“You can say what you want,” said junior linebacker Damien Proby, who led the ‘Cats with nine tackles and was the sole player who held his head high while talking to the media following Saturday’s 38-31 overtime loss to Michigan. “I know you will.”
Quite frankly, Damien, there really is not much to say.
Michigan quarterback Devin Gardner heaved the ball 53 yards to Roy Roundtree, who somehow made a one-handed, miraculous catch and the Wolverines’ Brendan Gibbons kicked a 34-yard game-tying field goal with two seconds remaining. Then, Michigan won the back-and-forth game in overtime as Gardner ran a bootleg into the end zone and the Wildcats’ fourth down try was stuffed. Needless to say, the 110,000-plus fans who packed the Big House went absolutely nuts.
“We knew what we were doing,” Proby said of the reception. “All the credit goes to [Roundtree], but we were there.”
But sometimes “being there” is not enough, just as “being” at any bowl not named the Rose Bowl or Capital One Bowl will not be enough. It cannot be. Not when Northwestern’s three losses all came after leads in the fourth quarter. Not when games that should have been won result in heartbreaking losses.
Just when it looked like Northwestern had finally put away a game that it deserved to win, when Michigan still had only 18 seconds to travel over 60 yards, the ’Cats blew another sure victory.
Still, head coach Pat Fitzgerald did not place the loss solely on the Roundtree reception.
“It wasn’t a Hail Mary, they just threw a post route,” Fitzgerald said. “We had post players there, our post players gotta make a play. Obviously, prior to that we did some things that weren’t what we needed to do. We needed to punt the ball out of bounds; we didn’t do that. We needed to get a first down; we didn’t do that. We need to play better in the fourth quarter at times.”
It sure seemed like the game was over just minutes before, when Northwestern quarterback Kain Colter picked up a 1st down to Michigan’s 40-yard line by a chain link with about three minutes remaining. Colter, who returned to the game after suffering what appeared to be an ankle injury, was 8-14 for 96 yards and a touchdown through the air, and ran for another 82 yards on 24 carries.
Or maybe one would assume, following Trevor Siemian’s 15-yard touchdown throw to Tony Jones with 3:59 remaining, that senior cornerback Demetrius Dugar’s interception would have sealed a victory for the ‘Cats. But Dugar, who Michigan picked on all day, did not get the last word.
Instead it was Gardner, who threw for 286 yards and two touchdowns and tacked on two more scores on the ground, who left Northwestern fans wondering if it could get any worse.
Sure, it seems like ‘Cats fans would learn. After blowing double-digit leads to both Penn State and Nebraska, no lead should feel safe. Except this one did. It seemed like even Northwestern could not give up a scoring drive to a team that had no timeouts and only 18 seconds with which to work. But it did.
“It’s a tough way to lose,” said Siemian, following his best game of the season, in which he went 6-7 with 87 yards and two touchdowns. “[There’s] not too much you can do about it.”
And he’s right. It almost gives one that feeling that Northwestern literally cannot win these close games.
When running back Venric Mark (23 carries, 104 yards, one touchdown) took a kickoff back to the house with 8:45 left in the game, only to have it called back, it seemed impossible for the ’Cats to pull this one out.
Defense, penalties and big plays plagued Northwestern all day, and they effectively cancelled out whatever momentum the team had after going up 21-14 in the third. The men in maize and blue were unable to convert long third downs on their first two drives of the third quarter, but a pass interference call on Demetrius Dugar on a 3rd and 17 gave Michigan a first down. That eventually set up a 28-yard Toussaint touchdown catch filled with missed tackles. Overall, Northwestern finished with eight penalties for 75 yards.
Still, for all the heartbreak ’Cats fans felt as Tyris Jones was stuffed behind the line on 4rth down in overtime, the ’Cats rebounded from a fairly poor first half to play well after the intermission.
With 25 seconds remaining in the first half, a 19-yard strike from Siemian to Cameron Dickerson tied the game at 14 and handed momentum back to Northwestern. The air was undoubtedly sucked out of the Big House, as fans who had contemplated whether to get nachos or a burger just seconds before, suddenly had bigger issues to worry about. Dickerson’s first career touchdown catch helped to minimize the damage done by Michigan’s potent offense in the first half.
The momentum carried over to the second half, as Northwestern received the kickoff and promptly drove 75 yards down the field with a heavy dose of Mark. The ‘Cats only needed to pass twice on the drive, once as Colter evaded two sacks on one play as he broke outside the pocket to throw to a wide open Mike Trumpy for a first down on 3rd and 12. The second pass, one of four plays of over 10 yards on the drive, was a 23-yard touchdown pass to Dan Vitale with 2:27, putting Northwestern back in the lead, 21-14.
The ‘Cats forced another punt on the Wolverine’s following drive and converted two of three 3rd downs, but were forced to settle for a 34-yard field goal, Jeff Budzien’s lone attempt of the day.
But in overtime, following Gardner's touchdown that ended up being the game winner, another Budzien field goal was not going to be enough. The 'Cats needed a touchdown but came up short once again.
"It sucks," Proby said. "It's not what we want, by any means. We don't want to have this feeling happen again." It is a feeling that has become far to commonplace for Proby – and the thousands of Northwestern faithful who suffered through another Saturday of heartbreak at the hands of the Wildcats.