[NU Sports] WILDCAT WRAP: Northwestern 31, Indiana 28

[SjT (Stephen J. Truog)]

WILDCAT WRAP – NORTHWESTERN 31, INDIANA 28

There are a lot of ways you could look at
Northwestern’s 31-28 season home finale win over
Indiana. It could be a team finally getting over that
hump and learning to win games they need to finish
when they have leads in the fourth quarter. It could
be the Cats almost blowing another game they should
have easily won with turnovers and mistakes. It could
be a case of some gutsy performances from seniors and
team leaders for the home finale. Or it could be just
another exciting finish to a Northwestern football
game in Ryan Field by the comeback Cats.

But it might just be that Saturday’s game will go down
as the Replay Bowl. Several key plays – including two
touchdowns (and what probably should have been a
third) – were held up while officials upstairs took an
extra look to get the call right. And when a fumble
appeared to end Indiana’s final drive and give NU the
victory, the Evanston crowd had to hold their breath
while replay officials went to work before they could
confirm the call on the field and celebrate the Senior
Day victory.

Northwestern came into the game after a heartbreaking
home loss to Iowa last week in a game where NU
dominated the first quarter and played well most of
the game, but for the second straight week, a 17-14 NU
lead at the end of three evaporated into a Wildcat
loss. In fact, of the five Wildcat defeats this year,
they were leading Michigan, Purdue and Iowa in the
fourth and had four chances to win at the end against
Duke. Only the Ohio State debacle was out of reach. So
while no one doubted the Cats ability to comeback,
their ability to finish out games they’re leading was
definitely called into question.

The weather was a brisk Midwestern autumn day, perfect
for the pigskin, and the Hoosiers brought quite a bit
more fans than they usually do to Evanston. No doubt
they were anticipating this game being win No. 7 that
would make a long-awaited bowl bid all but certain.
The IU Marching Hundred band was also in attendance,
making for a spirited afternoon. Though I must say,
between their little march song for IU first downs
(complete with odd hand gestures) and that blasted
whistle for Purdue, you’re gonna need to bring some
earplugs to the old bucket game next week to leave
with a sense of sanity. C’mon Marching Hundred, you
have the INDIANA Jones march to play, why are you
milking cows?

The first quarter against started much like last
week’s first quarter except with different results.
Once again, Northwestern dominated the opening 15
minutes, controlling the clock, moving it up and down
the field and dominating the total yardage on offense.
But the Cats had to settle for a field goal on their
opening march and the Hoosiers didn’t even need to put
their offense on the field as the ensuing kick was
returned 91 yards for a touchdown.

Coming into the game, most purple-clad fans knew that
Northwestern needed to finish the drive with “6 not 3”
and I was even willing to print up shirts saying “I
HATE FIELD GOALS” given how kicks have been an, um,
adventure this year. But the first 16 minutes of the
game just made the point all the greater. Northwestern
had the ball for 31 of the game’s first 35 plays. The
defense even forced a 3-and-out after an interception
where C.J. Bacher woefully underthrew a deep pass. But
with IU’s kick return and NU’s drives stalling for a
field goal and a missed field goal, the Cats were down
3-7 at the start of the second quarter despite
dominating every phase of the game outside of special
teams.

Things looked even worse when the Hoosiers finally
woke up and drove down for a touchdown on their second
possession. And despite a great burst up the middle by
Tyrell Sutton, showing flashes of the No. 19 NU fans
know and love, moved the ball deep into IU territory,
the Cats promptly squandered yet another scoring
chance when a touchdown pass by Bacher bounced out of
Ross Lane’s hands and into an IU defender in the end
zone.

The Wildcats had had four offensive series, all
marching to midfield or beyond, and had only three
points. Two ended in field goal tries, while two ended
in interceptions. NU fans were wondering what they had
to do to score when something almost unheard of in
recent Wildcat history happened.

Indiana was driving off the turnover when quarterback
Kellen Lewis was knocked out for a play. When backup
Ben Chappell came in and made one throw, the NU
defense made the interception and senior Eddie Simpson
ran it back 40 yards for the touchdown. The teams
exchanged punts until halftime and the Cats headed to
the locker room down only 10-14, thanks to their
defense.

