Push and pull, action and reaction — Saturday afternoon was a tug-of-war from the opening whistle.
Northwestern (5-5, 3-4 B1G) welcomed No. 18 Michigan (8-2, 6-1 B1G) to The Friendly Confines for the first
game of its Wrigley series Saturday afternoon. With plenty of blue and yellow in the stands, this game was looking more like a Northwestern road game than a home one.
For the ‘Cats, Preston Stone was a rollercoaster through both halves. He was 13-of-23 for 184 yards, with most of those coming in the second half. Throughout the half he found most of his success with Hunter Welcing, connecting with the tight end four times for 81 yards. He also favored the running back pair Caleb Komolafe and Joseph Himon II, who each recorded 31 yards for the rush.
For Michigan, the duo of Bryce Underwood and Andrew Marsh was unstoppable. When Underwood was 21-of-32 for 280 yards, 189 of those yards came from Marsh. However, it wasn’t a one-man show. In the rushing game, Jordan Marshall collected 142 of the team’s 216, with Bryson Kudzdzal collecting 53 once he was utilized more in the second half.
To start the game, Northwestern won the toss and chose to defer, handing the ball to its opponents. In the first drive, Jordan Marshall’s immediate rush up the middle gave three yards to the Wolverine offense, but luckily for the ‘Cats, they were quickly taken away after Aidan Hubbard pushed through to sack Bryce Underwood for a loss of five yards. Slowly marching down field and continuously moving the chains, a huge breakaway connection between Underwood and Marsh put Michigan inside the 20-yard-line. NU responded though, and, this time, it was Braydon Brus breaking through the offensive line for a six-yard sack. Following the play, a 17-yard touchdown run was nullified by a holding call on the Wolverines’ Andrew Sprague. Unable to get the first down, Michigan kicked a field goal and ultimately missed, giving the ‘Cats the ball on their own 20-yard line.
The ‘Cats began with two rushes on their first drive, and an offsides penalty on the Wolverine defense moved the chains. After getting little to no yardage through the run-game, Stone turned to throwing. A screen to Drew Wagner moved the ‘Cats six yards closer to a first down, but now it was 4th down. A quick decision by NU showed aggressive play calling, and Chase Ferrell barreled through to move the chains. The drive stalled from there, and after a near heroic catch by Griffin Wilde, the ‘Cats punted the ball to Michigan’s nine.
With two minutes left to go in the first, the Wolverines found much better luck with the passing game. Multiple play action passes from Underwood garnered a total of 34 yards over the course of five plays. When he was unable to connect downfield, he took it himself to gain a first down and 15 yards. Scrambling in the pocket, and with no receivers open, Underwood put his legs to use yet again as he picked up four yards to reach the NU 38 just before the clock ran out to end the first quarter. The teams were tied 0-0 after the opening frame.
Now with a fresh 15 minutes on the clock and facing 3rd-and-six, a deep pass down the Michigan sideline to Marsh moved Michigan to NU’s six-yard line. It was inevitable what came next: a rush up the middle from Marshall to secure the first touchdown of the game. And after Dominic Zvada connected on an extra point, the score was 7-0 Wolverines.
The following two drives saw lockdown defense from both sides, and consecutive three-and-outs put the ball back in the ‘Cats corner. Relying on the run yet again, Himon II picked up seven yards to start the drive. After another offsides penalty on the Wolverines, Himon II picked up another five to give the ‘Cats a fresh set of downs. Northwestern slowly inched towards the goal line and completed a pass to Hayden Eligon II that seemingly gave the ‘Cats their first touchdown. But before fans could celebrate, a flag for offensive pass interference nullified the score and moved the ‘Cats back to the 23 yard line. Unable to get back into the endzone, Northwestern settled for three. With five minutes left on the clock, Michigan held the lead at 7-3.
The Wolverines started their next drive smoothly, with a 12-yard run from Marshall that officially marched them into NU territory. But just as they were getting hot, a hard hit from Anto Saka caused Marsh to fumble the ball. Brus rushed to scoop up the ball and ran six yards before being brought down at the Michigan 47. With only two minutes left and a score behind, Northwestern needed to make something happen. And so they did with Stone’s pass to Welcing and his subsequent break down the field putting Northwestern at the eight. On three downs and a few near touchdown completions, the ‘Cats could not reach the endzone and yet again settled for a field goal.
There was now one minute on the clock, and Michigan wanted to extend their lead. Two consecutive first downs led the Wolverines into Northwestern territory, but the 42-yard line was the farthest they would get. After Michigan pivoted to the run game, it was unable to gain much yardage. With the possibility of a touchdown fleeting, the Wolverines put trust in Zvada for a 60-yard field goal. Just barely missing right, the clock hit zero and the half concluded with a 7-6 score.
