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Storming
into East Lansing, the Wildcats stood and delivered: they claimed their
eighth win of the season, a feat that the program has accomplished just
five other times during the Expect Victory era. The 'Cats
delivered their first win over Michigan State-- a team that NU used to
devil-- since the wild overtime thriller in 2007. They delivered
one more piece-- perhaps the keystone-- to a bridge leading directly to
Florida and a January 1 bowl. Most importantly, however, NU
delivered a win that was a season signature, the defining win of the
regular season. The wins over Vanderbilt and Iowa were important,
but this was Michigan State,
preseason conference favorite, a team that has recently had NU's
number, hosting the Wildcats during a year when the 'Cats had fallen in
close games to other teams that were or are the conference favorites.
In a series with so many recent offensive bonanzas, this game
surprisingly began as a defensive battle. NU charged out of the
gate and drove quickly to the red zone, thanks to a nice shovel pass
from Kain Colter to Dan Vitale and the usual scrambling heroics by
Colter. However, the Spartan defense, arguably the best in the
Legends, shut down the drive at the Spartan seven-yard line, and NU had
to rely on Jeff Budzien to grab the first score.
Budzien went on to have his usual sterling performance, providing the
'Cats with their only other score of the first half (a 43-yarder with
41 seconds to go) and the game-winner in the middle of the fourth
quarter.
By the end of the first quarter, the Wildcat offense had been stymied
by the MSU defense and by the loss (totally ignored by the ESPN
announcing crew) of Venric Mark. Mark had sustained "an extreme
upper body injury," as an NU spokesperson would phrase it later.
NU's offense would take another hit later in the game, when Colter
departed and Trevor Siemian assumed command. After the game,
Coach Fitzgerald speculated that both Mark and Siemian had sustained
minor injuries and would be available for the season finale.
The NU defense made sure, however, that the highlight reel would not be
clogged by the team in green. Quentin Williams's TFL and Tyler
Scott's PBU derailed Michigan State's opening drive. MSU's second
drive ended in near disaster, with a fumble recovered by Sean McEvilly
at the NU 2-yard line. It was to be the first of four MSU
turnovers forced by the NU defense, including another fumble and two
interceptions that bookended the third quarter (a pick six by David
Nwabuisi caused by Ibraheim Campbell's quarterback assault and a pick
by Jared Carpenter).
Those four forced turnovers, however, don't include one of the most
important turnovers of the game: MSU's turnover on downs. By the
second quarter, MSU led Northwestern by the improbable score of 5-3
(the Spartans had sacked Colter a couple of plays after the fumble
recovery near the NU goal) and had driven to the NU 8-yard line for a
first and goal. Campbell, with help from Chance Carter, Damien
Proby and Drew Smith, orchestrated a goal line stand for the ages.
Both offenses, however, began to open up in the second half. With
the score knotted at 13, Colter and Siemian paired up for a TD drive
that included two first-down passes to Vitale. Vitale would end
the day with 110 receiving yards, leading all 'Cats and demonstrating
that he is the team's go-to superback.
Budzien's last field goal, which gave NU its fragile 23-20 lead, came
with just over seven minutes to go, and it set up the usual fourth
quarter lead drama that 'Cat fans now dread. This time, however,
with a signature win on the line, Northwestern would fight like hell to
claim it, and would not suffer the heartbreaking single play that has
plagued both NU and MSU this year. As the Spartans attempted
their last gasp in the final minute of the game, Campbell, Demetrius
Dugar, Carpenter, and the rest of the Wildcat defense slammed the door,
silenced Spartan Stadium, and signed their names to the best win of
eight so far in 2012.
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