The NU Bowl was a wild one.
Lots of lead changes, dropped catches (including a couple likely touchdowns) and otherwise big plays that never came to fruition. Both NUs let a TD grab or two slip through their fingers. In the end, it was the visiting Northwestern football team that made less miscues and executed more big plays to get the job done and win 30-28.
Unranked Northwestern moves to 6-2 on the season; and in doing so clinched a berth in the 2015 postseason. After back-to-back 5-7 seasons, and therefore winters of discontent, Northwestern football Coach Pat Fitzgerald could certainly use a postseason that includes a nice holiday getaway and the fifteen extra practices.
“Six is not destination, we didn’t talk in camp about let’s get to six wins,” Fitzgerald said after the game.
Obviously, we won’t know until December 7th where they’ll actually be headed, but with a final tally of 7-9 wins likely in the cards, you can put a whole host of destinations on the table. The Outback, Holiday, Foster Farms and Heart of Dallas are among the many possibilities.
At first, Northwestern football again struggled today with the forward pass, as starting QB Clayton Thorson had a Bluto Blutarski like 0.0 passing yards in the first quarter. A lot of it was not his fault though, as again his receivers had a case of the dropsies. Thorson rebounded nicely though to finish with a respectable 13-28 passing for 177 yards, one touchdown, but most importantly, no interceptions. While Thorson was mediocre throwing it, he was truly phenomenal running it today. (Denard Robinson version 2.0 maybe? Possibly?)
“He made some huge plays with his legs,” said Pat Fitzgerald.
“And then he settled down, and took what the defense gave him. I think he saw things a lot cleaner after the first quarter.”
Thorson ran 9 times for 126 yards, including a 68 yard touchdown scramble.
“Those Cornhuskers have been through so many tough games this year, gut-wrenchers. They probably feel the same way today after the way today’s went,” Fitzgerald said of his now vanquished opponent. Three of Nebraska’s five losses this season have come in the final ten seconds, or in overtime.
In the first year under new Coach Mike Riley, Nebraska has lost an FBS leading four games in which they held a fourth quarter lead. That’s one more than in seven combined seasons under Bo Pelini.
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