Before Saturday’s final home game of the season, senior quarterback Zak Kustok sat in the locker room flipping through the team media guide and trying to locate Northwestern’s single-game total yardage record.
“I’m going to get this today, ” Kustok told himself. Then he went out and collected 532 yards of total offense against Bowling Green, a new school record that topped the old mark by 86 yards.
Only problem was, Bowling Green quarterback Josh Harris also amassed more than 500 yards, a school record of his own. And although Kustok was able to put together the best performance of his career in his last Saturday at Ryan Field, he wasn’t able to walk back to the locker room with a win.
“I stepped off that field, and I gave it everything I had,” Kustok said after NU’s 43-42 loss, which ended any bowl hopes for the Wildcats (4-6, 2-5 Big Ten). “I couldn’t go too much more. I guess if there’s satisfaction in it, that’s it. But I definitely wanted to win the football game.”
The loss, which came in front of 23,545 fans and a sparse NU student section, stretched the team’s losing streak to five games.
Unlike Kustok, sophomore running back Torri Stuckey had trouble finding solace in his own individual accomplishments on Saturday. As one of Damien Anderson’s replacements, Stuckey ran for 91 yards — matching Anderson’s best single-game performance in his six Big Ten contests.
But Stuckey’s afternoon was tainted by a fumble with a minute-and-a-half left in the game. The Cats were leading 42-35 and taking time off the clock on a march toward the Bowling Green end zone. On 2nd-and-9 from the Falcons’ 34-yard line, Stuckey rushed over left tackle and passed the first-down marker, seemingly sealing the win for NU. But Bowling Green strong safety Karl Rose forced a fumble, and defensive end Ryan Wingrove recovered the ball for the Falcons.
The turnover led to the game-winning drive for Bowling Green (7-3).
“I feel like I’m the cause of the loss and I just hate that, for the seniors to have to go out in their last home game with a loss,” Stuckey said.
But NU’s 1-point defeat could just as easily be chalked up to several aspects of the game. In the final minute alone, the Cats botched two more game-breaking plays.
Following Stuckey’s fumble, the Falcons covered 78 yards in a 59-second, nine-play scoring drive to close to within one point of the lead. It was Bowling Green’s smallest deficit of the day, after trailing by two touchdowns just three minutes earlier.
NU head coach Randy Walker expected Bowling Green to try for the extra point to tie the score, and he trotted his field goal coverage unit onto the field. But when it became clear that the Falcons were going to attempt a two-point conversion, the confused Cats were poorly aligned — and left with only 10 players on the field.
NU defensive end Onaje Grimes was on his way to the sideline when Bowling Green snapped the ball. And linebacker Dan Pohlman was planted up the middle to block the kick, leaving a hole on the right side.
Bowling Green exploited the unmanned area, handing the ball to wideout Cole Magner on a reverse that cut easily into the end zone.
“I knew we were going to go for two,” Harris said. “Coach (Urban) Meyer is just that kind of guy. He’s not really the let’s-go-play-overtime-with-these-guys kind of guy. He’s one of those that says, ‘Let’s just go and take a chance because we don’t have anything to lose.’ He knew there was no way we weren’t going to get that two-point conversion.”
After the game, the Cats held no animosity toward Bowling Green for winning the game on what could be considered a trick play.
“We have some plays of our own that are trick plays,” senior linebacker Kevin Bentley said. “In the way this season is going not only for us, but for everyone, you find a way to win any way you can. Today that’s what they did.”
After the Falcons took a 43-42 lead, NU had 35 seconds left in the game to get within field-goal range. But the Victory Right play that brought the Cats last-second wins over Michigan State earlier this year and Minnesota last year failed twice on Saturday. Kustok’s first pass was deflected to the sideline by Rose, and his second was intercepted by Bowling Green’s Chad Long.
After returning the ball four yards, Long collapsed on the field as his teammates celebrated around him.
Falcons quarterback Harris had the most to celebrate after dominating the NU defense — which allowed more than 600 yards for the second week in a row — for six touchdowns. The sophomore had a hand in all of Bowling Green’s touchdowns, carrying the ball twice, throwing three passes for scores and even catching a 14-yard touchdown pass.
“This is the first time we’ve really just opened it up on the scoreboard — we should have had about 60 points,” Harris said.
But while Harris was gushing about his team’s accomplishments, Walker appeared on the verge of tears while talking about the game. He was just as discouraged about Saturday’s outcome as he was about figuring out a way to motivate his players heading into Thursday’s season finale at No. 10 Illinois.
“Shoot, I’m the master at that,” Walker said. “It seems like all I do is rally. It’s especially hard for me because of the quality of the people we’re talking about. It’s real hard to see them go through this. I can guarantee we’re going to give (Illinois) our best shot. Some way, somehow, we’ve got to find five more days of football.”
