EAST LANSING, Mich. — Northwestern came home last week after losing to Michigan and immediately started to prepare for Michigan State.
The weeklong training paid off as the Wildcats overcame their late-game demons to beat the Spartans 23-20 in their final road contest of the season.
“The guys responded when we got off the bus a week ago from Ann Arbor (Mich.,) — that’s when this game started,” coach Pat Fitzgerald said. “I’m proud of our seniors, a great team win, way to bounce back.”
The Cats held four different leads in the contest, and the Spartans came back three times to either tie the game or take the lead. However, Michigan State’s last-ditch effort ended when tight end Dion Sims dropped quarterback Andrew Maxwell’s fourth-down pass. Sims looked like he made the catch before NU’s senior safety Jared Carpenter knocked the ball free, but the referees ruled that Sims never completed the catch and the Cats held on for the victory.
The dropped pass signified NU’s senior class’ first win over Michigan State. Senior linebacker David Nwabuisi did not hold back his excitement.
“It was great in so many ways,” Nwabuisi said. “In our career, everyone on the team hasn’t beaten Michigan State … It felt great to get the win.”
Nwabuisi broke the game open for the Cats early in the second half, when he intercepted a fluttering pass from Maxwell and returned it 43 yards for a score, his first pick-6 at NU. He joked after the game that he expected to get at least one as a member of the Cats.
NU forced four turnovers from Michigan State: two interceptions and two fumbles. However, the Cats failed to score off any of the other three and gave up a safety after the first fumble recovery. Fitzgerald said he wishes he had called a different play on that safety, but he was disgruntled with much of the first half as a whole.
The first 30 minutes resembled a baseball game, and the Cats held a 6-5 lead at the break. Fitzgerald said he didn’t like many things about the half, but NU found a way to correct them in the second stanza.
“We got to be smarter with the ball,” Fitzgerald said. “The two minute drill we were a little bit critical of. Third downs we got to be better on both sides. A road win in the Big Ten comes with a great price.”
All season, NU’s offense has been led by junior quarterback Kain Colter and junior running back Venric Mark. Both were ineffective early and missed large chunks of the second half due to injury, forcing the rest of the offense to step up in a big way.
“Coach Fitz always says someone has to be ready to pick up the flag,” sophomore quarterback Trevor Siemian said. “My opportunity came up and I just tried to execute. The entire guys on the field on offense played their butt off too, so that helps.”
Siemian completed 13-of-23 passes for 165 yards and led NU on two critical scoring drives. The Cats used a lot of quick passes with the running game being effectively neutralized by the Spartans’ defense, and superback Dan Vitale rose up to the occasion. The freshman had a career-high 9 catches for 110 yards including a 41-yard reception on NU’s fourth-quarter scoring drive. After making a big contribution to the offense, Vitale said he’s not going to change much moving forward.
“I’m starting to prove myself,” he said. “I’m just going to keep going out there and doing my job and doing what’s asked of me.
The Cats struggled defensively, giving up more than 400 yards of offense to the Spartans. Michigan State tailback Le’Veon Bell was particularly effective with 140 rushing yards. Fitzgerald said he had a tough time saying his players stopped Bell, but was happy with how they contained him and kept him out of the end zone.
Bell almost had a touchdown in the second quarter, but the NU defense had a big goal-line stand to keep Michigan State off the scoreboard. The Spartans had a first-and-goal from the NU eight-yard line, and Bell came up a yard short on his third straight carry. On fourth down, the Cats stuffed him for a loss of three. The stand gave NU confidence and was a major turning point in the game.
