[NU Sports] WILDCAT WRAP: Northwestern 49, Minnesota 48 (2OT)

[SjT (Stephen J. Truog)]

WILDCAT WRAP – NORTHWESTERN 49, MINNESOTA 48 (2OT)
By Stephen J. Truog

It just wouldn’t be homecoming at Northwestern with
some kind of crazy comeback. And it wouldn’t be a
Northwestern game, period, without a frenzied finish.

And after last year, we were due.

Maybe it’s just something about being down 35-14 to
Minnesota that leads to wild wins for the Wildcats, as
homecoming 2007 ended happily for the purple-clad NU
faithful with a thrilling 49-48 double overtime win
over Minnesota.

As with last week’s OT win at Michigan State, the
much-needed victory erases all kinds of woes, and
there were plenty for the purple this week 
 atrocious
special teams that, frankly, were a shock after
improved play most of this year 
 a porous defense
that saw some great individual efforts rise above
another poorly planned scheme 
 and most disappointing
of all until the final quarter, an offense that looked
dominant between the 20s but couldn’t capitalize on
many opportunities to put this game away early.

But that’s all for the film sessions and game plans of
the future. What mattered is that when the Cats needed
him, C.J. Bacher again showed signs of maturing into a
true leader quarterback in the likes of Basanez and
Kustok in this Northwestern spread offense. With calm
confidence and pistol precision, Bacher did what he
could not do earlier in this season against Duke. With
fourth down and quite possibly the season on the line,
he delivered the rally-capping touchdown to help
salvage what could have been another homecoming horror
story for Northwestern.

For a while there, it looked like a repeat of last
year’s homecoming except this time, NU only got a
quarter to enjoy themselves before a collapse. Things
started well after the teams exchanged 3-and-outs with
the Cats finding their rhythm and easily moving the
ball down the field on their second possession for a
7-0 lead.

Then things got better. Goal line stand. Two words
that Wildcat fans probably thought they might never
utter again after the 1995 Wisconsin victory. But
after giving the Gophers a short field, four tries
inside the five and three attempts at the one yard
line 
 the NU defense thrilled the student section
with three straight stuffs in that same north end zone
where the Wisconsin game ended to get the ball back
and keep the 7-0 lead. Better yet 
 the Cats mounted a
90+ yard drive following the stand but stalled inside
the other five yard line.

But here’s where the game took a strange turn like the
MSU game last year did. A chip shot field goal doinked
off the goal post and even though the Wildcats had
thoroughly dominated the first quarter and a half,
they only had a 7-0 lead to show for it. Suddenly, the
Gophers realized that they were still miraculously in
this game and started attacking with their mobile
quarterback. Before you could say ski-u-mah, Minnesota
was up 14-7 and even though the Cats got a jump ball
touchdown near the end of the half to tie it, the
Gophers marched down to add another score before
halftime, thanks to sloppy special teams play and an
inexplicable kick out of bounds for a short field with
a minute left.

So the halftime score was 21-14 Goldie, and not even a
minute elapsed in the third quarter before the Gophers
added another touchdown. Again, an out of bounds
kickoff to start the half gave Minny excellent
starting field position.

Again, NU moved the ball well but saw drives result in
another missed chip shot field goal and a fumble near
the red zone. These led to yet another drive of big
plays for Minnesota and a touchdown for a 35-14 lead. 

Sure, Northwestern fans were reminded this week of the
thrilling 2000 “Victory Right” comeback against
Minnesota to win 41-35, rallying from a 35-14 deficit
in the second half. But things were looking bleak. The
offense was wasting red zone opportunities, the
special teams were in disarray and despite some fire
early from the defense, we were giving up gobs of
yards in the second and third quarters.

But then C.J. Bacher rallied the purple faithful into
a frenzy with a masterful comeback that deserves to be
placed alongside that Kustok classic in 2000. He had a
lot of help from what has to be the best stable of
wide receivers NU has had in awhile. Ross Lane has
become a touchdown machine with some of the surest
hands in the nation. Not far behind him in that
category is Eric Peterman, who is starting to remind
NU fans of Brian Musso with those fearless snags
across the middle. Kim Thompson also showed up
big-time today. Yarborough and Ward have added speed
and shown improvement. And best of all, after years of
seeming banishment from the NU playbook, the screen is
back! We may not have perfected getting the blockers
out in front yet, but the amount of screen plays in
the past three weeks on offense has to outnumber our
screens in the past three seasons.

And Bacher has become a master at getting all of these
receiving weapons – as well as his running backs
Conteh and Roberson – involved and mixing it up well.

