With its 20-17 victory Saturday over Kansas, Northwestern made a statement to upcoming Big Ten opponents and to doubters after their passionless loss last week to Arizona State.
Most of all, though, the Wildcats’ statement was to themselves.
Before a Ryan Field crowd of 24,817, Northwestern (1-2) crossed midfield on four of its first five possessions and went to the locker room at halftime with exactly three points.
They would be outgained (350-337) for the first time this year and ended repeated drives with penalties or blown assignments.
They were so short-handed because of injuries on the defensive line that at one point they were playing with two defensive linemen.
And with 78 seconds remaining, a Kansas field-goal try was so close to tying the game “it looked from the sideline like [kicker Johnny Beck] made it, so I was strapping on my helmet,” said Northwestern receiver Mark Philmore.
“Then the ref said no.”
Philmore led all receivers with 113 yards on seven catches, none more important than his 52-yard reception that set up the Wildcats’ winning touchdown, which came with 5 minutes 25 seconds remaining.
Northwestern’s defense held Kansas to 47 rushing yards with a patchwork lineup that sacked Jayhawks quarterback Adam Barmann twice and held the Jayhawks at bay until the offense could break its pattern of self-destruction.
That finally came in the second half.
Tailback Noah Herron, held out of practice most of the week after suffering an apparent concussion in the last game, led a breakout that included 123 rushing yards in the second half. Starter Terrell Jordan had a 38-yard run that led to quarterback Brett Basanez’s 2-yard touchdown dive in the third quarter that put Northwestern up 10-3.
“We have to get that killer edge like the great teams,” Basanez said. “Once they get started they won’t be stopped.”
That team appeared to be Northwestern for a time. Basanez’s touchdown began a scoring spurt in which the Wildcats put up points on three of four possessions. Brian Huffman’s second field goal gave NU a 13-3 lead that shrank to 13-10 and then turned into a 17-13 Kansas lead on successive Barmann touchdown passes to wideout Brandon Rideau.
After falling behind for the first time in the game, the Wildcats went 81 yards in four plays for the winning score. Philmore’s 52-yard pickup to the Kansas 29-yard line was a turning point in an emotional game.
“They did have the momentum,” said Philmore, who took the short flanker-screen pass and snaked across the field to pick up blocks, something he was determined to do after missing chances for big gains against Arizona State. “Their fans were going crazy, and we needed the perfect call at the perfect time.”
Herron added 13 more yards. Then, on second down from the 12, Basanez rolled right and flipped to Brandon Horn, who dived inside the pylon to give Northwestern its 20-17 victory.
“This was a big lift,” said Wildcats linebacker Nick Roach, who had a sack and several quarterback pressures to help unhinge Kansas. “We felt bad after two bad losses and all we needed was a win like this to get that good feeling going into next week.”
