Cats bounce back for season-opening win

EVANSTON-It took a while for Northwestern to get going. About thirty minutes to be exact.

But once they did, the Wildcats came back from a 10-point halftime deficit to earn a hard-fought 31-20 victory over Nevada in the season opener with two tremendous fourth-down efforts late in the game.

Northwestern players talked all offseason about starting fast this season and not repeating their gruesome start to 2016, when they dropped two home games to underdogs. But through two quarters the Wildcats looked like they were headed in the same direction, getting outplayed by the 24-point underdog Wolf Pack.

Northwestern’s sputtering offense then found its gear in the second half as the Wildcats put up 24 points and the offense and defense took turns coming up with big fourth-down plays to ice the victory.

Here are our six points on the Wildcats’ win:

Gutsy call by Fitz: Simply put, the game was on the line with 5:32 to go in the fourth quarter and Northwestern trailing 20-17. Clayton Thorson had just completed a third-down throw to Macan Wilson to the Nevada 1. It was fourth down and Northwestern head coach Pat Fitzgerald had two choices: go for the chip-shot field goal to tie the contest, or put the game at risk and go for the TD. The often conservative coach opted for the latter, and Thorson, taking a rare snap under center, crossed the goal line on a QB sneak to give the Wildcats a 24-20 lead with 5:28 to go. The score proved to be the game-winner.

The defense came through on a fourth down of its own: That lead held up because Northwestern’s defense forced Nevada to turn it over on downs near midfield with an inspiring fourth-down effort of its own. The Wolf Pack faced a fourth-and-1 from their own 48. With time running down, Nevada coach Jay Norvell elected to go for it. They handed off to Griffin Dahn up the middle, and he lost a yard after getting swarmed under by a host of Wildcats who had busted through the line. Tyler Lancaster, who got their first, was credited with the tackle. Northwestern took over on downs and Thorson added a touchdown run to produce the final margin.

An uninspired start: Everything seemed as flat as Kyrie Irving’s idea of Earth to start the game. The Wildcats’ first two possessions resulted in a loss of 13 yards. They took a 7-0 lead but then surrendered 17 straight points. The Wildcats reached the red zone twice in the first half and came away with zero points. They had a first down at the Nevada 9 in the first quarter, but three runs netted just five yards and, to add insult to injury, freshman kicker Charlie Kuhbander blew the chip-shop 21-yard field goal. The next time the Wildcats got that close, in the second quarter, Bennett Skowronek fumbled at the 13 after a catch. On top of that, the Wildcats were sloppy, giving up costly penalties and three plays of more than 30 yards.

Thorson quietly had a great game: Northwestern wasn’t getting much of a push up front from its offensive line, even against six men in the box, but Thorson had himself a day to bail the Wildcats out. The redshirt junior completed 28 of 38 passes for a career-high-tying 352 yards and four TDs – two through the air and two on the ground. Thorson was brilliant in the first half, completing 13 of 17 passes for 115 yards and a beautiful 33-yard touchdown pass to Macan Wilson to open the scoring. He had a disastrous interception in the fourth quarter, turning it over at the NU 17, but his defense bailed him out. Thorson spread the ball around to eight different receivers and completed two throws of more than 40 yards, as well as a 19-yard third-quarter touchdown strike to Riley Lees.

Northwestern’s defense was solid throughout: Facing Nevada’s Air Raid in the season opener is a uncomfortable proposition, but except for a few big plays, Northwestern’s defense was up to the challenge. The Wolf Pack gained a manageable 341 yards of total offense, and quarterback Ty Gangi completed just 16 of 37 passes for 199 yards and two TDs. Those numbers are even more remarkable considering that the Wildcats lost starting CB Marcus McShepard during the game, who was playing because of an injury to starter Keith Watkins. After third corner Brian Bullock left the game, Northwestern was forced to play graduate transfer Moe Almasri at cornerback late in the fourth quarter, with the game still on the line. In addition to the big fourth-down stop in the closing minutes, the Wildcats thwarted another potential game-changing turn when they limited Nevada to a field goal after Thorson’s interception gave the Wolf Pack the ball at the NU 17 with the score tied in the fourth quarter. The Wildcats also came up with an interception (Kyle Queiro) and a fumble on the day.

Northwestern’s freshmen make their debuts: Several freshmen and redshirt freshmen made their first appearances in a Northwestern uniform against Nevada. True freshman Rashawn Slater got the start at right tackle, a remarkable feat; he switched off throughout the game with redshirt freshman Gunnar Vogel. Other true freshmen to make an impact: defensive tackle Samdup Miller finished with four tackles, including a TFL; Kuhbander was 1-for-2 on field goals; and Kyric McGowan had one catch for 10 yards. Among redshirt freshmen getting their first tastes of college football were starting middle linebacker Paddy Fisher (four tackles), wide receiver Lees (two catches for 35 yards and one TD), running back Jeremy Larkin (six carries for 20 yards) and Bullock.