Two nice touchdown drives and two nifty turnovers
forced by the defense later and the Cats are within a
score at 35-28. But we can’t convert third down with
6:00 left and punt. The defense struggled the first
couple tries, but finally forced fourth down and we
got one last chance with Bacher running the two-minute
drill with one timeout. Like the Duke game, it came
down to fourth and goal in the south end zone. But
this time, Bacher found Peterman with a laser between
two defenders in the corner of the end zone to tie it.
It was as perfect a pass as you’ll see and it was
exactly where it had to be. One inch in any direction
and Minnesota wins. Instead, we go to overtime.

The Gophers played in two overtime games to start the
season and NU was coming off the OT win last week in
East Lansing, so neither team seemed intimidated even
though momentum was clearly wearing purple. Minny
struck first, NU answered. Not surprising given both
teams’ porous defenses – though the Cats needed a big
fourth down conversion from – guess who – Lane before
#9 scored his second TD of the game to tie it. NU
drove and scored in the second OT and Minnesota
answered. Opting to go for the win, Minny lined up for
two when the Cats got nice pressure and forced the
incompletion. Happy homecoming, Cats win!

It was a game we should have blown open 21-0 early and
coasted to victory in. Then it turned into a game
where we were getting blown out, couldn’t stop
Minnesota and had no business winning. But it ended –
as so many NU games have in the last decade or so –
with a wild Wildcat win. There were a lot of things we
did wrong, but when C.J. and the offense are on, it
all seems right in the end. I believe NU is now 7-0 in
Big Ten overtime games and our record in games decided
by a score or less is among the top 2-3 in the nation
in the past decade, so sooner or later that has to
stop being called lucky and start being chalked up to
incredible heart, desire and a never-give-up attitude.

Before we get to the game balls, a quick word on our
opponent’s fans today. Aside from Indiana, Minnesota
probably brings the least amount of fans to their
games at Ryan Field. However, they have always seemed
to me to be the best opposing fans in the Big Ten.
It’s not the size that matters, but the spirit. Gopher
fans do not come into our stadium all arrogant,
expecting us to bow down and revel in their
awesomeness as some visitors do. And they’re not
overbearingly obnoxious as other fans (we all know
which three schools I’m talking about) are in
Evanston. But that doesn’t mean they’re quiet. They
make a lot of noise, support their team through thick
and thin and show a great amount of class, spirit and
sportsmanship. As a NUMBalum, I appreciate that heart
and pride to be a true fan no matter what the score
and no matter whether you have 500 fans in attendance
or 25,000. Once Minnesota gets their on-campus stadium
and escapes that dreadful dome, I think they’ll have a
heck of a home field advantage.

Also, maybe it was the alums on campus for homecoming
or drawing inspiration from the fans in maroon and
gold, but NU’s student section was as active as I’ve
seen in awhile. Singing along with the school song,
making some noise and just being great fans. So were
the rest of the folks in purple. The stadium wasn’t
too full, but it was loud and full of frenzied fans
that were rightfully treated to a fantastic finish.
Well done all around! Now to the game balls 


GAME BALLS
* C.J. Bacher. Almost 1000 yards in two weeks. Two
masterful performances. He is looking every bit the
worthy successor to Baz and is starting to lead this
team with confidence and outstanding play. Well done,
#18!
* Ross Lane. As a simple rule, when you’re inside the
9 yard line, find out where #9 in purple is. All Lane
does? Catch touchdowns! Actually, he does a heck of a
lot more, including some nice blocking on screens that
our other wideouts could learn from.
* The refs. Just kidding. I couldn’t really think of a
third off hand because I don’t want to give the entire
offense one because of their ineffectiveness in the
red zone in the first three quarters. Meanwhile, we
had one series where a Lane was tripped up on a deep
pass from Bacher and the flag flew in. It looked like
our friends in stripes would call interference, but
after a conference, I figured they’d just pick the
flag up and chalk it up to incidental contact as the
legs got tangled. But the call they came up with was
offensive interference? It still baffles me. But
overall, the refs weren’t in the way of either
offense, so a somewhat mock, somewhat not bravo.
* OK, for real, third game ball to the fans. As I
explained above this was good old-fashioned fanaticism
on all sides. Sportsmanlike, but spirited. I think it
was telling that neither team seemed to want to do
overtime in the north end zone – where the NU students
and Gopher fans were on opposite sides and making a
lot of noise despite small numbers.

