Bacher leads NU past MSU in OT

EAST LANSING, Mich. -- C.J. Bacher had two messages for his Northwestern teammates before Saturday's game.

The first?

"He said his arm was feeling the best it's ever felt," wide receiver Ross Lane said.

After Bacher threw for a school-record 520 yards and tied Mitch Anderson's record for touchdown passes with 5 against Michigan State, no one would dispute that.

But Bacher's second declaration proved much more significant.

"He was talking about swagger," wide receiver Jeff Yarbrough said. "All week, he's been saying the Wildcat way. 'We need to win the Wildcat way.'"

What is the Wildcats way?

Bizarre, resilient, plucky, back-and-forth, exhausting and devoid of dull moments.

Northwestern's latest insane installment came Saturday as Bacher fueled a 48-41 overtime victory against Michigan State, which snapped a three-game losing streak and revived bowl hopes. The game featured 89 points, 49 first downs, no turnovers and 1,092 yards, nearly half of which came from Bacher.

"That's our type of game," said Wildcats wide receiver Eric Peterman.

Bacher was Tom Brady-like, completing 38 of 48 passes to record the fifth-best single-game passing total in Big Ten history. He broke Brett Basanez's school record of 513 yards set against TCU in 2004.

"(When) your quarterback's on, you have an opportunity to win every game you're in," Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald said. "C.J. had a career game."

Basanez's mark came in a loss, one that featured 5 missed field-goal attempts. The kicking game nearly doomed NU again Saturday, but Bacher ensured it wouldn't.

Minutes after a bobbled snap wrecked a field-goal attempt, Amado Villarreal's potential game winner from 36 yards out hooked left as time expired. It was Villarreal's first miss of the season.

But rather than lament the squandered chance, NU (3-3, 1-2 Big Ten) regrouped for overtime.

"We had to keep responding," Lane said. "It was no biggie."

On the third play of overtime, Bacher lofted the ball to a leaping Omar Conteh for a 12-yard touchdown. Michigan State then surprisingly deviated from a running game that produced 287 yards, 185 from Javon Ringer.

Quarterback Brian Hoyer misfired on 4 consecutive passes, the last sailing well beyond Mark Dell. After wasting six leads earlier in the game and allowing 7.6 yards per play, NU's finally defense held up.

"Adversity," Peterman said. "That's what happens to our program all the time. We're getting ready to win the game on a field goal -- field goal goes wide.

"No matter what the situation is, you've just got to respond."

After failing to do so against Duke and Michigan, NU made up for lost time. The Wildcats went 13-for-19 on third downs, converting nine times on third-and-6 or longer.

Bacher fired 4 touchdown passes on third down, including a 78-yarder to Yarbrough on third-and-15.

"We went out with the game plan to wing the ball around," Bacher said. "The O-line did a great job. I didn't have to worry much about pressure. Our guys really got open.

"It makes my job pretty easy."

Michigan State (4-2, 0-2) entered the game ranked second nationally in sacks (4.6 per game) but recorded only 1, on a Bacher scramble out of bounds. Bacher repeatedly beat the Spartans with quick passes, neutralizing top pass rusher Jonal Saint-Dic.

Fitzgerald praised his team's sense of urgency during the week, and it showed up Saturday.

Bacher called the win "a season-definer."

"We really needed this," Lane said. "Everyone knew it. It was kind of like do or die."