Wildcats improve to 5-0
IOWA CITY - Crossing the Mississippi River into Iowa, the state welcomes visitors to "Field of Opportunities."
Much the same way, Iowa welcomed Northwestern to Kinnick Stadium with one opportunity after another - golden opportunities - that, after squandering early, the Wildcats finally started capitalizing on to leave most of the 70,585 in anything but a welcoming mood.
Down 14 points in the second quarter, Northwestern made the Hawkeyes pay for their 5 turnovers, rallying for a 22-17 victory and their first 5-0 start since Ara Parseghian was the coach in 1962.
C.J. Bacher threw the game-winner to Eric Peterman, a 3-yard touchdown strike with 7:54 left in the fourth quarter, then John Gill batted down Iowa's fourth-down pass at the Wildcats' 8 with a minute remaining to preserve the win.
Those were just two in a series of big plays the Wildcats (5-0, 1-0 Big Ten) needed to rally from a 17-3 first-half deficit.
"I thought they punched us right in the mouth and we were expecting it, but great teams respond to any kind of adversity like that," said Bacher, who bounced back in a big way from throwing 4 interceptions a week earlier to 3 touchdowns Saturday. "I didn't have any kind of doubt the whole game."
Other heroes for Northwestern included wide receiver Rasheed Ward, who caught a career-high 10 passes, including a spectacular one-handed grab on third down to keep the game-winning drive alive.
Two freshmen came up big: Jeravin Matthews recovered a pair of fumbles on kick coverage, and reigning Big Ten defensive player of the week Vince Browne intercepted a pass and forced a fumble.
"Football is all about big plays," Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald said. "You've got to make the difference-making plays. I thought our guys made more in the second half."
What the game might have lacked in beauty - a combined 6 turnovers, missed extra point and blocked field goal - it certainly made up for in drama.
Northwestern trailed 17-16 in the fourth quarter largely because of what had been a plus. Kicker Amado Villarreal, who had made all 19 of his kicks entering the game, missed a field goal and an extra point and had another field goal blocked.
In a game full of hard hits both ways, junior safety Brad Phillips delivered the knockout punch, a hit that not only forced a fumble from Shonn Greene but knocked the star back from the game. The Big Ten's second-leading rusher finished with his fifth straight 100-yard game, 162 yards on 21 carries.
"Brad, the way he came downhill, reminded me of the way the Iowa safeties used to play when I used to be on the other side of the field watching Bob Sanders knock people's lips off," Fitzgerald said.
With the ball back, Northwestern drove 62 yards for the game-winning touchdown. Bacher hit Peterman on one third-down conversion, then Ward with his one-handed catch combined with an Iowa personal foul for another. Two plays later, Bacher again found Peterman in the end zone.
Without Greene in the game, the Wildcats stopped Iowa (3-2, 0-1) on the final two drives, the second one not until the Hawkeyes marched all the way to first-and-goal at the NU 8.
"There was no doubt in my mind, it's just which play is going to be the play we stop them," Phillips said, "and it ended up being that fourth-down play."