Northwestern quarterback Kain Colter scrambled around, trying to buy himself time on 4th-and-7 in overtime with the game on the line.
But he never pulled the trigger.
It was just another one of those days for the Wildcats (4-4, 0-4 Big Ten), who lost their fourth game in a row in a 17-10 loss to Iowa (5-3, 2-2) Saturday afternoon. The offense had its chances time and time again, but head coach Pat Fitzgerald’s team failed to take advantage.
Iowa drove 25 yards for a touchdown in overtime, meaning Northwestern would have to match it to stay alive. Colter took it himself for two yards on the first two downs before throwing an incompletion, and on fourth down, he was sacked before even getting a pass off.
“We suck right now,” Colter put it bluntly afterward. He accounted for 164 yards of offense and a touchdown in his return from injury, but it wasn’t enough.
The ‘Cats may have not even needed overtime had it not been for some missed opportunities late in regulation. After marching into field goal range with under five minutes remaining, they proceeded to be penalized 15 yards and then fumble on a pitch attempt.
After holding Iowa to a 4th-and-11 with 50 seconds to go, Fitzgerald opted not to call a timeout, and after junior linebacker Chi Chi Ariguzo picked off Iowa quarterback Jake Rudock, Northwestern didn’t have enough time to put together a quick drive.
Even with the disappointment, it was an encouraging defensive performance from the Wildcats. They held the strong Hawkeye rushing attack to 136 yards, and they kept Iowa off the board for the entire second half.
The Hawkeyes got on the board with a 74-yard opening drive capped off by a three-yard touchdown from Damon Bullock. They extended the lead to 10-0 with a 38-yard field goal in the second quarter, and they took it to the locker room.
In the third quarter, the struggling Northwestern offense came alive with an eight-play, 81-yard drive culminating in a 10-yard touchdown catch from sophomore superback and birthday boy Dan Vitale.
Northwestern got the ball back shortly afterward, and running backs Stephen Buckley and Mike Trumpy, who combined for 150 yards on the day, carried the ‘Cats downfield to set up the tying 29-yard field goal.
Their next drive looked to be the winning one, but all it did was set off a series of mistakes that would ultimately take down the ‘Cats.
With four games left in the regular season, a Northwestern team that had hopes of the Rose Bowl would probably be happy just to win two more games and become bowl-eligible. In the end, Fitzgerald had a simple explanation for why Northwestern’s free-fall continued at Iowa City.
“They made the plays that winners make down the stretch, and we didn’t.”