The Northwestern Wildcats insist on nail-biting finishes. They did it twice last season against Minnesota on a 45-yard pass on the last play of the game and against Michigan with twenty seconds to go. Why should this season be any different?
- Paul Wong
- Northwestern”s David Wasielewski celebrates after kicking the winning field goal against Michigan State<br><br>AP PHOTO
Michigan State has to be frustrated. The game was an even match-up until Northwestern”s “Hail Mary” completion set up David Wasielewski”s 47-yard field goal through the uprights.
The mistake came when a Northwestern receiver ran outside and behind coverage as his quarterback, Zak Kustok lofted the ball in the air for a 50-yard completion.
Purdue 35, Minnesota 28 (OT): Who would have thought that an officiating crew could have blown two obvious calls? Minnesota coach was Glen Mason was astonished after his team”s controversial overtime loss to Purdue.
“It”s tough to swallow,” Minnesota coach Glen Mason said. “I don”t know how they got it off in one second. The only way is to snap it on the whistle. That did not happen. Fact.”
The first mistake the officials made was counting the 48-yard field goal that sent the game into overtime after the clock read triple zeros.
Once in the extra session, Purdue quarterback Brandon Hance connected with John Standeford for a 19-yard touchdown.
The second and even more drastic blunder was the ruling of receiver Tony Henderson”s reception in the end zone, which was declared out of bounds. Replays confirmed the officials” oversight, showing Henderson”s one foot in the end zone all that is required in college football.
On the Gophers” next attempt, quarterback Travis Cole threw an interception to Purdue”s Stuart Schweigert.
Iowa 24, Penn State 18: Despite playing for the first time since Sept. 8th, the Hawkeyes rolled to a 24-18 victory, upping their undefeated record to 3-0.
While being a part of a sloppy, penalty-filled game, Iowa, unlike Penn State, made big plays when it needed them most. Special teams player Dallas Clark recovered an onside kick at the Penn State 47-yard line.
As the Nittany Lions used all of their time outs, they failed to recognize they didn”t have the correct personnel on the field for Nate Kaeding”s 47-yard field goal which gave the Hawkeyes a 24-11 lead.
Penn State”s running game did not help its cause. The running backs ran collectively for 33 yards on 27 carries 1.2 yards per carry.
Ohio State 27, Indiana 14: Ohio State quarterback, Steve Bellisari began to put to rest the controversy over whether he should be benched for redshirt sophomore, Scott McMullen. The senior quarterback completed 15-of-21 passes for 194 yards with no interceptions in the Buckeyes” 27-14 victory over the Hoosiers.
Everyone from the offensive line and receivers straight down to special teams stepped up his effort. Most notably was the blocked punt by strong safety Mike Doss, which set up a field goal.
Although Bellisari”s counterpart, Antwaan Randle El, completed 14-of-21 attempts for 181 yards, his defense failed to step up, allowing Bellisari to run curls and short passes underneath Indiana”s two-deep zone coverage.
Wisconsin 24, Western Kentucky 6: Western Kentucky was clearly the overmatched Division I-AA team that everyone expected.
Despite the romping by the Badgers, many of the Wisconsin players admitted that they were a bit lax. This complacency was evident in the embarrassingly high time for possession of the unworthy Division I-AA squad.
The 334 offensive yards is deceiving, as the Badgers punted six times. Wisconsin needs to look at some tape and rectify its mistakes and self-satisfied attitude.
However, many players told reporters that they guaranteed that this would not be the case next week against the usually defensively-oriented Indiana Hoosiers.
The Associated Press contributed
to this report.