There is a reason that I did not post my typical Sunday Morning Superback yesterday morning. I could blame the travel back from Chicago, which always puts a nice 6 ½ hour crimp in the day. I could blame the fact that I was visiting friends and did not want to spend that much time lost in my thoughts and my pain. I could blame sleeping in, or the fact that my laptop is on the fritz. All of which are true.
The fact is that it has taken me this long to determine a theme for this piece. The Cats played their best game of the year against the best team on their schedule, but in the end a turnover, a special teams gaff, and a penalty continued to be the shortcomings of a team on the brink. The running game played great, but Persa had his worst game passing and could not lead the necessary drive at the end. Demos redeemed himself, and we saw great play out of the freshmen. But Jacob Schmidt, Jordan Mabin, and Al Netter made awful mistakes.
I have read a dozen articles about this game. Many of them point to the fake punt as the key play of the game. Others point to Cousin’s leadership in leading his team on fourth quarter scoring drives. Most of them admire Persa’s gritty play during the game, yet fault his inability to make the pass in the clutch.
But there was one headline that I read that truly sums up the game. Simple; to the point; and appropriate for the occasion.
And really, that is all you need to know. This is not about a fake punt; it is not about the wind; it is not about a personal four penalty, or a fumble on the goal line. It is about the inability of a team to close out a three-score lead against a better team. A complete team fail from the 6:00 mark of the second quarter until Persa through his fatal pick.
Now, this is not to say that Cat fans did not witness some great things in that span. NU had some great answers and played inspired football. But the last 36 minutes of the game was a slow erosion of everything that the first 24 minutes had built up. And in the end, the game was just eight minutes too long.
The feeling of this game brings me back to a trio of games in the 2007 season. NU had fourth quarter leads against Michigan, Purdue, and Iowa – before losing by double digits to each one of them. At the time, NU and Fitz were struggling to find an identity and were muddling through a 6-6 season. Each of these games was an opportunity to show that the Cats belong in the middle of the conference fray – but that they were not quite there yet.
On Saturday, the Cats had another opportunity to make a major statement it the conference. By knocking off Sparty, NU could legitimately make a run at the Big Ten Title. It could show the nation that it was not just good for a few upsets now and then, but that it could stand toe to toe and beat some of the best talent in the country. But the fourth quarter came, and once again, we found that the Cats are not quite there yet.
But as heartbreaking as this game was, there is great hope. Rather than dwelling on the negatives, there are a plethora of building blocks set in this game. The Cats are still in a position to have a special season, if they can pick their heads up and play their game for the next month. Here is what to be hopeful about, and what still needs work.
Dan Persa had, statistically, his worst game of the year. But a look inside the numbers shows that for the first three and a half quarters, he played strong, smart, and efficiently. With 8:30 to go in the game, MSU punted the ball out of bounds at the 50. NU was up 27-21. Persa, at that point was 16-22 for 180 yards and no picks; along with 81 positive yards rushing (albeit seven sacks against that). Everyone knew that with the wind at their backs, the Cats needed about 20 yards to really seal the game. But MSU brought in a 0-5-6 defense on passing downs and dared the Cats to throw. From then on, Persa was 2 for 7 for 7 yards and a pick. The improved rushing game will help, but MSU gave the league a blueprint on how to stop the Cats on passing downs. McCall and Persa will need to respond. Dan is still the nation’s most accurate passer, but the noose around him is tightening. On the other hand, his runs were downright amazing. Persa wanted this game, badly. But when he is the only person to find the end zone in the last two games, it is not hard to see why the Cats are 0-2 in that stretch.
Adonis Smith and the running game was a pleasant surprise. For two weeks, NU coaches, players, media, and fans were in an eternal gridlock about the run-pass ratio. In the end, Coach Fitz went with a pretty even mix (once you account for sacks as pass plays, but counted as runs) and completely ignored his 30,000 offensive coordinators. Trumpy went 10 for 50; Smith went 10 for 44 and was really the star of the show. Mark took an end around for 29 yards, which, sadly, was the longest NU run since 2008. Again, if you remove Persa’s sacks, the Cats averaged 4.4 yards per carry, or 1.2 more than the season average. The Cats controlled the line when they were running the ball, against a very stingy run defense. If this is a sign of things to come, there should be a lot of excitement about the run game. But it needed to stay consistent down the stretch. In the critical drive mentioned above, the Cats ran for one yard on first down, and then did not run again all game. Balance only works when you stay consistent with it. But there are a lot of things to build on. Including a 2012 recruit, who committed to the Cats after leaving Ryan Field Saturday. Welcome Malin Jones to the Wildcat Family.
Freshman offensive weapons, however, were the most impressive and most promising aspect of this game. Smith and Mark were mentioned above. In addition to his long run, he singlehandedly increased the Cats punt return average from 4.9 yards to 7.0 yards per return. Rashad Lawrence also had a four catch game, for 67 yards. These are the building blocks for the Cats future – and that is very exciting.
The Offensive Line had their hands full with the Michigan State defensive front. But for the most part, they performed admirably. No one would have expected NU to have so much success running the ball. Some of that was the change of pace created by Adonis. But the O-Line was beating Sparty off the ball all game long. Problem was, the opposite occurred on passing downs, as Dan was constantly scrambling, throwing on the run, and in the end, eating turf. It really is amazing that he had the stats that he had. In the end, the O-Line’s inability to give Persa enough time to throw, and their inability to keep their hands out of players face masks, put a halt to the Cats’ offensive game plan.
The Run Defense, for all of the props given to the Cats’ running game, the run defense really stole the show, at least for most of the game. Through three quarters, MSU had only 69 yards rushing, 22 of which was on the end around by Fowler. NU owned the line of scrimmage, and should be commended. It is clear that the front four plays much better against a pro-style offense. Which explains the success against Iowa and Wisconsin in previous years.
The Pass Defense. MSU was 11-15 for 144 yards passing in the fourth quarter. This is really the only stat you need to know. This was a pass defense that played “bend-but-don’t-break” ball all season. Well, in the final stanza Saturday, they broke. They had held Cousins to a pedestrian 19-29 for 208 yards through three quarters, but made him look like Joe Montana in the end. Stanzi and Tolzien will be licking their chops if this crew does not improve, not to mention Ben Chappel next week.
Special Teams. The much maligned unit last week came through this week. Demos was perfect, including a nice kick into a driving wind in quarter #2. The punt and kickoff teams were effective, both kicking and returning. And with the exception of some problems with the wind, had no mishaps. A nice improvement.
But in the end, this game will be remembered for the fake punt. The national media, many of whom clearly did not see the game, portrayed this as the biggest play of the game. And not to down play its importance, but it was with 14 minutes left (so hardly critical), the Cats came right back and scored (so hardly a backbreaker), and MSU went three-and-out on the next drive (so the momentum shift was minimal). Would NU have won the game were it not for the fake punt. No one knows. But would anyone be talking about the 4th and 1 that MSU converted with 14 minutes left had they just run the ball instead? Unlikely.
Instead, the true legacy of this game was the inability for NU to continue to move the ball. The three and out possession at midfield will be remembered by this team for a long time as the one that got away.
Go Cats!
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