Leading 28-10 with less than 20 minutes remaining, it appeared Northwestern was well on its way to avenging last year’s embarrassing Wrigleyville Classic loss.
Instead, it was Illinois (5-0, 1-0 Big Ten) that had the last laugh, scoring four touchdowns in the final 18:51 to defeat NU (2-2, 0-1) 38-35 on Saturday.
Fighting Illini quarterback Nathan Scheelhaase stretched the Wildcats’ secondary and exposed its defensive flaws en route to a 21-of-32 performance for 391 yards and three touchdowns.
The defense struggled mightily in the second half to contain Scheelhaase. After constantly pressuring Scheelhaase in the first half with four sacks, the defense failed to put any significant pressure on him in the second stanza. The lack of pressure gave him enough time to hit wide receiver A.J. Jenkins on a deep post route several times. Jenkins had seven receptions in the second half for 159 yards, with four of those catches going for 20 yards or more including 50-yard and 33-yard touchdown passes from Scheelhaase. Jenkins finished with 12 catches for 268 yards.
With 1:15 left in the game, the Cats held a slim 35-31 lead, but that was too much time for Scheelhaase, who led his team 69 yards down the field for the game-winning score in just 62 seconds. After hitting Jenkins for 28 yards to get into NU territory, Scheelhaase scrambled for 22 yards and set Illinois up in the red zone. After a pass interference penalty against senior cornerback Jeravin Matthews placed the ball on the Cats’ four-yard line, the Fighting Illini resorted to the ground game to grind their way into the end zone. Scheelhaase came up with the winner, a one-yard plunge for six.
“We talked about what we expected to see, either a change route or a deep over,” coach Pat Fitzgerald said. “And that’s what we got, a deep over. We got a great call on, and we lose containment and we get a long scramble. You’ve got to give them credit; they made the plays that they needed to make down the stretch.”
Scheelhaase’s late score gave the Cats very little chance to come back. NU received the kickoff with just 13 seconds remaining, and a desperation lateral play fell 37 yards short as time expired.
As the Fighting Illini rejoiced, the public address system blared the Blues Brothers’ “Sweet Home Chicago,” a song the Cats play following every home football game. In another apparent slap in the face to NU’s “Chicago’s Big Ten Team” marketing campaign, Illinois continued playing Chicago-themed songs, including Frank Sinatra’s “Chicago” and Kanye West’s “Homecoming.” In a final affront, the scoreboard flashed “Illinois’ undefeated team,” a feat NU obviously cannot compete with.
Illinois was close to putting the game out of reach when it got the ball with 3:04 remaining, up 31-28. However, Fighting Illini running back Jason Ford gave the Cats fresh life when he coughed up the ball on the first play of their drive. NU went to the ground on its ensuing drive and was able to pound out a touchdown thanks to Jacob Schmidt’s six-yard run. The senior running back took over the bulk of the load after redshirt sophomore Mike Trumpy hurt his leg early in the second half.
NU’s offense started out rusty with senior quarterback Dan Persa back at the helm after his nearly yearlong absence due to a ruptured Achilles. After going three and out on his first two drives, Persa seemed to find his old self while leading a 69-yard touchdown drive that ended with a six-yard pass to senior superback Drake Dunsmore.
“After the first couple of drives I felt pretty good again,” Persa said. “That’s when we started making plays.”
Persa displayed flashes of his elusiveness in the third quarter when he ducked out of the way of a flying Whitney Mercilus and salvaged the play for a one-yard gain. In that very same drive, Persa found a way to buy time for his receivers on a fourth and four by scrambling around the Illinois defenders before dropping a pass into the waiting hands of Schmidt for the first down.
The quarterback left the game in the beginning of the fourth quarter after taking a hit on his injured foot. Fitzgerald said that although Persa was cleared to play after the hit, he kept him on the sidelines as a precaution. He was replaced by sophomore Kain Colter.
Persa ended the day with only 14 passing attempts, but he completed 10 of them for 123 yards and a career-high four touchdowns. Three of those four touchdowns went into the hands of his roommate, senior receiver Jeremy Ebert, a career-high for him as well. Ebert finished with five catches for 68 yards.
“Its always nice to have a first team All-Big Ten quarterback back there,” Ebert said. “It’s fun seeing him out there.”
Although Persa was not on the field for the end of Saturday’s game, he seemed confident that he would be back on the field against Michigan next week.
“I’m sure it will be fine,” Persa said. “It’s just one of those things where if it tightens up on me, if I can’t run as well and I can’t escape, then I put myself into even more problems.”
