Flagging fortunes
EVANSTON-When Pat Fitzgerald looked back on Northwestern’s devastating, last-second loss to Purdue in his post-game press conference, he didn’t point to his offense, missed tackles or turnovers as the culprits, as he has so many other times in this disastrous season.
He thought the difference in the Wildcats’ 24-22 come-from-ahead loss to the Boilermakers was an aspect of the game that is often overlooked, and one that was the best in the nation at avoiding just last season: penalties.
After praising his team for coming back from a 21-16 deficit to take a 22-21 four-quarter lead with “probably the best response I’ve seen from our team all year, of responding from adversity,” Fitzgerald identified flags as the main reason they lost the game on a JD Dellinger field goal with three seconds left.
“The last four minutes of the game, the difference was discipline,” said Fitzgerald, whose team has lost seven straight games, the longest since 2013. “Self-inflicted wounds with all the penalties: a holding call in the red zone, and the penalties on the two-minute drive that obviously gave them enough yards to make the field goal.”
In all, his team was penalized nine times for 86 yards. Four of those flags gave the Boilermakers first downs. In a game that was decided by two points, those yellow markers meant the difference between a win and a loss in Fitzgerald’s mind.
The first penalty Fitzgerald referenced was a holding call on the Wildcats’ best offensive lineman deep in Purdue territory. Northwestern, trying to add to a 22-21 lead in the fourth quarter, had a first down at the Purdue 14 when Rashawn Slater was called for holding for the second time in the game.
The 10-yard infraction gave the Wildcats a first-and-20 at the 24. Three straight Drake Anderson rushes netted just 10 of those 20 yards back, and they had to settle for a Charlie Kuhbander 32-yard field-goal try on fourth-and-10. Kuhbander’s kick – with the wind at his back – clanged off the left upright.
So instead of a four-point lead that would have forced Purdue to score a touchdown to win on its final drive, now the Boilers needed just a field goal. You can’t predict whether being closer would have impacted Kuhbander’s kick – he should have made the 32-yard chip shot, regardless – but that 10-yard walkoff greatly reduced NU’s chances for a touchdown that might’ve put the game out of reach.
The most glaring flags, however, were the three Northwestern collected on Purdue’s game-winning field-goal drive. One was declined, but the other two gave the Boilermakers 30 of their 58 yards and gift-wrapped a first-down on the play that could’ve given the Wildcats the win.
The first one was on second-and-10 at the Purdue 20. A holding call on Northwestern’s Travis Whillock was declined because Brycen Hopkins caught Aidan O’Connell’s pass for 10 yards and a first down anyway.
Three plays later, on another second-and-10, O’Connell’s pass to Amad Anderson fell incomplete but cornerback Alonzo Hampton was called for pass interference. The penalty gave Purdue 15 yards and an automatic first down at the NU 45.
The biggest penalty of the drive, and the game, came last, with Purdue facing a fourth-and-4 at the NU 39-yard line with 1:08 left. The game was on the line here: with a stop, Northwestern would be able to take a knee in victory formation and ice the game. Both teams called timeout to talk about their plans.
O’Connell dropped back and threw to David Bell, running up the seam against cornerback Cameron Ruiz, whom the Boilers had targeted all day long. The pass was picked off by JR Pace, who came over in support from his safety position. But Ruiz, who had been beaten and was in a trail position, dove at Bell’s legs while the ball was still in the air, effectively tackling him.
The flag came in late, but Ruiz knew it was coming. Already lying on the ground, he dropped his head to the turf.
The call, the second PI penalty of the game for Ruiz, gave the Boilers a first down at the NU 24, well within Dellinger’s range. They ran Zander Horvath up the middle twice and then Dellinger drilled the 39-yard game-winner into the teeth of the wind to keep Purdue’s bowl hopes alive and give Northwestern the most painful of its seven straight defeats.
The irony here is that flags cost the Wildcats this game when they were the least penalized team in the nation last year. It was a big part of the team’s formula for success on the way to the Big Ten West title: play great defense, run the ball and don’t make any mistakes.
This year, however, penalties have become an issue. While Northwestern was penalized just 40 times for 363 yards in 14 games in 2018, the Wildcats have already been flagged 57 times for 523 yards this season, in just nine games. That ranks 64th in the nation and 12th in the Big Ten.
What’s more, for a team that averages just 277.3 yards per game, that total represents almost two games’ worth of offense they’ve lost in penalty yardage.
Last year, Minnesota coach PJ Fleck marveled at the Wildcats’ discipline when they beat his team in Minneapolis on their way to Indianapolis. “That team doesn’t give you anything,” he said.
On Saturday, Northwestern gave away their best shot at a win in more than a month.