At halftime, the NU Marching Band put on a great show
– once again bringing out “Rhapsody in Blue” for
“American Airlines Day” at Ryan Field in a wonderfully
sly slam on corporate sponsorship. Sadly, though, the
usual “olde plus four” and senior recognition was
rushed by time and the teams coming back on the field
a bit early. In fact, the alma mater was performed at
a brisk pace – quicker than the fight song is most
days – to rush off the field in time. After all their
hard work to make Saturdays special, the seniors in
NUMB deserve a better send-off!

Another quick editorial comment: The Wildcat defense
played much better this game than in the past – more
aggressive and more pressuring. Our front four were
able to get consistent pressure on IU all day, and
even if their line isn’t as good as I thought, they
still have one of the more mobile quarterbacks in
Hardy who can scramble out of most jams. I am NOT
trying to say Colby deserves to stay as defensive
coordinator, though. For some reason, he refused to
give Sherrick McManus any help all day on James Hardy.
I love McManis’ enthusiasm and aggression, but Hardy
is indeed every bit as good as advertised and had a
huge height advantage all day. By putting McManus
one-on-one and having no inside help when McManis had
to play the fade down by the end zone, Hardy easily
cut one in for a wide open score and could have done
so all day if the Hoosiers had gone to him more.
Overall, he only had a quiet 100 yards or so – not
nearly as bad as it could have been with our defensive
game plan to not double cover the best receiver in the
league. But we did come with more blitz schemes and
got good pressure when only rushing the front line.

But the game started to really get crazy in the second
half. The officials really hadn’t played much of a
role in the game – not calling a lot both ways and
staying out of it for the most part. But that usually
commendable approach could not be tolerated any more
on the first series of the second half when a
scrambling Lewis – running toward the sideline with
THE MARKER ON IT – took a couple steps over the line
before hurling a 70-yard touchdown strike to break the
game open again at 20-10 Indiana.

To be honest, I didn’t even see who caught it
downfield or even know it was a TD until a bit later.
I was too stunned that with an official AND A MARKER
right by the play, no one had thrown a flag for
crossing the line. From midfield and sixty rows up, I
could clearly see two steps past the line of scrimmage
and pointed in stunned outrage, yelling for replay in
disbelief that no flag had been thrown. Were these
officials napping through the game? How could my so-so
eyesight spot this so obviously while they missed it,
I incredulously thought.

Ten years ago, it would have just been an outrage post
for the message boards afterwards, but thank goodness
we have instant replay and they buzzed down in the
nick of time. It was a huge turning point in the game
as the play came on third down and when the folks
upstairs finally got it right, it became a 14-point
swing because the Cats drove down after the ensuing
punt to take a 17-14 lead on Sutton’s 1-yard plunge.

After the Wildcat defense again forced a punt (a
make-up replay reversal had given the Hoosiers one
first down but they couldn’t get another), the
situation was all too familiar for NU fans. The Cats
had the ball, up 17-14 in the second half. Against
Purdue and Iowa, they had been in this situation many
times and failed to get that “next score” that would
put some distance between themselves and their
opponent. But senior Kim Thompson stepped up this time
to make sure his home finale would not be the third
game in a row of blown opportunities. Thompson caught
two key third down conversions to spur a drive that
ended in a touchdown when senior Brandon Roberson
turned a halfback option into a touchdown pass to a
wide open Thompson in the end zone.

The play was a great call and Thompson snuck behind
the defense and could have set up camp in the end zone
for a couple weeks before being detected. However,
IU’s defense forced a delay in the pass and tipped it
enough that it took a fantastic catch by Thompson on
the side of the end zone to get the score. Of course
the play was reviewed, but this time the refs had made
the right call on the lead and the Cats were up 28-17.
Finally, some breathing distance for Wildcat fans –
were they learning to finish?

The other great thing about this drive – and all of
NU’s possessions in the second half this week – was
that they did not forget about the running game. In
the Iowa and Purdue losses, Sutton rarely touched the
ball. On Saturday, he was fed early and often on NU’s
drives. He didn’t break any long, but it kept the Cats
in manageable third downs and kept the defense honest
against the run and pass.

With just over a quarter left, however, NU fans knew
this one was not over. Indiana finally seemed to
realize that they had the Big Ten’s best receiver in
single coverage and used a couple big passes to Hardy
to set up a touchdown to cut the lead back to three.
The touchdown itself probably should have been added
to the replay list for the day. I was surprised no one
challenged it. They didn’t show a replay on the
jumbotron, but it sure looked like it may have been
slipping out as he dove for the end zone and barely
crossed the line.

