NU Beats EMU | HailToPurple.com

E-M-U-G-L-Y: 'Cats Beat EMU 26-14

On Friday, Northwestern needed a win to keep its bowl hopes alive, and it got a win-- no frills, nothing fancy, and no style points. But the "W" coming from the Wildcats' sloppy 26 to 14 win over Eastern Michigan is just as much a win as was NU's fantastic victory earlier over Michigan State, and in many ways it showed just as much character by the team.

The 'Cats began the game, however, ice cold. The Eagles returned the opening kickoff to the NU 42-yard line, a sign of things to come for the Wildcat kick coverage unit, which struggled terribly all night. While the Wildcat defense held EMU to a three-and-out, NU's offense came out of the gate firing blanks. Two completed passes were followed by a sack and an interception, setting up an Eastern Michigan touchdown.

The 'Cats answered by moving the ball systematically down the field. As they have for the last few games, Northwestern's wide receivers performed spectacularly. Eric Peterman even took a pitch and ran for a 21-yard gain. Peterman also had 70 passing yards for the game, but Kim Thompson led the large and diverse Wildcat receiving corps, with five catches for 133 yards, including a tremendous 71-yarder for the game-sealing touchdown.

At one point running back Tyrell Sutton even came into the game, although it became apparent that the play was designed with Sutton as a decoy. The decoy play marked one important thing: any possibility that Sutton might be granted a medical redshirt for the season has come to an end.

The rest of the offense struggled for the first three quarters. The offensive line seemed plagued for portions of the evening, and quarterback C.J. Bachér was also sacked at the end of the second quarter. Several of the line were called for holding, and Trevor Rees, usually rock-solid delivering the ball to Bachér, played "bowling for dollars" for much of the game, sending the ball bounding across the turf several times. Rees, however, delivered several eye-popping blocks, just as he has in most of this season's games. And Bachér, despite a slow start, finished the game with 361 passing yards and a commanding performance in the fourth quarter.

Before the fourth quarter, however, Northwestern and Eastern Michigan were locked in a close fight. EMU, down by six, had several chances to come back in the third quarter but blew each opportunity. After recovering a Wildcat fumble at their own one-yard line, the Eagles shredded Northwestern's defense for 70 yards. True freshman quarterback Kyle McMahon, making his first start for EMU, was made to look like Jim McMahon-- he passed for 282 yards during the night and seemed very poised. However, what counts is what makes it onto the scoreboard, and the Wildcat defense did not allow a passing touchdown. Nor did it allow a third quarter score of any sort by EMU. The Eagles' great fumble recovery and drive in the third quarter came down to a missed field goal, followed on their next drive by a terrific interception by Adam Kadela. EMU's very next drive told in miniature the entire game: the Eagles threw at will, gaining three big first downs, only to deliver the rock into the hands of Deante Battle. In addition to Kadela and Battle, Brad Phillips also came up with an interception (maybe Kyle resembled Jim a little too well...). Despite the defense's problems with tackling and its tendency to give up vast chunks of yards all night, it came up with the stops when they were needed, which has been the case for much of this mid-season.

It was in the fourth quarter that the Wildcat line woke up, Bachér began to connect with his receivers, and the team finally slipped slowly into the Wildcat gear. They were aided by several fouls by the Eagles, including a couple of personal fouls. The teams swapped touchdowns, and then Bachér delivered to Thompson, who streaked down for his touchdown, and the game was finally in hand.

Just as it showed in the Nevada and Minnesota games, Northwestern has the resolve to stay in games and to continue to find ways to win. And in this game, unlike against Nevada or Minnesota, the opponent struck first. As NU mentioned after the game, a Fitzgerald-coached NU team had not yet won a game in which the opponent opened the scoring. Not so now: the Wildcats are continuing to develop ways in which to win games. Even if the process isn't always a thing of beauty, the team's growth is continuing.