Northwestern finally figured out how to play with a lead – make sure it’s at least 25 points.
After blowing their second double-digit 4th quarter lead of the season last week against Nebraska, the Wildcats (7-2, 3-2) thoroughly dominated the Iowa Hawkeyes (4-4, 2-2) for the first three quarters of Saturday’s contest to build a big enough cushion to avoid their first losing streak of the season.
Northwestern set the tone on their first drive, as they marched 75 yards on 11 plays, with a healthy balance of runs from Kain Colter, Venric Mark and Mike Trumpy.
Iowa answered with a field goal and then intercepted Colter when he and wide receiver Tony Jones appeared to miscommunicate on a downfield route.
But after the Wildcat defense forced Iowa into a punt that pinned Northwestern at their own 1, Mark took a run up the gut 72 yards and Colter scored on a 3-yard scramble six plays later to go ahead 14-3. That was still the score at halftime.
Iowa received the ball to start the second half but Northwestern forced a quick three-and-out. One the ensuing play, senior running back Tyris Jones broke through and blocked the punt, which put Northwestern on the Iowa 4-yard line. On the next play, Colter ran in his third touchdown of the day.
The Northwestern defense held firm once again on the following drive, forcing their second straight three-and-out. The ‘Cats capitalized four plays later when Colter connected on his first touchdown pass since the season opener, a 47-yard strike to Christian Jones over Hawkeye linebacker Christian Kirksey to get the 28-3 lead.
The Hawkeyes were able to tighten the game up with methodical back-to-back touchdown drives in the 3rd and 4th quarters, cutting the Northwestern lead to 28-17. It was eerily reminiscent of last week’s Nebraska fiasco but it was too little, too late.
Iowa did not get the ball back until only 4:23 remained in the 4th quarter and all their hopes of a comeback were officially extinguished when quarterback James Vandenberg overthrew his target on fourth down from the Northwestern 24 with 1:44 remaining. Despite a scare, Northwestern held on for the 28-17 victory.
No more identity crisis
After Trevor Siemian threw the ball 35 times in the Nebraska loss, Northwestern seemed to be curiously getting away from the run-first style that had earned them their 6-1 start.
If you took away Mark’s 80-yard touchdown run in the 3rd quarter against Nebraska last weekend, the ‘Cats averaged only 2.7 yards per carry. The Cornhuskers had given up 371 yards on the ground the previous week in their loss to Ohio State, which made Northwestern’s running deficiencies a real head scratcher.
But the run game is clearly back in full effect after Saturday’s victory. The team had 49 running plays compared to only 10 passes. Last week, the split was almost even (37 passes and 38 runs).
Colter set a new career-high with 166 yards on 26 carries and Mark had a new career best 162 yards on 16 touches, becoming the school’s first 1,000-yard rushing since Tyrell Sutton in 2006.
The team totaled 349 yards on the ground, only 45 yards shy of their record setting performance against Indiana.
Colter is back in charge
The Wildcats only threw the ball five times in the first half and their primary passer, Trevor Siemian, only took three snaps during one series in the 2nd quarter. Ever the players’ coach, Pat Fitzgerald expressed confidence in both of his quarterbacks following the win. However, it was clear from his comments who will be the lead guy in the backfield going forward.
“I think we can win with both,” Fitzgerald said. “But right now, especially after today, it just seems like Colter’s playing at such a high level that it gives us a great feeling going into the bye and moving forward the rest of the year.”
That seemed to be the most cordial way of stating what appeared to be the team’s gameplan: Get the ball to Colter and get out of his way.
The 4th quarter is still an issue
As thorough as Northwestern’s early domination of Iowa was, their 4th quarter struggles were predictable. In the first half Iowa had the ball for 18:41, compared to 11:19 for Northwestern. While the Wildcat offense cannot be blamed for scoring so quickly, the possession differential did put a strain on their defense.
The Hawkeyes finished with a possession advantage of nearly 10 minutes, which is the fourth consecutive game in which a team has earned that advantage over the Wildcats. With numbers like this, it is no wonder Northwestern has developed a habit of wearing down at the end of games. The team will have to improve this differential to avoid future collapses like the ones that occured against Penn State and Nebraska.
In spite of some lapses in the 4th quarter, the defense did establish a formidable pass rush throughout the course of the game. They sacked Vandenberg three times and linebackers David Nwabuisi and Damien Proby combined for 30 tackles.