In any case, the score stood and instead of being up
17-14, NU was now up 24-21 entering the final fifteen
minutes. Bacher quickly drove the Cats downfield –
aided by another big Thompson catch – and the Cats
were facing 3rd and Goal at the Hoosier 3 yard line
with just over 10 minutes left.

As soon as they ran the play and before the ball was
thrown, I yelled out the words I now wanted to print
on a new T-shirt: “I HATE THE FADE.” You can run a
fade when you have a huge height edge like Hardy had.
You can run the fade when you have a great leaper. You
can run it when you have a perfect throw or the far
side of the field. Northwestern had none of those
things. All I thought would happen was an incomplete
and we’d have to go for it on 4th down (“NO MORE FIELD
GOALS!” was another T-shirt idea) 
 but it was worse.
Indiana intercepted it and with 10:19 remaining in the
game, Northwestern’s third interception gave Indiana a
golden chance to take the lead and get that big bowl
win.

The Cats brought pressure and sacked Hardy once, but
the next time he escaped with a big scramble and
fueled a drive that ended with an easy Hardy
touchdown. With no inside help and McManis having to
play the fade, Hardy cut it in for a wide open score
to put Indiana ahead 28-24 with six minutes remaining.

Now was when the Cats had folded in the past two
weeks, but not this time. Everything finally came
together for play calling, Bacher and the entire
offense as the Cats gave the home fans and seniors
another thrilling finish. It’s telling that the Cats
had four sets of downs on the final drive and on each
of the four first downs and four second downs, NU
dialed up a rushing play. Big difference from the past
couple weeks!

Not only did the running game keep the defense honest
and mix up the offense, it took a lot of time off the
clock and surprisingly, the Hoosiers didn’t empty
their supply of timeouts to keep more left on the
clock for a comeback drive. The balance finally paid
off. On 3rd and 2 from the IU 3, everyone in the house
was expecting a run. There was almost an audible gasp
from the crowd when Bacher kept the ball and dropped
back. Thankfully for the purple-clad fans, he zipped a
perfect strike to Lane for the touchdown and with 44
seconds left, NU topped their “magical mark” of 30
points that seems to determine wins and losses for the
season to take the lead at 31-28.

A poor kickoff out of bounds gave the Hoosiers one
last chance and after a couple first downs moved
Indiana within range of a couple Hail Mary’s (and that
was a scary thought for NU with Hardy on the field).
But the Wildcat pressure continued to be fierce and
David Ngene came up with perhaps the play of the year
to knock the ball free on a sack to seal the victory.
Of course, the play would be reviewed. But after what
seemed like an endless wait for the fans in Ryan
Field, the call stood and Northwestern had won its
sixth game of the season and ended the home slate on
an high note with a thrilling 31-28 victory.

The Big Ten has 10 bowl eligible teams heading into
the final week of play, so six wins likely won’t be
enough for an extra game this year. This means the
Cats have to come up with their best game of the year
to win at rival Illinois – coming off their biggest
win in years – next week to secure a postseason trip,
and even then it might not be a sure thing if other
upsets happen.

But all that analysis – and the continued beating of
the heads against the wall for letting Duke and Iowa
slip away at home – can wait. For now it was a
wonderful scene for fans to see the Wildcat team head
over to the students and band to victoriously sing “Go
U Northwestern” one more time with the sound
reverberating throughout Ryan Field this year. Always
nice to go out on a win.

GAME BALLS
* Our Seniors. Outside of the O-line and secondary,
the losses to graduation shouldn’t hurt NU too much
next year. However, as they were being introduced, I
reflected on how much this group of seniors have had
to endure and how much they have meant to this
program. Two years ago on Senior Day, they were
celebrating with the rest as the Cats came back to
beat Iowa en route to a Sun Bowl berth and a bright
future. But with the tragedy of Coach Walker’s death,
they had to grow up and become team leaders in a hurry
as juniors. There were some rough times, but two years
later they were able to walk off Ryan Field with a
comeback win  and bowl eligibility for their team.
It’s important that this group of seniors would not
let NU’s program slip back to the dark ages, much as
they would not let NU lose this game. To single a
couple out 

* Kim Thompson. Big catches. Clutch catches.
Especially on third down on the winning drive. We’ll
have a great group of receivers back next year, but
we’ll still have big shoes to fill with Thompson’s
leadership and composure in crunch time.
* Eddie Simpson. The whole defense was aggressive
today – nice to see – but this senior’s interception
and return were a turning point in this game.

