Northwestern University and Evanston's Only Daily News Source Since 1881

The Daily Northwestern

34° Evanston, IL
Northwestern University and Evanston's Only Daily News Source Since 1881

The Daily Northwestern

Northwestern University and Evanston's Only Daily News Source Since 1881

The Daily Northwestern

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Chappatta: Craziness captured in press box conversations

Twenty seconds into its game against Indiana, Northwestern was losing. Twenty seconds left in the game, and the Wildcats were winning for the first time. In the middle was craziness, as NU battled back from 25 points down to win the game, 29-28.

From Darius Willis’ 70-yard run on the Hoosiers’ first play from scrimmage to Stefan Demos’ 19-yard field goal to give the Cats the lead, the game was full of ups and downs.

Here’s a game summary using only exclamations and proclamations from the press box, leaving out a few other words that were thrown in intermittently.

First quarter:– “He gone.” – Someone predicted a touchdown five yards into Willis’ run.

– “I’m annoyed by this game already.” – 1:14 into the game, after NU went three-and-out.

– “That’s the end of the first quarter. It couldn’t have come any sooner.” – The Cats were down 14-0 and didn’t have the ball.

Second quarter:– “What did I just say? Did I not just say, ‘Watch Indiana on this kick return?’ Did he go untouched? I think we just quit at halftime, nobody wants to read about this game. If they wanted to see it, they would have come.” – Someone predicted a big kickoff return. NU kicked a field goal, and then Indiana’s Ray Fisher ran the kickoff back 93 yards for a touchdown.

– “Of course it’s not over, because then we could write the story and be done with it. They’re going to string us along until the end and lose. God forbid they make our job easy.” ­- After NU scored a touchdown to make the score 28-10, then forced Indiana to punt, setting up an NU two-minute drill.

– “Are they just going to sit on the ball? What are they doing? Call a timeout!” – During the Cats’ two-minute drill, when they were running the ball.

– “The sun’s actually coming out. A sign from the higher-ups?” – After NU crossed midfield on its final drive of the half, the sun started shining.

Third quarter:– “Way to kill that momentum right away.” – NU started with the ball on its 40-yard line, but Al Netter was called for holding on the first play.

– “Zeke! That’s a deep Zeke. That’s a Zeke route. Oh my goodness.” – On the first play of NU’s second drive, Mike Kafka found Zeke Markshausen for a 28-yard gain.

– “Weina all over the place! You’ve got to be kidding me! The Weina the world awaited!” – Ricky Weina blocked Chris Hagerup’s punt, which resulted in a safety for the Cats.

– “Ricky Weina’s back out there, good things are going to happen. Wein Time.” – Weina filled in admirably at cornerback for the injured Sherrick McManis.

– “He fell over his own man! You’ve got to be kidding! Ha ha ha! Why don’t they give 60 (Will Matte) the tackle?” – Mitchell Evans, Indiana’s Wildcat-formation quarterback, was stopped on a fourth-and-goal by falling over his teammate.

Fourth quarter:– “They’ve decided to play well only in even quarters.” – Indeed, NU scored two points in the first and third quarters combined and 27 in the second and fourth quarters.

– “The crowd started roaring! They woke up the echoes.” – Kafka connected with Andrew Brewer for a 51-yard touchdown, bringing the Cats within two points, 28-26.

– “Markshausen lost his cult hero status to Weina.” – Weina was able to break up a few long pass attempts from Ben Chappell.

– “Look at little Scotty go!” – Scott Concannon rushed for 15, 11 and six yards on three consecutive plays to start NU’s eventual game-winning drive.

– “Indiana doesn’t have any timeouts. They could use some. That’s right!” – Indiana used its last timeout with 7:11 left in the game, which allowed NU to run the ball on five straight plays leading up to Demos’ field goal.

– “Proving once again you only have to play half a game to win.” Translation: It wasn’t “a Picasso,” but the Cats took care of business. They staged the largest comeback in school history. They won the game through plays including a blocked punt for a safety and a field goal into the crosswind.

NU has four Big Ten games left and none will be easy, especially with matchups against No. 12 Penn State and No. 4 Iowa in the next two weeks. It’s up to NU to use this momentum to battle back from three tough early-season losses, split its remaining games and make it to a bowl game in consecutive seasons. That way we can have more entertaining press box banter.

Deputy sports editor Brian Chappatta is a Medill junior. he can be reached at [email protected].

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Chappatta: Craziness captured in press box conversations