENN STATE can designate every home game Senior Day next year?
The Lions play about as well as anyone in the home finale and wind up
scoring almost more today than they did all year. In the process, MSU's
juggernaut comes unglued and the Motor City Bowl official weep bitterly.
With all of that defense back next year, if JoePa can get the O to be even
mediocre, the Lions could give the old coach a heck of a season to retire
on ... perhaps.

* PURDUE rolls to the bucket. Yawn. They beat the Buckeyes, but the OSU
name and that big win over Michigan may mean that the Boilers get passed up
in the bowl picture. Oh well, they can cry all the way to Evanston, where a
team that beat BOTH the Boilers and Buckeyes will likely get passed over in
the league bowl picks. Ugh.

So now it all comes down to the final game again this year. Win and we're
in the postseason for the second straight year. Lots of distractions await
on the islands, along with a powerful offense and veteran quarterback ...
no time for turkey, just get it done!

GO CATS!!! BEAT HAWAII!!!
-SjT

PS - Fun thought of the week ... if the NCAA had not added OT, NU's record
now could be 3-4-4.:)


888b   8888 O  R  T  H  W  E  S  T  E  R 888b   8888
8888b  Y888 ============================ 8888b  Y888
88888b  Y88 *     Stephen J. Truog     * 88888b  Y88
88 Y88b  88 * --- sjtruog at jorsm.com -- * 88 Y88b  88
88  Y88b 88 * --- Wildcat Football --- * 88  Y88b 88
88b  Y88888 * -- Illinois ------ 21 -- * 88b  Y88888
888b  Y8888 * -- NORTHWESTERN -- 28 -- * 888b  Y8888
8888   Y888 * ------ CATS WIN!!! ----- * 8888   Y888
====================================================
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