NU may have kicked one away
Without question, Northwestern receiver Ross Lane won the Most Optimistic Spin award in the wake of the Wildcats' 20-14 loss to Duke at Ryan Field.
"It's disappointing, obviously," Lane said. "We wanted to go undefeated. We've still got all our goals ahead of us, though. I mean, this doesn't affect our Big Ten standings."
True enough.
As Northwestern prepares for its first road game, Saturday's trip to No. 8 Ohio State, it has as good a chance to win the league as anyone else.
But realistically, the Wildcats' unexpected fall to the losingest team of this decade cost them a win they needed to have if they intend to play in a bowl this year.
If Northwestern (2-1) falls one win short of the postseason, then interested observers might pin it on Pat Fitzgerald's various field-goal decisions during the game.
Late in the first half, Fitzgerald elected to erase Amado Villarreal's 34-yard field goal when Duke was flagged for being offside.
Fitzgerald accepted the penalty that gave the Wildcats a fourth-and-3 at Duke's 11, but quarterback C.J. Bacher couldn't hook up with Omar Conteh on the pass.
That decision, which turned a 20-10 margin back into a 20-7 deficit, had a huge influence on the second half as the Wildcats tried in vain to catch up.
On NU's first drive of the third quarter, Fitzgerald opted to go for it on fourth-and-3 at Duke's 30 but a short pass to Tonjua Jones was broken up at the line.
Bacher scored on a 1-yard option on NU's next drive, cutting the margin to 20-14. Two drives later, NU marched from its 10 to inside Duke's 10, but with 2:20 to go Fitzgerald had little choice but to eschew a field goal.
On fourth-and-5 from the 6-yard line, a false start moved NU back to the 11. Then Bacher's pass to Kim Thompson fell incomplete.
Northwestern earned one last chance inside Duke's red zone, but four Bacher passes from the 7-yard line fell incomplete as time expired.
To sum up:
Five of Northwestern's last six drives reached Duke's 30-yard line or better, but the Wildcats came up with just 7 points and, officially, zero field-goal attempts.
Had Villarreal's second-quarter kick stood, the Wildcats could have won in regulation on chip-shot field goals in the second half.
Or, even without Villarreal's second-quarter kick, the Wildcats might have forged overtime had they tried some field goals.
Why not go with Villarreal, who entered the night 4 for 4 on field goals and 7 for 7 on extra points?
"The second half was going so fast," Fitzgerald said. "Time was just coming off the clock. Both teams were running the football. The clock was running and I really felt like we needed a touchdown.
"I've got all the confidence in the world in Amado. He is a tremendous weapon for us. He has kicked the ball extremely well all year in practice and all season-long. I just really felt like we needed to score a touchdown."