The play is called “Victory Right,” and Northwestern runs it in practice each Thursday.
Receivers Sam Simmons, Kunle Patrick and Jon Schweighardt streak to the end zone and quarterback Zak Kustok lofts the ball far and high. It’s the old “Hail Mary” pass, but with a Wildcat twist. Patrick and Schweighardt don’t go for the catch; they instead try to tip the ball to Simmons.
“We hit that play in practice more than anyplace I’ve ever been,” NU coach Randy Walker said Saturday. “I’ll bet we hit it 80 percent of the time.”
Simmons wasn’t so sure.
“We probably don’t get the tip right 50 percent of the time,” he said.
So with three seconds remaining and his team in a 35-35 tie with Minnesota, Walker called “Victory Right.”
It had been a most remarkable game, an implausible bit of theater in which Minnesota led 35-14 with just over five minutes left in the third quarter. But then the Wildcats crawled out of that hole and were even with the Gophers, 45 yards from the end zone.
After the snap Kustok rolled to his right with Minnesota defensive tackle John Schlect in pursuit. Kustok unloaded the ball just as Schlect unloaded on him. There was Patrick leaping in the right corner of the end zone, tipping the ball to Simmons, who collected it, checked his feet and looked up to see the official signaling the touchdown that gave the Cats (6-2, 4-1) an unlikely 41-35 victory.
“It’s routine to me,” Patrick said later, practically shrugging. “We do it every Thursday.”
But doing it in a game is another story.
“Usually in practice I can’t throw it that far,” Kustok said. “But I guess I had some adrenaline going. … No, I didn’t see the catch. But I looked up and saw Sam running around and I guessed he caught the ball.”
That he did.
“I was supposed to get there and wait,” Simmons said. “I was patient enough and in the right place. But so much adrenaline was going through my body. I turned to the referee after I caught it. And after he threw up his hands, I just started running. It was an adrenaline rush.”
The Cats celebrated a win that not only made them bowl-eligible but kept them alive in the Big Ten title race. They achieved it on a truly strange afternoon that featured not two, but four different teams.
There was Northwestern the Bad, the defanged Cats who muddled through the first 40 minutes. They scored on a 27-yard drive after a Harold Blackmon interception and on a 4-yard drive after Teddy Johnson’s 93-yard kickoff return.
But most of the time they followed a positive play with a stupid penalty, a spectacular play with a costly fumble.
“Once we get our gears going, we can be a pretty good offense,” Walker said. “But sometimes we have trouble getting the clutch in.”
Then there was Minnesota the Good, which dominated those 40 first minutes and with a 21-point lead threatened to make it a rout. The Gophers scored on a punt return and off a fake punt, on two keepers by running quarterback Asad Abdul-Khaliq and on a 32-yard pass from throwing quarterback Travis Cole to wide receiver Ron Johnson.
Next came Minnesota the Bad, which tried to sit on that lead and never again threatened after going up 35-14 with 5 minutes 34 seconds left in the third quarter. That opened the way for the appearance of Northwestern the Good, with all its gears meshed.
On fourth-and-8 from the Gophers’ 13, Kustok stepped up to avoid a blitz and hit Simmons for a touchdown with 2:08 left in the third quarter. On fourth-and-3 from the Minnesota 3, Kustok rolled left and just got into the end zone, bringing the Cats within 35-28 with 12:35 remaining.
NU tailback Damien Anderson finished with 230 yards and two touchdowns, but the day belonged to Kustok, who completed 18-of-32 passes for 209 yards and two touchdowns and ran for two scores.
He faced fourth-and-20 at the Gophers’ 46 on NU’s next possession, but scrambled and found Patrick for 34 yards to the 12. On the next play Kustok faked to Anderson and rumbled in from 12 yards out to tie the game 35-35.
When Minnesota’s Jermaine Amys inexplicably returned the Cats’ kickoff only 6 yards before going down untouched at the 7-yard line, NU defensive tackle Javiar Collins turned to Kustok before jogging onto the field.
“We’re going to win this one in regulation,” Collins said.
“You’re right,” Kustok replied.
The Cats’ defense forced Minnesota to punt from its 13 and 38 seconds after getting the ball, Kustok faced fourth-and-2 at the Gophers’ 45. “Victory Right,” he called.
“I didn’t have a chance to talk to Randy about it. I was preparing my guys just in case [there would be overtime],” said defensive coordinator Jerry Brown said. “But I was hoping we’d take a shot at it. You throw the Hail Mary, who knows? That sucker just might fall in there for you.”