At the break, Stone was 5-of-13 for 71 yards, continually relying on his running backs to advance the ball. There were several moments where he underthrew receivers or chose a more covered option when there were other players wide-open. He did have a few nice connections to Welcing, and the tight end had 53 yards at the half. Surprisingly, the run game wasn’t great, and NU only had 35 yards. Komolafe led in this department with 15 yards on seven attempts.However, the defensive line is where the Northwestern squad showed up. The group had three sacks, a forced fumble and constant pressure on Underwood throughout the first half.
Opposite to Northwestern, Michigan relied on its passing, and it certainly outshone the ‘Cats in this regard even with the score so close. Underwood was 15-of-20 for 185 yards with Marsh being the star receiver. Out of the total, the first-year collected 135, and he looked nearly unstoppable on his routes. If the ‘Cats wanted to win they would need to eliminate Marsh as an option in the second half.
Coming back from the break, the ‘Cats received the ball and started with a 19-yard completion to Wilde. Alas, after a false start Northwestern couldn’t get the momentum running and, three downs later, were punting it away.
It looked like a three-and-out was in store for Michigan, but an eight-yard rush from Underwood moved the chains and squandered any hope that NU would get it back quickly. On the next play, Marshall received the handoff, saw a hole and took it 65 yards. Following this, a fake handoff by Underwood allowed him to walk into the endzone for a very quick second-half touchdown. After the extra point, the score was now 14-6.
On the following drive, a three-and-out forced Northwestern to punt once again. But NU forced a fumble after knocking it out of Semaj Morgan’s hands. After the dog pile cleared, it was Northwestern ball on the Michigan 35. A 17-yard rush down the left sideline by Himon II put the ‘Cats in good position to score, but the drive stalled, and Jack Olsen converted his third field goal of the game to cut the lead to five.
Now 14-9, the Wolverines found their groove and through a medley of passes and runs, progressed into the red zone at a quick rate. At the 18-yard line, the defense created a wall and only allowed a gain of one from Marshall. But an unfortunate pass interference call on Josh Fussell moved the Wolverines to the two-yard line. Two huge defensive stops from Robert Fitzgerald almost resulted in a forced field goal, but, on third down, Marshall leapt into the endzone for his second touchdown of the day. With 40 seconds left in the third, Michigan led 21-9.
On the first play of the next drive, Stone met some unfortunate luck with an intentional grounding penalty, resulting in a 12-yard loss. But he made up for it in the subsequent plays, finally he seemed to find his footing. Now 2nd-and-22, Stone heaved one 30 yards to Wilde for a first down. Only a play later, he connected down field yet again for a 22-yard pass to Eligon and followed up with a 24-yard pass to Welcing. Moving NU to the one, Stone took it in himself for the first touchdown of the day for the ‘Cats.
Momentum was now in Northwestern’s favor. The ‘Cats held Michigan to only one yard before Braden Turner snuck in front of the Wolverine receivers and intercepted Underwood’s pass. He ran 29 yards down the stretch to put Northwestern at the six, and a rush from Komolafe gave the Wildcats their first lead of the game. Now 22-21, Northwestern chose to go for two, but were unable to convert.
The next 10 minutes were utter chaos for either team.
Michigan looked to take its lead back and after two runs by Marshall, and three by Kuzdzal, moved the Wolverines into the NU 30. But as Underwood stepped back to throw on the next play, the pass was intercepted yet again, this time by Fitzgerald. However, a quick three-and-out forced by the Michigan defense in the following drive meant it didn’t amount to much.
After a couple rushes by the Wolverines, the ball was fumbled by Kuzdzal and picked up by Turner before returning it two yards. An incomplete pass from Stone, an offensive holding call and a loss of yardage put Northwestern at 2nd-and-21. For their last attempt at a first down and continuing the drive, Komolafe was only able to gain five yards. A punt to Michigan swiftly followed.
With only two minutes left on the clock the ‘Cats were still up by one. Several incomplete passes by Underwood opened a possibility of a three-and-out. But a deep pass to the star first-year Marsh gave hope and a first down to the Wolverine offense with time dwindling. Several more first downs moved the offense down field, and with two second left, Michigan took field goal position.
The ball was snapped, Zvada kicked and the field goal was good — Michigan overtaking Northwestern 24-22.
Northwestern football competes in possibly its last Wrigley series game Saturday, November 22 against the Minnesota Golden Gophers. Kickoff time has not been announced.
