Northwestern made program history Tuesday, claiming its first bowl win in 64 years with a 34-20 edge of Mississippi State in the Gator Bowl. The ‘Cats rushed for three touchdowns, held the Bulldogs to less than 300 yards of total offense and intercepted junior quarterback Tyler Russell four times.
NU notches its first 10-win season since 1995, and firmly entrenches itself in college football’s national landscape. A season marred by close games and last-second losses ends with the Wildcats holding on to a 14-point lead in the fourth quarter.
Northwestern’s prestigious academic reputation stands alone, but its gridiron prowess is starting to turn heads as well. Let’s mix the two together and hand out report card grades for the Wildcats’ starters.
Quarterbacks
Kain Colter: B
Colter struggled under center, churning out just 74 passing yards on 16 attempts. He was intercepted twice, the latter of which resulted in an MSU touchdown.
Colter overthrew junior tailback Venric Mark in the end-zone in the first quarter, and wasn’t as accurate as usual. Yet his grade is salvaged by his success in the option, where the junior took 11 carries for 73 yards. With Colter’s athleticism, Mississippi State’s pass rush was forced to respect the scramble, and the Wildcats won the battle up front as a result.
Trevor Siemian: B
Siemian completed 60 percent of his passes and maxed out on a 34-yard completion to tight end Dan Vitale. Like Colter, he struggled with overthrows and was intercepted in the second half.
Still, Siemian gets credit for engineering a game-changing touchdown drive in the third quarter, and he did crack the end-zone later with a four-yard keeper.
Running Backs
Venric Mark: A-
Mark busted some serious “SEC speed” in this one, although his 4.3 yards-per-carry average was lower than expected. Mark scored a touchdown and also caught two passes.
Tyris Jones: C
Jones’ 2.3 yards-per-carry average is concerning, and he failed to do much in the interior run. He muscled his way to a three-yard touchdown plunge in the third, but didn’t do much else to warrant six carries.
Wide Receivers
Christian Jones: B+
Despite shoddy quarterback play, Jones performed well, tallying five receptions for 39 yards. Jones was the go-to read on third downs, and despite spending time lined up against Thorpe Award winner Jonathan Banks, he was able to establish a rhythm early.
Demetrius Fields: C-
Fields’ two receptions aren’t much, but he did come away with a 27-yard reception from Trevor Siemian in the third quarter.
Rashad Lawrence: D+
Lawrence was held to a mere 18 receiving yards, but he did lay down a perfect block on Dan Vitale’s 24-yard catch-and-go.
Tight Ends
Dan Vitale: A+
Putting the nerd in Nerdwestern, Vitale aced Tuesday’s game. He lead the team with seven receptions and torched the Bulldogs’ mid level for 82 yards. Vitale paced the offense with dashes of 24 and 34 yards, and also performed well in run blocking on the edge.
Expectations for Vitale will be sky-high in 2013.
Offensive Line
Brian Mulroe: A+
Mulroe could be on his way to the NFL next year, and he certainly ended his Northwestern career well Tuesday. Mulroe opened holes in the A (guard/center) gap all game.
Brandon Vitabile: A
Vitabile got a huge push for Mark’s touchdown and kept the middle open on runs.
Jack Konopka: A
Konopka protected the edge well Tuesday, and Mississippi State’s physical d-line was held sackless.
Neal Deiters: A-
Deiters held down the stronger right side of the line, although he forced the pocket to collapse early on a third down in the red-zone, resulting in a Trevor Siemian overthrow.
Patrick Ward: B
Ward was the weak link in Northwestern’s pass blocking, allowing a ball to be batted down in the second quarter and forcing Siemian to throw early on the first third quarter scoring drive. Still, he didn’t allow a sack.
Defensive Line
Tyler Scott: A+
What more can you say about this kid?
Scott was phenomenal all season long, and finished things off with two sacks and an additional quarterback hit Tuesday.
Quentin Williams: A+
Williams took Tyler Russell’s first pass of the game for a 29-yard “pick six,” reading the flat perfectly and putting Northwestern on the board first. Had Williams not made that play, we could be looking at a completely different final score.
Brian Arnfelt: B-
Arnfelt stuffed running back LaDarius Perkins on a one-yard carry, but didn’t make any other tackles.
Sean McEvilly: C-
McEvilly and Arnfelt didn’t do much to clog the middle, and McEvilly was called for a costly hands-to-the-face penalty on a third down.
Linebackers
Chi Chi Ariguzo: A+
Ariguzo came away with five tackles and a key interception in the first half. His physicality in run defense was huge all year.
David Nwabuisi: A
Nwabuisi lead the linebackers with six stops and tackled Perkins for a loss of a yard in the third quarter.
Damien Proby: B+
Proby overpursued on a few Perkins runs, but he did make a stop for no gain in the second. He finished with four tackles.
Defensive Backs
Jared Carpenter: A+
Carpenter locked-down center field, a key reason for the Bulldogs’ struggles in vertical passing. He also led the Wildcats with 10 tackles, and was seemingly attached to the football Tuesday.
Ibraheim Campbell: A+
Campbell’s interception in the first quarter displayed some jaw-dropping athleticism, tip-toeing the ground and sprawling the sideline for an athletic swipe of Tyler Russell. Campbell was also the one who kept Josh Robinson out of the end-zone on his 59-yard run.
Nick VanHoose: A
VanHoose was stellar Tuesday, taking an interception back 39 yards and locking down on No. 1 wideout Chad Bumphis. He did get lost on Arceto Clark’s touchdown grab, though.
Daniel Jones: A
Like VanHoose, Jones blanketed the Mississippi State passing game. He was also in on three tackles.
Special Teams
Jeff Budzien: A+
Budzien capped a brilliant 2012 by staying perfect on field goal attempts.
Brandon Williams: B+
Williams’s consistency is a problem, and his kicks are often contingent on favorable bounces. Still, he pinned the Bulldogs inside their 20-yard line twice, and maxed out at an impressive 64 yards.
Venric Mark: D-
Mark didn’t do much as a return specialist, averaging a pedestrian 20.3 yards per kickoff. He also fumbled a punt in the third quarter.
Coaching: A
Pat Fitzgerald & Co. were unimaginative in play-calling through the first half, and two consecutive gut runs from senior running back Mike Trumpy elicited groans from Wildcats fans. But NU adjusted well at halftime, and stayed aggressive in the passing game.
Defensively, the Wildcats played to their strengths and found a way to rattle one of the country’s most efficient quarterbacks.