A hole in the defense never looked so sweet.
“Get in the end zone,” Mark Philmore told himself after a quick cut to the right.
This time it counted.
The Northwestern junior receiver dived into the end zone in the Wildcats’ 33-27 victory over Ohio State on Saturday night, not because he had to, but because he so badly wanted that first career touchdown. And because of how much that touchdown against the Buckeyes would mean.
“I don’t know what I did with the (ball),” Philmore said. “I think I threw it and ran off the field. The receivers have a little thing they’re supposed to do on the field (after they score), and they were like, ‘What happened?’
“I was just so excited. I was just running.”
Two years after a controversial call in NU’s game against Ohio State took away what could have been Philmore’s first career touchdown, the Columbus, Ohio, native still hadn’t made it into the end zone before Saturday night’s game with the No. 7 Buckeyes.
But he left with one career touchdown, a short shotgun pass near the left sideline that Philmore ran up the middle for 27 yards on a third-and-11 play.
“The only thing I could think was run, run, run,” Philmore said. “I saw the opening and I was running, and I saw, I don’t know who it was, in the right corner of my eye. So I just took off to get in the end zone as fast as I could.”
The touchdown on the north side of the field gave the Cats a 20-10 lead just 3:25 into the second quarter and sent the NU student section into a frenzy.
The momentum from that touchdown and Philmore’s other 107 receiving yards enabled the Cats to hold the lead for most of the second half.
With 11 catches, Philmore had his third 100-yard game of the season.
“Mark Philmore is one of the best receivers I have ever seen,” NU quarterback Brett Basanez said. “He goes in and out, makes plays all of the time. He’s definitely our playmaker. “
The effects of the fast, playmaking Philmore were obvious Saturday, with NU running four-wideout shotgun plays most of the night. Basanez threw short, quick screens — the passes he’s been comfortable throwing all season.
For Philmore, getting that touchdown against his hometown team — and the team most think he should have scored against in 2002 — continued a successful beginning to the 2004 season.
“It makes it that much sweeter,” Philmore said.
The Cats’ success and production from Ohioans didn’t stop there.
Junior cornerback Jeff Backes, a Columbus native who was named “Mr. Ohio” in 2000 and was heavily recruited by the Buckeyes, grabbed his first career interception, also on a dive in the north end zone.
With a 27-20 NU lead and just under five minutes remaining, Backes made the pick on a third-and-goal pass from the 20-yard line that could have been caught for the game-tying touchdown.
“As soon as I committed here, my dream was to beat the Buckeyes,” Backes said. “We’ve got a lot of guys on the team from the Columbus area. We set out with a mission, and it’s been 33 years.”
Backes also returned three kicks for 79 yards, including a 49-yarder in the first quarter.
Coach Randy Walker said Backes was disappointed in 2001, when he was a freshman who had just chosen NU over Ohio State and the Cats lost 38-20 to the Buckeyes in Columbus.
“I just said, ‘Hey man, we’re going to have more shots at these guys now,'” Walker said. “He didn’t have any role in that game in 2001. I was looking forward to his chance to play, and he stepped up big obviously.”
The touchdown by Philmore and the interception by Backes were enough to make the Buckeyes realize that they had been beaten by players from their own state.
“Philmore is my age, and I played in some (high school) all-star games against him,” Ohio State linebacker Bobby Carpenter said. “He is a good player. Jeff Backes made some great plays. They had guys out there from Ohio that wanted to come out and prove that maybe they should have played for Ohio State.”
Maybe, but right about now, Backes is probably happy with his decision.
Reach Teddy Kider at [email protected].
