DETROIT — Fifty-four years is a long time to wait.
It’s been that long since the Northwestern football team last won a bowl game — the 1949 Rose Bowl.
Friday’s Motor City Bowl was the Wildcats’ fourth attempt to snap the streak, but when it was all said and done, they didn’t come through.
After maintaining a lead for almost the entire game, NU (6-7) lost in heart-breaking fashion to Bowling Green (11-3) 28-24 at Ford Field.
The Cats, leading 10-7 at the half, held a lead until 4:06 in the fourth quarter when Bowling Green quarterback Josh Harris connected with receiver Cole Magner on a three-yard out pattern in the endzone. The play capped off an 11-play, 67-yard drive that took 5:50. Magner finished the game with two touchdowns and a game-high 97 yards receiving on a Motor City Bowl record 12 catches.
“That was the same play I caught my first touchdown on, just on the other side,” Magner said. “I was man-to-man, and I made the defender think I was going inside and I hit it outside.”
On NU’s next possession, Bowling Green forced the Cats to punt after safety Keon Newson sacked quarterback Brett Basanez for a 14-yard loss on the NU 9. From there, Bowling Green ran out the clock.
“We need to be a more balanced team on offense because we struggled to throw the ball and that hurt us late in the game,” NU coach Randy Walker said.
Harris and NU running back Jason Wright shared the MVP honors. Harris, who set a Motor City Bowl record for completions and completion percentage, connected on 38-of-50 passes for 386 yards and 3 touchdowns. Harris also rushed for 94 yards on 21 carries and had one touchdown on the ground.
“He’s a special player,” Walker said. “We knew going in that he could be the difference in the football game.”
Wright rushed for 238 yards on 21 carries. He also returned a kick 88 yards in the fourth quarter to set up one of Noah Herron’s two touchdown runs.
Wright’s only touchdown came on a 77-yard untouched scamper up the middle to open the scoring in the third quarter and give NU a 17-7 lead.
“It made me happy,” Wright said. “Because I got real angry yesterday at halftime of the Houston-Hawaii game when they called me slow.”
“The offensive line did a great job,” he said. “They hit a big hole on the right side and it was just open field from there. I was just saying, ‘Don’t get caught.'”
But the game’s turning point came on a Wright fumble in the third quarter. After a Bowling Green touchdown cut the Cats’ lead to 17-14, NU appeared to be on the verge of answering. But after moving the ball to the Bowling Green 38, Basanez handed off to Wright on a run up the middle that went 27 yards before Newson punched the ball loose and Bowling Green’s Janssen Patton recovered it on the Bowling Green 11. Harris then led his squad down the field, and Bowling Green took its first lead of the game on Harris’ 11-yard pass to Steve Sanders.
While NU came away on the losing end of the game, the Cats did take home both of the postgame awards. To go with Wright’s co-MVP honor, Louis Castillo won the Lineman Award. Never before has the losing team in the Motor City Bowl taken home both individual awards.
