By Paul M. Banks and West Lamy
14-7 Auburn with 10 min left in half.
NU is keeping up all their usual trends from this season…a TON of plays, lots of short passing routes and showcasing the pass instead of the run, Northwestern has run over 35 plays ALREADY, compared to just 14 for Auburn.
Auburn takes a 21-7 lead now
Chris Todd to Quindarrious Carr for 46 yard TD strike. it was set by Auburn using their “change of pace” QB, their 2nd string, Kodi Burns a couple plays earlier. The shift in priorities forced NU’s safeties up near the line of scrimmage, and they got beat deep.
Kind of a rough 1st half for the NU Wildcats…numbers like 6 in a row (bowl losses) and 1949 (the year the postseason drought began) are starting to really rear their ugly head. The Cats outgained the Tigers by 90 yards, but this over reliance on the passing game is klling them. Kafka has 240 yards on 35 attempts in the 1st half, but 3 INTS, and 2 were in the end zone…that’s the difference right there. And as soon I finish typing this up, the announcers say the exact same thing as I just wrote here.
Auburn 21, NU 7 about 5 in left in 3rd qtr
The Tiger DBs are doing a better job of sitting back and reading the NU offense this half, the D coordinator must have said something inspiring and dead-on accurate at halftime. Becuase the NU receivers are getting very little to no separation in this quarter. And Kafka with another pick. giving him 4 on the day, and we still have over a qtr left. Hard to believe because he was so accurate in the regular season, just 7 the whole year, despite throwing more attempts than pretty much any QB.
35 all in OT. Auburn fails to convert on 3rd and goal. Wes Bynum hits the field goal, so the pressure is on Demos now on the next possession. Like last year a missed Demos kick down the stretch of the game ends up being critical.
Kafka’s numbers end up looking like Drew Brees in college or Drew Bledsoe in the NFL, who both set records for passing attempts with 70+. Kafka is 46-75 for 522, 4 TDs 5 INT.
FUMBLE…but play is under review…this game could be dunzo, or NU could have new life, awaiting refs’ decision…they were given another chance, but what…transpired. It’s just a tough loss. A very tough loss to take, so I’ll turn it over to my Outback Bowl correpsondent West Lamy to handle the postgame and the recap, The Sports Bank sent him to Tampa, and we’ll see what quoutes he comes back with
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