EAST LANSING, Mich. – In a 12-game football season, coach Pat Fitzgerald and Northwestern entered Michigan State territory with the clock ticking towards the end of the first half.

Through five games, the Wildcats had preached that a lack of execution, not team ability, led to their mistakes in an early three-game losing streak. And after a seismic, 48-41 overtime victory at Michigan State, it appears they were right.

Pillaged by opposing defenses over the last three weeks, junior quarterback C.J. Bacher led NU (3-3, 1-2 Big Ten) into Spartan Stadium with the task of facing the nation’s second-ranked sack defense. But from the onset, it appeared the focus was Bacher himself, on the verge of the most immortal performance of his career.

Somewhere, Brett Basanez was smiling, or screaming.

He and the rest of the NU faithful tuned into the newest edition of a quarterback who took a team of 100-plus on his own set of shoulders.

Bacher completed 38-of-48 passes for a school-record 520 yards, breaking Basanez’s mark of 513 yards set against TCU on Sept. 2, 2004.

“Things are definitely opening up and slowing down,” Bacher said. “I think the (offensive line) did a great job against the strong Michigan State pressure. Our guys really got open and found holes in the defense.

“It makes my job pretty easy: just give them the ball.”

Bacher and the Cats’ gameplan showcased a myriad of quick passes, screens and swings, which are all familiar sights in NU’s spread offense.

But there were two factors that brought the Cats from offensive competitors to finishers – pass protection and downfield blocking. Michigan State (4-2, 0-2) only managed to reach Bacher once, on a broken three-yard scurry for a loss that was charged as a sack.

It was an offensive performance that stemmed from three weeks of embarrassment, leaving the Cats determined before the game to make a change on the field.

Junior wide receiver Ross Lane, who caught two of Bacher’s five touchdown passes, spoke of the feeling of urgency that permeated the locker room.

“We really needed this,” Lane said. “Everyone knew it. We talked about it before the game. It was kind of like do or die.”

Demonstrating a familiar lean to the “die” side, the Cats thrived with their backs against the wall. NU was 13 of 19 on third down, including the team’s two longest touchdown passes of the season – 78 yards to Jeff Yarbrough and 70 yards to Eric Peterman.

Yarbrough had missed the previous two games with a hamstring injury, and his status was unsure as late as Thursday. But as he streaked down a seam in the middle of the Michigan State defense, his burst of speed was a product of NU’s newest focus that Bacher had echoed throughout the week.

“He was talking about swagger,” Yarbrough said. “All week, he’s been saying the Wildcat way. We need to win the Wildcat way.”

History has often directed “the Wildcat Way” towards the final minutes.

And in usual fashion, NU’s heart rate was through the roof until the bitter end.

Twice in the final 5:19, NU had a chance to finish off a team that was favored to win by two touchdowns, with the leg of a kicker who was automatic to date.

But even a botched snap by holder Kyle Daley and wide-left field goal by Amado Villarreal on two 36-yard attempts could not keep the Cats from finishing this one.

“You just keep playing,” Fitzgerald said. “I wouldn’t say it was disappointing. It was just another opportunity for us to play and that’s the way we looked at it.”

Michigan State won the toss and deferred to NU, leaving the Cats 25 yards from a result they had pictured all season.

The offensive maestro behind center had one more trick left in his bag.

Bacher reared back and slung a 12-yard pass between two Michigan State defenders to running back Omar Conteh, who followed his career performance at Michigan with three touchdowns – two through the air and one on the ground.

Visibly winded from a seesaw game which saw NU and Michigan State swap scores 13 times in the game, Fitzgerald’s pride in his team’s finish rested on a theme that the Cats can use to carry momentum forward: parity.

“Each and every Saturday, anybody can win,” Fitzgerald said. “You just need to go out and make the plays and that’s what our team did today.

“It’s a big program win.”

Reach Chris Gentilviso at [email protected].