The situation was perfect.
Senior quarterback Brett Basanez, author of four come-from-behind home victories last season, stepped onto the Ryan Field turf with 51 seconds left and Northwestern down 34-29 to Penn State.
But when Basanez’s first pass flew into the hands of unsuspecting Penn State cornerback Anwar Phillips, the legend of the 2004 Cardiac Cats seemed to melt away.
“I can’t be greedy at that time,” Basanez said. “We need to get the first first down and then score. I just made a bad read and made a bad throw.”
Earlier it appeared Basanez and the Cats had done it again. Down 27-26, the senior signal caller guided NU on a 16-play, 86-yard field goal drive to take the lead with 2:10 to go.
The defense then yielded a quick touchdown to the Nittany Lions and forced the Cats’ offense back on the field, but the magic was drained. For the first time since last year’s home game against Arizona State, NU got the ball in the fourth quarter with the chance to take the lead and failed to win.
“This is a young team, not the team from last year,” senior defensive tackle Barry Cofield said. “We have to discover that same kind of finishing ability we had last year.”
SHORT DRIVES
A 37-yard touchdown pass. A 34-yard quarterback keeper. A 43-yard wide receiver reverse.
This continued a trend for offenses against the Cats’ porous defense – NU opponents have scored in less than three minutes on 13 of their last 14 scoring drives.
Penn State’s six scoring drives took less than three minutes each. The Nittany Lions made eight plays of 20 or more yards Saturday.
NU dominated the time of possession, 39:59 to 20:01.
EXTRA POINTS
Running back Tyrell Sutton broke a 33-year-old NU freshman record for rushing touchdowns in a season with his first score of the game. The previous record was six, set by Greg Boykin – Basanez set a career high with 21 carries, totaling 54 yards – NU ran for 198 yards against Penn State, which had given up just 47.3 per game in three previous games … NU’s 29 points and 476 yards of offense were the most Penn State has allowed since a 41-10 loss to Michigan State in the last game of the 2003 season, 15 games ago.
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