With the clock winding down Saturday in Minneapolis, senior kicker Stefan Demos lined up a 27-yard field goal attempt – a routine kick on most occasions, but of special importance on this one.
A loss to Minnesota would have knocked Northwestern out of the national conversation. Instead, Demos, whose missed point-after attempt a quarter earlier nearly doomed the Wildcats, booted it straight through the uprights, lifting NU to a 29-28 comeback win and propelling the Cats into the USA Today Coaches’ Poll for the first time since 2008.
“The extra-point miss was unacceptable,” Demos said. “I’m glad I got the chance to make up for it.”
NU, the No. 25 team in the country according to USA Today, received a substantial number of votes in the AP Top 25 as well.
Demos’ clutch play followed a circus touchdown catch by junior wide receiver Jeremy Ebert, who snatched the ball away from Minnesota cornerback Ryan Collado in the end zone to put the Cats within two. Ebert finished with a game-high 105 receiving yards.
The game was sealed for the Cats (5-0, 1-0 Big Ten) when junior linebacker Ben Johnson intercepted a tipped pass on a fourth-and-11 at the NU 40-yard line with 17 seconds remaining.
“We pretty much knew what we were going to get into – it was going to be a dogfight,” Minnesota safety Kyle Theret said. “It always is with Northwestern. We knew we had to come out and finish that second half, but there’s a difference between knowing it and doing it.”
Junior quarterback Dan Persa was mostly effective, completing 23-of-30 passes for 309 yards and two touchdowns. Persa also had 99 yards rushing.
“He’s one of the best players in the country,” coach Pat Fitzgerald said. “The guy just makes plays. He’s tough. He executes our offense. He gets battered around and gets back up.”
But his two turnovers in the red zone – a fumble and an interception – were costly.
The Gophers scored 14 points off NU turnovers.
“We had to overcome a lot of self-inflicted wounds,” Fitzgerald said.
Meanwhile, Minnesota (1-4, 0-1 Big Ten) was led by the powerful duo of quarterback Adam Weber and running back DeLeon Eskridge. Weber completed 14-of-23 for 194 yards and two touchdowns while Eskridge ran for 119 yards and a touchdown on 22 carries.
The Golden Gophers ran far more than they passed Saturday, rushing 37 times while passing just 24 times.
“We had them off balance,” Minnesota coach Tim Brewster said. “We ran the ball on them extremely well in the second half, but just didn’t make the play to win the football game.”
NU jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead on a four-play 67-yard drive, capped off by a long touchdown pass from Persa to freshman wide receiver Tony Jones. The touchdown marked the fourth time in five games that the Cats scored on the game’s opening possession.
NU started its second drive in good field position, but freshman Venric Mark fumbled the ball away. The Gophers immediately capitalized with a 38-yard touchdown pass from Weber to running back Duane Bennett, who was wide open down the left sideline after a play-action call.
NU answered quickly with a five-play touchdown drive, ending in a 12-yard run by Mike Trumpy to regain the lead. But Minnesota responded on two big passes to tight end Eric Lair, the second an eight-yard touchdown pass from Bennett.
After NU was unable to convert a fourth-down play, Minnesota marched down the field again, taking a 21-14 lead on a four-yard touchdown run by Eskridge.
For the first time all season, the Cats found themselves behind.
“One of the things that I think is kinda hard-wired into a Northwestern player’s head is fight,” junior linebacker Bryce McNaul said. “We noticed that we were down and we were trailing for the first time, but the attitude doesn’t change.
NU regained its offensive mojo coming out of the locker room, converting two third downs to launch an 80-yard drive down the field. Jacob Schmidt’s one-yard touchdown run, his third in two games, put the Cats within one. NU was unable to tie, however, after Demos missed his third PAT of the season.
At first, it seemed Demos’ missed kick might not matter. Down 21-20, NU drove to the Gopher 20 before Persa tossed an interception on a rollout play. Of Persa’s two red-zone turnovers, the interception is what frustrated him most.
“Fumbles are going to happen, but I could totally control that,” Persa said, as he scraped blood off his hand. “It was a stupid throw.”
Minnesota took advantage, rushing their way to the Cats’ 25, before capping it off with a long touchdown pass to Lair, his second touchdown grab of the day. That eight-point lead represented the Gophers’ largest lead of the game. But several clutch plays erased Minnesota’s advantage.
Saturday’s game continued the Cats’ trend of coming up big in close games. The Cats are 3-0 in games decided by five points or less this season.
“There’s a lot of confidence going into close games,” Fitzgerald said. “We’ve been in so many of them now over these past few years … With our new marketing campaign, I figured why not have it be entertaining and find a way to get people to come to Ryan Field.”
On the other hand, for Minnesota, the one-point loss was yet another blow in a season full of tough losses.
“It’s just gut-wrenching to lose that football game today, with the effort that our kids put into it,” Brewster said. “These kids are absolutely crushed.”
