WINNING UGLY IS FINE WITH FITZ
‘It doesn’t matter about style points,’ coach says after Northwestern nearly lays an egg against Rutgers
PISCATAWAY, N.J. — With a game for first place in the Big Ten West on the horizon against No. 23 Wisconsin, Northwestern almost got caught looking past lowly Rutgers.
Isaiah Bowser scored on a five-yard run with 8:12 to play, and Northwestern avoided a major letdown by converting two fourth-down plays on the game-winning drive in a muchharder-than-expected 18-15 victory Saturday.
“We had confidence in them the whole game,” Wildcats defensive end Joe Gaziano said of his offense. “We knew that they could put the points up [we] needed to score and needed to win the game. So in the fourth quarter, we kind of looked at each other and said, ‘Let’s do this.’ ”
The Wildcats (4-3, 4-1) did, just barely, scoring the final 11 points and limiting Rutgers (1-7, 0-5) to a field goal in the second half.
The victory set up a showdown at home Saturday against Wisconsin, which beat Illinois 49-20. The Badgers (5-2, 3-1) and Iowa (6-1, 3-1) are a half-game behind Northwestern in the West. Iowa beat Maryland 23-0.
“It feels great,” said Bowser, a freshman who rushed for 108 yards on 24 carries. “All the guys in the locker room are supporting me and saying congratulations and everything, and it was a great win.”
Bowser also scored the opening touchdown on a three-yard run after Rutgers hurt itself by muffing the opening kickoff and being forced to punt from its 5-yard line.
Drew Luckenbaugh added a 23-yard field goal for the Wildcats, who won their third consecutive game overall and sixth in a row on the road. Clayton Thorson hit Flynn Nagel on a two-point conversion pass after Bowser’s go-ahead run.
Thorson drove the offense 63 yards in 11 plays for the game-winner. He ran four yards on a quarterback sneak on fourth-and-one from the Cats’ 46 early in the drive, and he hit Nagel (eight receptions for 71 yards) on a 10yard pass on fourth-and-four from Rutgers’ 15. Bowser scored on the next play.
“Their defense played really well,” said Thorson, who was 17-for-34 for 150 yards. “That’s the best we’ve seen them play.
Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald wasn’t surprised his team struggled against Rutgers in the Scarlet Knights’ homecoming.
“That’s Big Ten football, man,” he said. “Win and advance.
“It doesn’t matter about style points. It’s probably really good discussion on your guys’ blog sites, but I don’t care, to be crystal clear. Find a way to win.”
Isaih Pacheco scored on a 44-yard run for Rutgers, which lost its seventh consecutive game. Justin Davidovicz kicked field goals of 42 and 26 yards, and Willington Previlon had a sack for a safety.
“It definitely hurts,” Rutgers defensive end Kevin Wilkins said. “I thought everyone played hard, both sides of the ball. You love to see that. Like I said in the past, there will come a point in time where it will click for us. You are going to see how much talent we have on both sides of the ball. You got a glimpse of that today.”
Rutgers, which had not led in the second quarter of a game since a season-opening win over Texas State, led 12-7 halftime lead.
Davidovicz got the Scarlet Knights on the board with his 42-yard field goal. Pacheco gave Rutgers a 10-7 lead with the Scarlet Knights’ longest play from scrimmage on offense with 5:09 left in the half. Previlon sacked Thorson for the safety 1:38 before halftime.
They just could not hold on. Northwestern has a history of playing up and down to its opponents. It knocked off Michigan State two weeks ago and then went to overtime with Nebraska. It should be interesting to see how the Wildcats play against Wisconsin and No. 4 Notre Dame in the next two weeks.