For seven days, Northwestern played the role of the prettiest girl at the prom.
It was ranked in the top 25 for the first time in four years. Its offense, No. 4 in the nation, was lauded as unstoppable. The Wildcats were media darlings, and senior quarterback Brett Basanez and “Heisman” often were spoken in the same sentence.
But when the lights and the cameras surrounded Ryan Field on Saturday night, it all fizzled away in a frenzy of mistakes and missed opportunities.
The Wildcats fell 33-17 to No. 25 Michigan in front of a sellout crowd, leaving NU (5-3, 3-2 Big Ten) one win short of bowl eligibility and well short of the expectations thrust upon them by a pressure-filled week.
“We had a lot of distractions,” NU coach Randy Walker said. “I’m not sure we’re a mature enough football team to handle the attention we got.”
National media outlets such as ESPN, Sports Illustrated and The New York Times profiled NU, leading to what Walker called a lack of focus in practice.
While some players insisted the attention received by NU had little effect, something changed between the Cats’ 49-14 win at Michigan State and their loss to the Wolverines (6-3, 4-2), in which NU amassed its lowest point total of the season.
Basanez, though sacked just once, was pressured throughout. Five holding penalties – four by offensive linemen – often ended drives before they began. Receivers dropped several passes.
“When you play a real good football team, you need to execute and play well,” Walker said. “Obviously that wasn’t the case tonight.”
The disrespected defense, last in the nation before Saturday, played what Walker and several players called its best game this season.
Despite giving up 253 rushing yards, the Cats held Michigan to four field goals. It also allowed 27 first-half points, but seven came on a Wolverines defensive touchdown and another three came after a Basanez interception in NU territory.
“I thought they had a pretty good night for what they got thrown into,” Walker said. “They didn’t get a lot of help tonight.”
Expected to be a shootout, the game had all the makings early.
Michigan scored a touchdown on its opening drive and added another when Leon Hall scored on an 83-yard fumble return freshman running back Tyrell Sutton.
NU responded with 10 points of its own. Then, after allowing 17 unanswered points, a last-minute Cats touchdown pulled them to 27-17 at halftime and gave them an air of momentum.
But after NU received the second-half kickoff, the momentum was replaced by a barrage of penalties and bad first-down plays.
After Sutton broke a 16-yard run on the first play of the second half, NU committed holding penalties on four straight series. The Cats amassed only 94 yards in the second half, 44 after penalties. Of their seven drives, only three of them went for positive yardage.
NU was shut out in a half for the first time since last season’s game at Wisconsin, when the Cats trailed 17-0 at halftime.
“We just kept having mental breakdowns,” senior wide receiver Mark Philmore said. “We always say we feel as though nobody could stop us. It’s always ourselves that stop us, and it exactly showed in the third quarter.”
Philmore caught nine passes for a career-high 139 yards and two touchdowns, but only caught three for two yards in the second half. Philmore also incorrectly turned upfield on a second-quarter route, leading to one of Basanez’s two interceptions on the night.
Basanez completed 26 of 49 passes for 326 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions, his first interceptions since NU’s loss to Penn State five weeks earlier.
The NU quarterback was under pressure all night, often forced to frantically dump passes off to Sutton or a wide receiver on a short route, leading to several drops. This came due to a suddenly porous offensive line that was manhandled by Michigan’s front four.
Senior right tackle Zach Strief said the line’s poor performance began in practice. Walker also said during the week the team lacked focus and discipline, mostly due to the hype surrounding the then-No. 21 Wildcats.
“Hopefully these young guys will get back to that place again where there’s a lot of attention and a lot of hype,” Walker said. “I think that’s good. But it’s only good if you can manage it the right way and channel it the right way. And I’m not sure if we did that last week.”
Reach Patrick Dorsey at [email protected].
