COLUMBUS, Ohio-It was Clayton Thorson and Northwestern against what seemed like the world with 9:20 left in the fourth quarter at Ohio Stadium.

The Wildcats were facing a third-and-2 at their own 33-yard line, trailing No. 6 Ohio State 24-17. The toll of a mythical, giant bell echoed over the loudspeakers, shaking the concrete in the stands. More than 100,000 fans rose as one, holding up three fingers, signifying third down.

Thorson licked his fingertips. Garrett Dickerson went in motion from Thorson’s left to his right. Thorson took the snap and looked downfield. Almost immediately, the pocket around him started collapsing as Ohio State’s front four charged. Thorson took off to his right, in nearly a full sprint, with outside linebacker Jerome Baker hot on his heels. When he reached the numbers, Thorson reared his right arm back and forward in the blink of an eye and fired a bullet, low and away, to Justin Jackson. It was the only place that Jackson could have caught the ball with Chris Worley draped over his back like a cape. Jackson cradled the ball and fell across the 35-yard line. First down, Northwestern.

Thorson picked himself up off the turf before the chains were moved. He was ready for the next play.

It’s ironic, of course, that this failed final possession of a game the Wildcats eventually lost, 24-20, is the most impressive drive of Thorson’s still-young career. He faced five third downs on the drive and converted all but one. Each conversion was more critical and a further distance than the one before, and they all took place in the deafening, swirling maelstrom of noise that is The Horseshoe.

This wasn’t a test of Thorson’s arms or skills as much as it was his mettle, his heart, his grit. He made four clutch third-down plays that winners make, even if he eventually lost the game.

“I thought he performed really well, especially in the environment,” said head coach Pat Fitzgerald. “He gave us an opportunity to win the football game, without a doubt.”

After that pass to Jackson, Thorson faced his next third-down test just two plays and a little over a minute later. This one was a little longer, a third-and-5, after an incompletion and a five-yard run by Jackson. Again, the bell tolled. Again, fans rose with three fingers in the air.

Flynn Nagel went in motion from Thorson’s left to his right, and then back to the left. Thorson caught the snap. This time, his offensive line formed a clean pocket around him and a lane right down the middle of the field to throw. He found an open Cameron Green between two linebackers at the hash, right below the block O, for 13 yards to the OSU 47. First down, Northwestern. Two third downs, two conversions.

From there, two Jackson runs netted just three yards, giving Thorson a third-and-7 at the OSU 44. Like an involuntary response, the bell rang and fans and decibels rose.

Thorson, with Jackson lined up to his right, as usual, took the snap and held the ball out for Jackson on a read-option. Thorson looked up and saw Ohio State defensive end Jalyn Holmes crashing down hard from his right. He pulled the out of Jackson’s belly and sprinted around Holmes’ vacated right end, where nobody was home. He ran 18 yards, all the way down to the OSU 26, before Gareon Conley brought him down. First down, Northwestern. Three third downs, three conversions.

Like clockwork, Thorson faced an even stiffer challenge two plays later. After a Jackson run lost four yards and an overthrown shot to Nagel fell incomplete in the end zone, it was again third down, at the OSU 30. This time, NU needed 14 yards. Cue the bells and rising fans.

Thorson took the snap. Initially, a pocket formed, but then defensive end Nick Bosa used a swim move to beat center JB Butler's block and had a clear sprint straight at Thorson, barreling down the alley like a runaway truck. Thorson had to pull the trigger without stepping forward or following through, and then took a direct hit from the 6-foot-5, 265-pound freshman.

Thorson, though, saw his target, Austin Carr, streaking across the field with Damon Arnette trailing before his line of sight was filled with a rapidly moving silver helmet. He threw a perfect pass that Carr snatched in stride at the 15. Carr rumbled all the way down to the 3 before getting spun down by Arnette. Twenty-seven-yard gain. First down, Northwestern. Four third downs, four conversions.

Alas, that was the last third-down conversion the Wildcats would manage as their goal-line offense deserted them. Northwestern had to settle for a field goal earlier in the game after reaching the OSU 6, and they would do it again here.

A keeper by Thorson lost two yards. An attempt at trickeration failed when Andrew Scanlan slightly overthrew a pass off of a reverse to James Prather on a corner route. Even Thorson’s third-down magic wore off. Once again flushed from the pocket, with Baker again giving chase, Thorson’s throw to a covered Carr went out of the end zone.

The Wildcats got a second chance when a holding call on Blake Hance pushed them back 10 yards but gave them another shot at the end zone. Thorson got good protection, but his target, Carr, was bracketed and the ball fell incomplete in traffic.

Fitzgerald, facing a fourth-and-15, elected to go for the field goal and rely on his defense to get the ball back. Jack Mitchell held up his end, hitting a 33-yarder, but the defense couldn’t stop the Buckeyes, who ran out the final 3:31.

Yes, the Wildcats’ final drive had failed, but Thorson hadn’t. He only completed four passes on the drive, but three were third-down conversions. He threw for 50 yards and also carried the ball twice for 16 yards and another first down. He had begun the drive needing 75 yards for a touchdown – he had to settle for 72 and was never able to get past the 3-yard line.

For the game, Thorson finished 22-for-42 with 252 yards passing, with one touchdown and one interception that came on a pass tipped at the line of scrimmage. It was his seventh straight game with a touchdown pass and third straight with at least 250 yards. He was also 9-for-14 on third downs. He was money when his team needed him the most.

“I thought the way that he handled everything a year ago gave us as a program great confidence that he was going to take the steps to become a quarterback that’s going to enable us to be championship-level. I think you see that unfolding right now,” said Fitzgerald. “He’s had three tough road tests in the last month…and in all three of those games he gave us a chance to win. So his maturation is not a surprise because he put the work ethic in, the way that he’s playing is not a surprise because I think that he’s incredibly talented. And then I think he’s trusting those guys around him.”

Thorson, though, realizes that coming to close to pulling off an upset gets put in the L column along with every other loss. The setback lowered the Wildcats’ season record to 4-4 (3-2 Big Ten). It didn’t get them any closer to the requisite six wins for a bowl invitation and pushed them further away from any hopes at a late, dark horse run at the Big Ten West title.

“Well, we would have liked to win, obviously, but there are no moral victories,” he said. “We felt like we should have won but we didn’t make one play here and there. We want to win, though. There are no moral victories and no one cares how close you come to winning.”

He might not have won this game on this Saturday, but Thorson performance under pressure portends many more wins on Saturdays to come.