This year Northwestern has lived and died on third down.
On third-and-15 with 7:04 left against Eastern Michigan, a Mike Kafka interception gave the Eagles the ball for their game-tying drive. On third-and-10 with 56 seconds left against Syracuse, a Kafka interception gave the Orange the ball for their game-winning drive.
And on third-and-three with 1:43 left against Minnesota, a Kafka fumble gave the Gophers the ball back and killed any chance of a come-from-behind win.
Still, going into Saturday’s game, the Wildcats were seventh in the country in third down conversions, moving the chains on 27-of-47 attempts (57.4 percent).
In the first half of Saturday’s game, the story was no different. The Wildcats were 5-for-6 on third down conversions in the first quarter, only failing to do so after a holding call forced a third-and-long situation. In the first half, Kafka completed 8-of-10 passes for 74 yards on third downs. On all other downs combined, he went 9-of-13 for 72 yards.
“Guys were just getting open and getting space,” the senior gunslinger said. “Our offensive line got us some protection and our wideouts made plays.”
Senior receiver Zeke Markshausen proved to be Kafka’s favorite target on third down. Of Markshausen’s four catches in the opening quarter, three helped the Cats move the chains.
“Our practices are molded around (third downs),” Markshausen said. “We put ourselves in game situations every week. Third-and-short, third-and-long, third-and-five, we know what we’re doing. We try to study as much as we can on what they’re going to do, and that prepares us to be efficient on third down.”
NU’s ability to keep the drive alive allowed it to dominate the clock; NU had the ball for more than 18 minutes before intermission, while Minnesota had the ball for less than 12 minutes.
As well as the Cats moved the ball early, their inability to convert when their backs were against the wall in the fourth quarter led to their demise.
On NU’s first possession of the fourth quarter, Kafka’s third-down pass to Markshausen fell incomplete. The Cats got the ball back with 2:36 left in the game, and two plays later they were faced with their most important third down of the game. Kafka dropped back from the Cats’ 17-yard line, and before he was able to get rid of the ball Minnesota defensive end Cedric McKinley tackled him from behind and forced a fumble.
While NU struggled on third downs in the fourth quarter, Minnesota thrived. After going 3-for-8 in those situations in the first three quarters, the Gophers converted 5-of-6 third downs in final period. This Gophers’ conversion rate in the fourth quarter, combined with the Cats’ 0-for-2 mark in the period, allowed the Gophers to control the clock. NU’s offense held the ball for less than three minutes in the fourth quarter (2:42).
“We’ve been successful because we’ve executed pretty well on third down,” Fitzgerald said. “For the most part today we did that. Obviously on the last few drives we didn’t play the way we were capable of on offense, and that led to two turnovers. The rest is history.”
