NU's seniors refocus their team, and Cats improve to 6-1

Who needs Joe the Plumber when you have seniors like C.J. Bacher, Tyrell Sutton and Eric Peterman?

With the "flush it'' mentality in full force this week, Northwestern head coach Pat Fitzgerald knew his team was in good hands when it came to putting a real stinker - like last week's loss to Michigan State - behind them.

And the Wildcats (6-1, 2-1 Big Ten) certainly answered the call Saturday at Ryan Field by dismantling Purdue (0-3, 2-5) 48-26.

"We talk about 90-10 at the end of the day - life is 10 percent of what happens and 90 percent on how you respond,'' Fitzgerald said. "We started pretty fast and moved the ball, but we were still down 6-0 at the end of the first quarter.''

Then Peterman turned in a couple of highlight reel plays to put the Wildcats in command.

First, the senior receiver took a short pass from Bacher in the left flat and used a block from fellow receiver Ross Lane to produce what appeared to be a 20-yard gain to the Boilermaker 25. But at that point he spun away from a hit by strong safety Dwight Mclean and went untouched into the end zone.

On the next drive, the former quarterback, who had 4 receptions for 55 yards, took a handoff from Sutton on a reverse. With the Boilermakers' defense sucked in, he rolled right and floated a 30-yard strike to sophomore Sidney Stewart, who was all alone in the end zone for the first touchdown of his career. It was the third completion of Peterman's career, the first for a touchdown and it gave the Wildcats a 14-6 lead.

"I just wanted to give him (Stewart) time to adjust,'' Peterman said.

"It seemed like it took forever for that ball to get there,'' Fitzgerald said. "Eric is a very dynamic football player, but that's not where Eric ends. He does so much more for the community, is up for many national awards and is a tremendous leader in our football program.''

From that point on, Northwestern used a pair of fumble recoveries and 2 interceptions (5 turnovers for the day) from its defense, to set up four of its next six scores - a 26-yard field goal from Amado Villareal, a 1-yard touchdown catch by superback Brendan Mitchell, a 1-yard score by Bacher and a 14-yard burst by running back Omar Conteh.

Sutton (18 carries, 96 yards) had a 9-yard touchdown reception with 15 seconds before halftime, making it 24-12, and Villareal drilled a 29-yard field goal for the Cats' first score of the second half.

"We didn't create the turnovers last week (against Michigan State) and that was our No. 1 state today,'' Fitzgerald said. "At halftime we talked about it being 0-0 on the scoreboard and to just come out and play better in the second half than they did in the first.''

The victory makes Northwestern bowl eligible with five games remaining. Last year's squad also was bowl eligible at 6-6 but did not receive a bid, so the only future any member of the Wildcats clan wants to talk about is next Saturday's trip to Indiana.

"We're trying to roll with the momentum, but we'll be 0-0 again tomorrow,'' said Bacher, who was 20 of 33 for 230 yards along with 3 touchdowns and an interception. "We flush the wins as well as the losses. Now we get ready for Indiana.''

Kory Sheets had 17 carries for 168 yards for Purdue.

<div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Stories</h2> <ul class="links"> <li><a href="/story/?id=243787">NU's Arrington injures knee <span class="date"> [10/18/08]</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>