THINGS TO WORK ON
* Turnovers. One pick wasn’t C.J.’s fault, but the
other two were. They could have cost us dearly in the
first half as we squandered many opportunities to blow
this one open early.
* No more field goals. Period. From now on, if we get
it near midfield, it’s four down territory.
* No more fades. Ever. Until we get a  6-6 wideout.
Overall the coaches did well today, but you still
cringed on that fade call or IU’s touchdown where NU
gave no help on Hardy. Good aggression on D and
excellent job remembering to run in the fourth on
offense – but still a long way to go.

AROUND THE LEAGUE
* ILLINOIS deserves to be a top 20 team. This was not
OHIO STATE losing as much as it was ILLINOIS winning.
Amazing composure in keeping the ball out of OSU’s
hands in the fourth quarter. Sad for the Big Ten to
see an extra BCS berth chance fade, but great to show
folks that like the SEC, we have great depth and
balance and are not as depleted as people think. Now
hopefully the Cats can catch the Zookers celebrating
next week and get a much-needed win to keep Sweet
Sioux.
* I had no idea of Mike Hart’s playing or not playing,
or the time left, but when I saw the updates of
MICHIGAN at WISCONSIN and saw a 23-7 lead become 23-14
in the fourth quarter, all I could do was shake my
head and wonder why good ole Lloyd Carr didn’t go for
two. Sure, there was a lot of time left, but without a
lot of starters in the 4th quarter on the road, you go
for two to make it a one possession game! They could
have tied it instead of making it 23-21 later – but
still, nice win by the Badgers to defend home turf and
show why they’re a top 25 team  as well.
* PENN STATE had a snoozer this week, but will
definitely need some style points next week in what
should be a wild race for the Florida New Year’s bowls
between the Illini, Badgers, Nits and OSU/UM loser.
With only one BCS berth, the non-January bowls with
Big Ten ties are going to get some big-name teams.
* Was MICHIGAN STATE’s win against PURDUE a cathartic
showing that they were finally not the old Sparty team
that folds like a lawnchair in November? Or was it
just Purdue’s overrated self catching up to it? We’ll
see next week. But you know that the Motor City Bowl
will be wearing a lot of green next week.
* Keep the pig! IOWA quietly has turned around its
season nicely and should win next week to get to 7
wins and a bowl berth.

Always good to end with a win. While we’ll be kicking
ourselves for weeks against the ones that got away
against Duke, Iowa and even Purdue and Michigan,
overall this has been a solid season. Coach Fitz has
started to leave more of his imprint on the team and
hopefully that continues with a more aggressive
defense (and a new DC?) next year. And McGee is
starting to learn how to best use the weapons he has
on offense and that will continue to be a lot next
year, especially if Brewer returns healthy. I smell a
whole gadget play section of the playbook!

Like I said with the seniors, it’s important to
realize that they helped hold this team together
through some tough times in the past two years and
after a year of transition last year, we’re back to
where we need to be this year – in the mix for bowl
contention. Next year we need to build of that success
and finish those victories off to get to 8, 9 or 10
wins consistently. With a  few changes on the
assistant staff, I think we’re heading in that
direction.

Also of note is that Fitz is now halfway to Walker’s
mark of beating all of the Big Ten teams. He now has
victories over Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana and
MSU. Of course, those last five look to be a bit
tougher and whether or not he gets them will really
show whether or not he’s taken the Cats to that next
level during his coaching career.

So good finish to the home season – now let’s finish
it out on the road. The Illini will hopefully be
looking ahead to a possible Zooker Bowl in Orlando
against Florida and celebrating their huge win. It
will be tough to contain Juice Williams and Mendenhall
without the turnovers the Illini had at the start of
the year. But it is a rivalry game, so throw those
records out, strap on the pads and let’s go hit
someone. We play our in-state rival for a bowl berth
on the last weekend of the year – can you ask for much
more?

GO CATS!!!
-SjT

* * * * * * * * *
STEPHEN J. TRUOG
sjtruog at yahoo.com
GO CATS!!!

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