BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Ohio State had a 30-year monopoly on winning. Penn State had the motivation to pick up a historic victory for Joe Paterno. And Purdue was just a better team.
But there seemed to be no explanation for Northwestern’s 56-21 loss to last-place Indiana on Saturday. It was a shocker that seemed over by the time the Hoosiers took a 42-0 lead into halftime. Indiana (2-5, 2-3) scored in the first quarter about every four minutes, baffling an NU defense that had prepared for a one-dimensional ground attack.
“I have no explanation for the first half – it was almost hard to believe why it was happening,” NU head coach Randy Walker said after the loss, which was seen by 26,213 at Memorial Stadium.
Walker’s got-no-explanation mantra has replaced last season’s never-give-up slogan for the Wildcats (4-4, 2-4 Big Ten), who have now lost three in a row, significantly narrowing their chances of reaching the postseason. They must win two of their remaining three games – against Iowa, Bowling Green and No. 15 Illinois – just to qualify for a bowl game.
NU’s odds also grow dimmer after running back Damien Anderson left the game at the start of the third quarter with a separated shoulder. Anderson didn’t return to action and is listed day-to-day.
But even a healthy Anderson couldn’t have compensated for the damage Indiana’s offense caused against the worst rushing defense in the Big Ten.
Indiana quarterback Antwaan Randle El amassed 324 total offensive yards against NU’s defense. The surprise was that most of it came in the air.
“We thought they would come out and just try to option, option, option,” NU defensive end Napoleon Harris said. “But they really came out with a power game and we were being tentative, just like sitting ducks.”
Randle El threw for 246 yards and, in the first quarter alone, connected on three passes for touchdowns. Indiana’s first score of the game came on a 47-yard pass from Randle El to wide receiver Henry Frazier.
“I don’t know how anybody can move the ball that effectively on us as a defense,” Walker said. “I think they’re good – don’t get me wrong – but boy, it was just hard to believe.”
With the game well out of hand, Walker waved the white flag for the first time this season, pulling starting quarterback Zak Kustok for NU’s final series of the day. It was a move few people – including Kustok – anticipated he would have to make this season.
“He’s upset with me now and he probably won’t speak with me for another couple of days because he wanted to keep playing,” Walker said. “As I told him, I’m a fighter, but sometimes I know when the battle’s lost and this battle is lost.”
Kustok seemed more subdued after the game, as if his anger on the field had been overshadowed by the helpless realization that his senior campaign may end without meeting any of his preseason goals.
“I just wanted to stay in there because I know my college career is winding down and I don’t have a whole lot of snaps left,” Kustok said.
Kustok was replaced by backup Tony Stauss, who pushed the Cats all the way to the Indiana 2-yard line in NU’s final drive. But the offense couldn’t advance past the final two hash marks, withering away on a pass for negative yardage, a penalty, three incompletions and a Stauss rush for no gain.
That last score would have made no difference in the game’s final outcome, but the failed attempt was a fitting end to NU’s disastrous afternoon. It was the fourth time that the Cats couldn’t break the plain inside the Hoosiers’ 10-yard line.
The Cats had their first opportunity to score in the second quarter after stringing together 15 plays to reach Indiana’s 1-yard line. But Anderson lost the ball inside the pile, and his fumble was recovered by Indiana cornerback Marcus Floyd.
NU then had the chance to put another score on the board just before heading into the half. But Kustok threw an interception to freshman linebacker Herana-Daze Jones at the 2-yard line.
Trailing 49-21 at the start of the fourth quarter, the Cats were attempting a final comeback when Kustok fired a pass at 1st-and-goal from Indiana’s 6-yard line. Reliving his earlier blunder, Kustok’s pass again found the hands of a Hoosiers defender. Floyd snagged the ball and returned it 40 yards, launching Indiana on its final scoring drive.
“Until that last drive when we couldn’t convert with Zak, I was still believing we could find a way to get back in it,” Walker said. “And we were going to get back in it – that’s how stupid I am.”
Despite the loss, Walker wasn’t angry with his players. Vowing not to “dwell on the past,” he seemed pleased that his players refused to quit after the first half. For the second week in a row, the Cats outscored their opponent after the break, sending them out of Bloomington with at least a few positives.
But as Walker has had to point out several times this season, it was too little too late.
Not far from NU’s make-shift postgame press conference in a stadium storage room, Randle El was gabbing with the media in a ritzy lounge, a wad of skittles jammed into his cheek.
“I have bragging rights, everything – the whole nine yards – over Napoleon and Zak Kustok,” he said.
Thing is, for Randle El and his teammates, having only two Big Ten wins by the first week in November is something to be happy about.
