And so the beat(down) goes on.

Northwestern, having secured a school-record fourth straight season with a bowl game, lost its ninth straight bowl, falling to Texas A&M 33 to 22 in the Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas.  The loss gives NU a tie with Notre Dame for consecutive bowl losses, adds one more year to NU's now-legendary bowl drought, and-- similar to 2003-- flips the team's record to a losing one for the season.

The 'Cats looked unfocused early, letting the Aggies take an initial lead (with what looked like a touchdown.  However, A&M's seeming TD catch in the first quarter was ruled out of bounds, and the Aggies had to settle for a field goal).  NU then managed to score, but eventually fell further back when the Aggies quickly answered with a touchdown and a field goal.  NU, apparently willing to take a ten-point deficit into halftime, played the final minutes of the second quarter in conservative mode, only to blow clock management and give the ball back to Texas A&M.  The Aggies, not playing particularly well at the time, could not pass up the gift, and added three to their lead.

But the Aggies weren't finished pulling ahead.  In the third quarter the wheels on the Wildcat's wagon popped off, and Texas A&M slid to a 30 to 7 lead, seemingly insurmountable.

NU, however, was following the pattern it has established in recent bowls: come out flat, watch as the opponent takes a multiple-score lead, then tear back to within striking distance.  And the 'Cats did just that, behind Dan Persa's final game as a Wildcat and behind Kain Colter's determined performance.

Persa needed 19 passing attempts to take the NCAA career record for passing completion percentage.  With 37 attempts in the game, Persa finished his time at NU with a completion percentage of 72.7 percent, shattering the previous NCAA record of 70.4%.  During the Texas Bowl, Persa passed for 213 yards, no touchdowns, and was hit with a whopping seven sacks.  Given the offensive line's subpar performance, this could have been even worse.

NU, as usual, limited Colter's passing game (although he did come up with NU's only passing touchdown), but he did rush for 65 yards and another TD.

The Wildcats' comeback attempt launched in the fourth quarter, when Brian Peters caught an interception, the 12th for NU's outgoing safety.  The pick set up Colter's rushing touchdown, which NU followed with a nice two-point play, with Jeremy Ebert passing to Demetrius Fields for the score.

NU would put up another TD to come within eight, but that is where the comeback would end: A&M strung out a drive that ended in a field goal, giving them an 11-point lead and the game.

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Greenstein: NU Has Sold 10K Tix

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Dec. 9-- Northwestern will face Texas A&M in the Meineke Car Care Bowl on New Year's Eve.  The 'Cats are ten-point underdogs, despite the fact that both teams are 6-6 and will be playing for a winning season.

At the December 8 news conference in Houston (in which Coach Fitzgerald participated), Texas Bowl director Heather "yes my last name is" Houston announced, "We've had such a stellar response to this matchup. Our ticket sales are nearing 60,000, which is way ahead of where we've ever been for this bowl game at this time."