[NU Sports] FORTY DAYS OF FOOTBALL: Day 19

[SjT (Stephen J. Truog)]

Another Friday closer to football! And another step on our countdown. As always, feel free to comment, debate, disagree and suggest!

FORTY DAYS OF FOOTBALL
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> DAYS 1-10: The top coaches of the decade

10) Glen Mason, Minnesota
09) Bret Bielema, Wisconsin
08) Pat Fitzgerald, Northwestern
07) Barry Alvarez, Wisconsin
06) Randy Walker, Northwestern
05) Lloyd Carr, Michigan
04) Kirk Ferentz, Iowa
03) Joe Tiller, Purdue
02) Joe Paterno, Penn State
01) Jim Tressel, Ohio State

> DAYS 11-20: The top games of the decade

10) 2000: Purdue 32, Michigan 31
09) 2001: Michigan State 26, Michigan 24
08) 2005: Michigan 27, Penn State 25
07) 2003: Minnesota 37, Wisconsin 34
06) 2004: Northwestern 33, Ohio State 27 (OT)
05) 2008: Penn State 13, Ohio State 6
04) 2009: Ohio State 27, Iowa 24 (OT)
03) 2002: Ohio State 10, Purdue 6

> DAYS 21-30: The top players of the decade
> DAYS 31-40: The top teams of the decade

And a quick reminder of the "rules" for this list ...
- No bowl games (counted down those before the Outback Bowl)
- Only conference games (they mean more!)
- No "repeats" (i.e. only one Michigan vs. OSU game)

>From a defensive gem, we go to the opposite end of the pool this week for No. 2 - it's also from our only year with multiple games (2000 was a fantastic year with some great ones left off ... and 2007's off the countdown, sorry Illinois @ OSU game!)

TOP GAMES
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02) Northwestern 54, Michigan 51

I've been fortunate to be a fan of Northwestern football since 1992, and the Cats have played some incredible games that I've been able to attend. I was in South Bend for the 17-15 upset, hugging purple strangers in euphoria. I was in Ann Arbor later that year, jumping for joy on the sideline with NUMB so much that I slipped on the wet grass and wiped out with delight. And in 2000, it seemed like every week was even better than the last - the overtime stunner in Madison that was sweet even from the isolated corner of Camp Randall where our tickets were, the victory right game in the Metrodome, the dismantling of Sparty in East Lansing ... it was a joy to watch.

But nothing compares to Nov. 4, 2000, when I was at Dyche Stadium for the Michigan-Northwestern game.

It remains the most amazing, unbelievable, exhilarating, exhausting, exuberant, exasperating and any other hyperbolic adjective you can think of game I have seen. The final minutes alone put Hollywood to shame, but more on that in a moment.

The afternoon kickoff brought in the portable lights and only added to the anticipation. This was Michigan back when the Maize and Blue ruled the league. They were No. 12 and neck-and-neck with Purdue and Northwestern in a wild Big Ten race for the Roses (the last pure Rose Bowl, pre BCS). The Cats had turned heads with thrilling finishes and upsets, but a setback to Purdue dampened the party a bit and NU entered the game barely in the top 25.

The stat line from the game is mind boggling, even in the offensive era of spread offenses and the like. The combined totals approached 1,200 yards and it really was a case of the offenses executing to near perfection -- these were not championship defenses, but they didn't play as poorly as the box score makes it look. The playmakers just made 'em all on that day.

Northwestern started the scoring off, but Michigan answered with their version of the triplets - quarterback Drew Henson, running back Anthony Thomas and receiver David Terrelle - having monster days. Terrelle had three TD catches in the first half alone and Thomas added another as big blue built a 28-23 halftime lead (the Cats settled for two short field goals instead of punching it in to take the lead).

After the break, Thomas would add two more scores to equal Terrelle's three-score day and the Wolverines were up 45-36 entering the final 15 minutes. So did Lloyd Carr go into his usual conservative, run-out-the-clock shell? Maybe. But he had done that in the fourth when Michigan lost in Evanston in 1996 and Michigan seemed to really want this one more and didn't play too tight to the vest. This was more Northwestern's story - quarterback Zak Kustok had led miraculous comebacks in Madison and Minneapolis earlier in the season and would not be denied on the national stage.

Northwestern clawed back to a 46-45 lead before Michigan marched downfield and Thomas scored his third touchdown to make it 51-46. No one thought it was over, but if anyone tells you they knew what would happen next, they're lying.

In the final moments, NU drove down for what appeared to be the winning score only to have it called back by a flag. On fourth down, Michigan brought the house on a blitz, but coach Randy Walker had the perfect call for it and as Kustok floated his pass over the charge of defenders, the purple crowd rose to their feet and saw star running back Damien Anderson, all alone at the goal line. DA2 had topped 250 rushing yards on the day (Thomas had 199 for Michigan), Kustok topped 300 in passing and the two seemed sure to connect for a play for the ages.

But Anderson dropped it.

Heartbreak set in and you could just hear the air rush out of the stadium as the player of the game dropped a sure six. Anderson bounced up and was greeted by Michigan defenders, not taunting him, but tipping their caps out of respect for a game well played.

Michigan now only needed to run out the clock and claim the victory. A lot of NU fans started to trudge towards the exits and the Maize and Blue fans behind our season seats were growing more and more bold in their shouts of "WHOOOOO! There goes the A-Train!" with each Thomas carry forward to move the chains.

But then the other star running back of the day made his own unthinkable mistake to match Anderson's dropped pass. As Thomas sliced through the line for the final first down the Wolverines needed, the "hand of Willie" slipped in and knocked the football out ... Raheem Covington covered up the ball with 46 seconds remaining and my mom turned around to the Michigan fans behind us and simply said "The A-train just derailed."

A few plays later, Zak Kustok found Sam Simmons on the slant for the winning score and after Drew Henson drove Michigan into position to tie it with a 50+ yard field goal, a bobbled snap led to a botched play and the game was finally over.

If we didn't have video of the game, you could not convince me that anything in this game happened - especially those final two minutes. Others had used the spread before Northwestern, but this game more than anything else led to the spread craze across the country, as fans across the country could not stop talking about it for weeks and months afterwards.

The Cats and Michigan wound up tied with Purdue for the Big Ten championship. Drew Brees and company got to enjoy Pasadena, but fans of both schools knew immediately after this one ended that they had witnessed one of the greatest games in college football - for the decade and beyond.

I still get goosebumps just thinking about it.

Coming Saturday: Games don't get any bigger than this one.

GO CATS!!!
-SjT

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STEPHEN J. TRUOG
sjtruog at yahoo.com
GO CATS!!! GEAUX SAINTS!!!
Super Bowl XLIV Champions!
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