THINGS TO WORK ON
* Defense. We had some great individual efforts. A
couple tipped passes, a nice interception, pressure on
the two-point try and Corey Wooton’s interception to
name a few. Not to mention the goal line stand. But
overall, it was a case of some individual effort and
hustle overcoming another poor game plan. Count me
aboard the CanColby.com brigade. And speaking of
Wooton, seeing him up close from the band box, it’s
been a long time since NU has had a defensive lineman
with his raw talent. I sure hope we get some of our
alums – Matt Rice, Luis Castillo (sans steroids, of
course), Casey Daley, etc. – in here this summer to
work with Wooten. This kid has the physical skills to
be a great one and with some hard work in the
off-season, he could have a breakout year next year.
* Special teams. What happened? Doing so well this
year until the end of the MSU game and it continued
here. Two short field goals missed. Kickoffs out of
bounds. UGH! FIX IT!
* Red zone chances. We were moving the ball well
between the twenties in the first half and should have
put this game away early. We can’t play with fire too
often by letting teams hang around despite dominating
them on offense because we can’t put points on the
board. It burned us against Duke but we got away with
it here.

AROUND THE LEAGUE
* Wow. What a wild weekend. Again. Explain to me again
how a playoff would make this any less exciting? It
would still be a great regular season plus you’d have
more of it with march madness on grass! We may need a
playoff to sort out the myriad of 1-loss teams with
claims to the BCS title game this year. And as I said,
don’t count out the Gators. I can already hear Urban
Meyer whining, er “lobbying,” for Florida to leapfrog
teams at the end of the season if they get to the SEC
title game and win. Mack Brown’s famous politicking to
jump Cal for a BCS spot a few years back will look
like child’s play after this year’s jockeying by
coaches to get into those top two spots.
* Speaking of coaches who whine, er, “politick” 

MICHIGAN is quietly back to their preseason role as
the Big Ten favorite. They already beat PSU, they just
got done stomping Purdue and Ohio State comes to the
Big House for what could be Lloyd Carr’s farewell game
and what could be a great story of a team that started
awful rallying for nine straight wins and playing for
a Rose Bowl berth. They still have some tough tests
left, though, and they need Mike Hart to be healthy
for that stretch run. But still, great story.
* As for Michigan’s rival, this year has been classic
Tressel so far. After a rare coaching blunder last
year in the title game, he has come back focused and
relying on defense and a steady O to rise to #1 in the
rankings. They have a killer final four games, though.
* And that killer stretch starts with PENN STATE, who
finally looked like the team we expected all year in
their thrashing of Wisconsin. OSU’s toughest hurdle to
the BCS title game will likely be their visit to Happy
Valley in two weeks for a night game under White Out
conditions. Can’t wait for that one! As for Bucky,
look out below – the Bielema Bandwagon is losing
altitude and FAST. He sure wasn’t smirking across the
sidelines at JoePa as they went to halftime this year

 as cranky ole’ Joe would say, that’s his problem
now! All PSU has to be concerned with is winning out.
A 10-2 Lions squad would be BCS bound and might even
sneak into Pasadena if the Big Ten home stretch is as
wild as the college season has been so far.
* PSU/Wisky was supposed to be for the Big Ten title 

but along came ILLINOIS. Sooner or later, the Zookers’
youth that cost them the Mizzou game had to show,
though, and once again the gold and black opponent
uniforms brought it out. Good thing they don’t face
Purdue. Were they looking ahead to Michigan under the
lights? Tough jolt for the Illini fans and a big win
for Iowa.
* Speaking of restoring order or reality check, MSU
showed that this year may indeed be different 
 and
Indiana showed that this year may not be different 

with a Sparty smackdown under the lights.

What does this mean for the wild Big Ten race and bowl
picture? Well, it means that as long as Michigan and
OSU don’t lose focus in upcoming games with the Illini
and Badgers (or PSU for the Bucks), that they should
once again play for the Big Ten title and automatic
BCS bid. Hopefully the league can get two again
because we may need it to find a bowl for everyone.
After that? It’s a mess. Minny and Iowa are probably
the only ones who can plan on being home for the
holidays 
 but both showed that they won’t be rolling
down for the others trying to earn postseason berths.

As for the Cats, it’s nice to be back above .500 and
at 2-2 in league play. We need to come out and put EMU
away early on Friday to get that fifth win before our
final four Big Ten games. None are sure wins, but none
are sure defeats either. If C.J. and the offense can
stay hot, you have to think NU has a decent chance to
go bowling this year. But for now, it’s a happy
homecoming for the folks in Evanston with a thrilling
rally to wipe away the memories of last year’s bitter
collapse.

GO CATS!!!
-SjT

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


       
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