SAN ANTONIO – In many ways, Northwestern played the perfect game in the Alamo Bowl.
Pat Fitzgerald’s squad outgained Missouri by almost 100 total yards, forced three critical turnovers, and held the ball for more than 35 minutes. The Wildcats overcome injuries to key players and special teams miscues to battle the heavily favored Tigers to the final seconds – and beyond.
It was a perfect game. The only thing missing was the victory.
Given new life after a missed field goal at the end of regulation, NU was unable to come through in overtime, dropping a 30-23 heartbreaker that left Fitzgerald and his players drained and despondent.
“I can’t say enough about our players,” a weary Fitzgerald said after the game. “We kept on fighting, we kept on battling. Just a few plays here or there might have been the difference.”
After Missouri’s Jeff Wolfert missed a potential game-winning 44-yard field goal to end the fourth quarter, the Cats (9-4) headed into their first overtime game of the season – and the first overtime bowl game in school history – with renewed hope of breaking the school’s 60-year bowl victory drought.
“I thought there was no chance (Wolfert) was going to miss it,” senior quarterback C.J. Bachér said. “When he did, it kind of felt like a second life, a second breath.”
As quickly as the Tigers (10-4) had lost the momentum, Jeremy Maclin seized it back. The sophomore All-American wideout took a carry off tackle for 11 yards on the first play of overtime to move Missouri within shouting distance of the goal line. Three plays later, he hauled in a seven-yard touchdown strike from senior quarterback Chase Daniel to give the Tigers a 30-23 lead.
Needing a touchdown to send the game to a second overtime, the Cats moved the ball to the Missouri eight-yard line. But that was as close as the they would get. In an eerie repeat of NU’s midseason loss to Indiana, Bachér lost 24 yards on a fumble, stripped as he attempted to throw the ball away on third-and-goal.
Left tackle Al Netter fell on the fumble at the 32, giving the offense one more chance for a Hail Mary touchdown pass to tie the score. Bachér’s fourth-down heave into the end zone was almost corralled by junior wide receiver Andrew Brewer, but the pass fell harmlessly to turf, and the Cats’ season fell with it.
Afterwards, Fitzgerald dismissed the notion that his team had somehow won something by playing the Big 12 North champion Tigers closer than expected.
“We’re very disappointed we lost the game,” he said. “I thought we fought hard, and we fought valiantly, and I’m proud of that. But there’s no moral victories in our program.”
For the first three quarters, NU did everything it could to leave San Antonio with a victory, defying the oddsmakers who tabbed Missouri as a two-touchdown favorite and powering its way to a 23-20 lead. Bachér turned in one of the best performances of his prolific career, tying an Alamo Bowl record with three touchdowns passes and setting a season-high with 304 yards passing in his 28th and final start.
On defense, the Cats’ physical, gritty play forced the dynamic Tigers’ offense out of its comfort zone, putting the clamps on a unit that came into the contest averaging 42.3 points per game. The Cats laid a series of punishing hits on Daniel, forcing the senior gunslinger into uncharacteristic mistakes. The Tigers’ senior tied a season-high with three interceptions.
“We just decided to come after (Daniel),” senior linebacker Prince Kwateng said.
Daniel’s third and final pick came courtesy of Brad Phillips. The junior safety faked blitz to confuse Daniel, then dropped back into coverage, jumping an out route to make the interception at the Missouri 24 late in the third quarter.
Three plays later, Bachér found Ross Lane in the back of the end zone. The senior wideout dragged his left foot inbounds to secure the 23-yard score, and the Cats had a 23-20 lead.
Despite losing junior defensive end Corey Wootton to a knee injury, the NU defense kept Missouri out of the end zone in the fourth quarter. Wolfert’s third field goal of the day knotted the score at 23 with three minutes left and set the stage for the last-minute dramatics.
From the outset, it was clear the Cats had a singular strategy: Hit ‘em, and hit ‘em hard. NU employed a pounding, physical game plan on both sides of the ball, jamming the Missouri receivers on defense and serving the Tigers a healthy dose of Tyrell Sutton on offense. The senior tailback showed no signs of rust after a two-month layoff recovering from a broken wrist, taking the fight to the Tigers with a string of bruising runs.
Behind Sutton and Bachér, NU took an early 10-3 lead. But late in the second quarter, Maclin fielded a Stefan Demos punt at his own 25, blew past a stunned Peterman and raced to the end zone untouched. It was the first punt return for a touchdown allowed by the Cats since 2004, and it evened the score at 10 heading into halftime.
NU overcame the game-changing return and continued to go toe-to-toe with Missouri for more than 60 minutes. But in the aftermath of a sixth straight bowl loss, the Cats could focus only on the result.
“Our goal tonight was to win the football game,” Bachér said. “We weren’t able to get it done.”
