Northwestern Grabs Big Lead Against Michigan State, But Can't Fend Off Spartans
Oct. 21, 2006
NU-MSU Box Score in PDF Format
EVANSTON, Ill. (AP) -- Michigan State staged the biggest comeback in NCAA Division I-A history Saturday, rallying from a 35-point third-quarter deficit to beat Northwestern 41-38 behind a blocked punt and the play of Drew Stanton. Brett Swenson kicked the winning 28-yard field goal with 13 seconds left following a key interception by Travis Key. The result dramatically ended a four-game losing streak for the Spartans (4-4, 1-3 Big Ten) while extending the Wildcats' winless skid to five games. Until this riveting game, the biggest comeback in major NCAA football was 31 points -- when Maryland beat Miami 42-40 on Nov. 10, 1984 and when Ohio State defeated Minnesota 41-37 on Oct. 28, 1989. Northwestern (2-6, 0-4) led 24-3 at the half, and the heart-breaking defeat kept NU from posting its first Big Ten victory of the year. Michigan State trailed 38-3 with 9:54 left in the third quarter after Northwestern's C.J. Bacher threw his third TD pass, a 5-yarder to Shaun Herbert. The Spartans staged the improbable rally with Stanton shaking off a hard hit that momentarily knocked him out of the game before he returned to lead the comeback. Stanton, battling assorted injuries, tossed a TD pass of 18 yards to Jehuu Caulcrick with 7:03 left in the third. A.J. Jimmerson's 4-yard run, after a 19-yard pass from Stanton to Kerry Reed, made it 38-17.
Stanton moments later was knocked to the sideline on a late hit by Northwestern's Corey Wootton and replaced by Brian Hoyer for a series. Michigan State made it 38-24 early in the final period when Devin Thomas blocked a Northwestern punt and Ashton Henderson returned it 33 yards for a TD. Stanton returned on the next series and immediately drove the Spartans 60 yards, completing three passes for 34 yards and carrying 12 yards for the TD with 7:54 left, making it 38-31. The Spartans then stopped a third-and-1 by the Wildcats, who had to punt, and Stanton completed six straight passes in a six-play, 58-yard drive, capping it with a 9-yard TD pass to T.J. Williams that tied the game with 3:43 left. Key then intercepted Bacher at the 30 with 2:59 left and State moved in position for Swenson's field goal. Bacher completed 5 of 6 passes on Northwestern's first possession, a 71-yard drive capped by Bacher's 5-yard TD pass to Ross Lane that made it 7-3. On their next series, with the aid of two pass interference calls against the Spartans, the Wildcats moved in again, going 74 yards with Bacher hitting Jeff Yarbrough on a 14-yarder to the 2 and then carrying the final couple of yards for the TD early in the second quarter. Joel Howells kicked a 30-yard field goal to make it 17-3 on the next possession. Eric Peterman took a Bacher swing pass, broke two tackles and raced 47 yards to the Spartans 9 before the drive bogged down. An 18-yard halfback option pass for a TD from Brandon Roberson to Herbert made it 24-3 late in the half. Bacher's 22-yard pass to Lane gave the Wildcats a 31-3 lead early in the second half. Stanton completed 27 of 37 for 294 yards. Bacher, who made his first college start, moving ahead of announced starter Andrew Brewer, completed 15 of 29 for 245 yards. Sutton finished with 172 yards on 21 carries. Northwestern's leading tackler Nick Roach was carted off the field with a broken right leg while covering a punt with 12:20 left in the third quarter. |
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