‘Take me out to ...
Northwestern falls to Purdue in 1st college football game at Wrigley Field since 2010
Northwestern and Purdue fans stood and sang “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” at the end of the third quarter Saturday at Wrigley Field.
For the first time since 2010, college football returned to the historic ballpark, home of the Chicago Cubs.
(Foot)balls landed in the bleachers after field goals. There were running catches in right field and plenty of scoring updates on the vintage center-field scoreboard as the Boilermakers topped the Wildcats 32-14 in front of 31,500 at the Friendly Confines.
“The environment was amazing,” Northwestern running back Evan Hull said. “The history of Wrigley Field, just to be a part of this, just a great experience overall. Win or loss, this was a great experience for everybody.”
Hull rushed for 96 yards and a touchdown on 25 carries. But the Wildcats (3-8, 1-7 Big Ten) couldn’t slow Purdue’s pitch-andcatch combination of quarterback Aidan O’Connell and wide receiver Milton Wright.
O’Connell threw for 423 yards and three touchdowns. Wright made each of the scoring receptions and finished with eight catches for 213 yards.
The results were just what Purdue fan Cory Marshall was hoping. Marshall, from West Lafayette, Ind., had been to Wrigley Field before to watch the Cubs. He returned with his father, son and a family friend Saturday to take in the experience.
“We’ve seen the pictures (of Wrigley Field’s transformation) all week,” Marshall said. “And it’s everything we thought it would be.”
Marshall attends “four or five” Purdue games per season, mostly at home. He looked at Saturday as “neat opportunity” and when he
found out the game would take place at Wrigley Field, he “checkmarked it right away. It’s once in a lifetime.”
Branson Ping, of Seymour, Ind., received a text from friend Darren Mills this summer asking if he wanted to attend the game.
“I was like, ‘Hell yeah,’ “said Ping, who wore a Northwestern winter cap and Cubs jacket.
Ping had been to Wrigley Field before for Cubs games and a concert. Mills, a Purdue fan from North Vernon, Ind., made his first trip to the ballpark.
“I’ve been to Fenway. I can check this off the bucket list,” Mills said.
The players also soaked it all in. “Just for the opportunity to play here is an amazing experience for sure,” Hull said.
Added Northwestern defensive lineman Joe Spivak: “That was a really special day out there. Any day you get to play football is a day that you’re blessed to have, especially when you get to do it in an arena like this.”
Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald called Saturday “something special.”
“Just really thankful for the Cubs organization, so many people went into making this happen,” Fitzgerald said. “I thought it was a heck of a football game until we had some self-inflicted wounds late.”
Both teams pitched a shutout in the first quarter. The first points fittingly came with Mitchell Fineran’s 32-yard field goal landing in the right-field bleachers to give Purdue a lead early in the second quarter.
The Boilermakers (7-4, 5-3) built a 13-0 lead, but Northwestern got some momentum heading into halftime when quarterback Andrew Marty completed a 4-yard touchdown pass to tight end Marshall Lang.
The Wildcats were setup to receive the ball to begin the second half. Purdue kicker Chris Van Eekeren slipped, resulting in an unintentional onside kick — and the Boilermakers recovered.
Purdue took advantage of the sequence, going 49 yards in seven plays and scoring on a 17-yard touchdown pass from O’Connell to Wright.
“Sounds like our season,” Fitzgerald said.
Added Hull: “Things like that happen. It’s football. You can’t control everything.”
Hull’s 1-yard rushing touchdown pulled the Wildcats within 19-14 in the third quarter. But Purdue scored a little more than a minute later on a 45-yard catch by Wright.
Home-run plays hurt the Wildcats. Wright had touchdown receptions of 53, 17 and 45 yards.
“We lost one-on-ones,” Fitzgerald said. “You’ve got to win one-on-one matchups.”
Purdue added a couple of field goals in the fourth quarter on the way to winning for the third time in four games. Northwestern dropped its fifth straight but created lasting memories.
“At the end of the day we lost, and that stings and that’s always going to sting,” Spivak said. “When that stops stinging, you’ve got problems, but it was a blessing out there. Really cool.
“I wasn’t the biggest baseball guy growing up, but being able to bring football into the Friendly Confines was pretty badass. To be able to play on that turf, compete, grind together was a blessing.”