David Schaefer was hiding under a Michigan State cap with a blank look on his face and a sad glaze blanketing his eyes.
The Spartans kicker had just missed three field goals and one extra point in Saturday’s 27-26 loss to Northwestern.
So what had been the problem on the field?
“It was a little bit of …” the senior mumbled. “Me, I guess.”
On the other side of Ryan Field, Schaefer’s placekicking counterpart couldn’t contain his elation.
“I was ecstatic,” said David Wasielewski, whose last-second, 47-yard field goal won the game for the Wildcats (3-0, 1-0 Big Ten). “Once I hit it, I felt it and I knew it was good. Then everyone started swarming me and I didn’t even have a chance to look at it.”
The field goal effectively erased a Michigan State touchdown 15 seconds earlier, reaffirming that Saturday’s game was truly decided in special teams – and particularly by the feet of Wasielewski and Schaefer.
NU took what appeared to be its final lead of the game with 29 seconds on the clock, when quarterback Zak Kustok fired a 10-yard touchdown pass to Kunle Patrick. Wasielewski then nailed the extra point – usually a simple assignment that became an adventure Saturday – to make the score 24-20 and render obsolete any last-second Michigan State field goal.
J.J. Standring then took the field and, on orders from coach Randy Walker not to squib, launched a 66-yarder that was returned untouched for a touchdown by the Spartans’ Herb Haygood.
“I made a bad decision, I made an emotional decision,” Walker said of allowing Standring to kick the ball in the air. Walker said he let his players convince him not to squib, which was the safe play and clearly the right choice at the time. “But the kids today overcame bad coaching.”
With Michigan State (2-1, 0-1) leading 26-24, Schaefer then came out to attempt the extra point, ensuring that a seemingly impossible NU field goal could only tie the game. But the kick was blocked by Cats’ defensive end Napoleon Harris, and after a 55-yard kickoff, NU found itself on its own 13 with 14 seconds remaining to make the game-winning drive.
Before coming out for the final series, Kustok ran up and down the sideline in search of Wasielewski. When he found the kicker, he advised him simply to be ready. If Kustok’s offense could push the ball far enough into Michigan State territory, the game would come down to a field goal.
Kustok then completed a 54-yard pass to Jon Schweighardt. One play later, Wasielewski came out to the field, just as his quarterback had predicted.
“I was nervous until J.J. Standring, right in the huddle on the sideline, looked at me and said, ‘You’ve done this a million times. Just smile and have fun,'” Wasielewski said.
The field goal was his second of the game, following a 44-yarder in the second quarter that made the score 17-7 NU. Wasielewski later missed a 50-yard kick, but his only real disappointment Saturday was a 22-yarder that hooked wide left.
The 22-yard miss ended the Cats’ first possession of the second half, a drive that started with another unusual special teams play. Standring opened the half with a 47-yard pooch kick that grazed the left hand of Michigan State’s Mike Labinjo, bounced off teammate Tyrell Dortch’s helmet and finally landed in the hands of NU’s Brandon Evans. The Cats pulled to within three yards of the end zone, but had to settle for Wasielewski’s ill-fated attempt.
Aside from the short-range shank, Wasielewski was perfect on extra-point attempts for the second game in a row.
Standring’s punting performance also made a considerable special teams impact on Saturday. He totaled 320 yards on seven punts, his longest punt traveling 59 yards.
But through all the special teams fireworks, Schaefer had the worst afternoon. His missed opportunities amounted to a loss of 10 points for the Spartans.
“Plain and simple, I let the team down,” he said.
Because the score remained at 17-14 for nearly two quarters, every missed field goal, wide extra point and botched special teams play looked like it would wind up making the difference in the game. But Kustok said the thought didn’t occur to him until the final seconds of the fourth quarter.
“I didn’t really think about it coming down to that,” he said. “I always think it’s going to come down to our offense.”
