Jackson leads Northwestern over Pitt

NEW YORK >> Justin Jackson ran for 224 yards and three touchdowns to power Northwestern to only its third bowl victory, 31-24 over No. 22 Pittsburgh in the Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday night.

Jackson was the straw that stirred Northwestern’s offense in the Bronx and helped etch this performance alongside the 1948 Rose Bowl and 2012 Gator Bowl victories in the program’s oft-futile history. “Big city. Big stage,” Jackson said. He had TD runs of 8 and 16 yards in the second quarter, then went deep on a 40-yard burst in the third that left one defender face down on the turf following a fantastic fake and gave the Wildcats (7-6) a 21-17 lead.

Rallying without injured quarterback Nathan Peterman and running back James Conner, Pitt yanked the lead away in the fourth on a short TD pass before it collapsed the rest of the quarter.

The Wildcats turned a fourth-and-1 into a 21-yard play-action TD pass that made it 28-24 and a hit late field goal for a seven-point lead.

The Panthers (8-5), who had wins over No. 2 Clemson and Big Ten champion Penn State, still had time to spoil Northwestern’s upset bid with a late drive for the tying score. Scott Orndoff failed to hang on to backup quarterback Ben DiNucci’s strike in the end zone on third down. DiNucci had his fourth-down pass picked off by Jared McGee, who helped bust up the previous pass play, to clinch the win for the Wildcats.

Jackson, who led the Big Ten with 1,300 yards rushing and became the first Wildcat to rush for 1,000-plus yards in three straight seasons, stiff-armed one defender, then bowled over a second for a 16-yard score that helped Northwestern take a 14-10 lead into halftime.

After some confusion over his final rushing total, Jackson fell just shy of setting the Pinstripe Bowl mark of 227 yards by Indiana’s Devine Redding.

“We’ll go over every yard,” Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald.

Peterman, who threw for 253 yards, gave Pitt a 17-14 lead on a 5-yard scamper in the third. Peterman’s solid outing ended late in the quarter when he was sandwiched between two defenders and his head slammed the turf.

DiNucci was picked on Pitt’s final drive with 30 seconds left in the game and the Wildcats stormed the field in celebration.

JULIE JACOBSON — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Northwestern safety Jared McGee , right,and linebacker Nate Hall, left, break up a pass in the end zone intended for Pittsburgh tight end Scott Orndoff in the fourth quarter of the Pinstripe Bowl Wednesday in New York. Northwestern won, 31-24.