The Wolverine Now

Nov. 13, 2013 Coming Unglued Northwestern's Promising Start Has Unraveled Game Facts During A Five-Game Losing Streak E By Michael Spath SPN's nationally syndicated radio show Mike & Mike, featuring Northwestern alumnus Mike Greenberg, was in Evanston Oct. 4 for a live broadcast. ESPN's TV show College GameDay, featuring personalities Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard and Lee Corso, returned to NU's campus Oct. 5 for the first time since 1996, anointing No. 4 Ohio State's meeting with No. 16 Northwestern the game of the week. The stage was set for the Wildcats to showcase their program and put the rest of the Big Ten on notice that they were a legitimate favorite to win the Legends Division and play for the conference championship. And for three-plus quarters, they did; the Purple and White led 23-20 and took a 3027 lead with 9:10 remaining in the contest. Then, after the Buckeyes went up 34-30, NU drove to the OSU 34-yard line, only to be stopped on fourth-and-one. Northwestern would eventually fall 40-30, and while the loss was hard fought, it capsized a program that had funneled its entire emotional energy into winning that game. A week later, hurting emotionally and banged up physically — dynamic quarterback Kain Colter and tailback Venric Mark both exited the game early with injuries — the Wildcats were run off the field by Wisconsin, losing 35-6. The slide grew: a 20-17 loss to Minnesota, a 17-10 overtime defeat to Iowa and a 27-24 collapse against Nebraska in which the Cornhuskers completed a Hail Mary as time expired. "The fan base has been demoralized," WildcatReport.com publisher Louie Vaccher said. "This was supposed to be a big year, and it looked like it would live up to its hype when Ohio State came to town. Northwestern was the center of the college football universe, and the losing streak since has been unbelievable in its cruelty. "The irony is that it has been the offense that has buckled the last three games and not the defense, because the knock on Northwestern for a decade now has always been that it had to outscore teams 42-35 to win because the defense was so poor. But if you look at their recent losses, it's really been the offense that has let this team down." Injuries are partly to blame. Northwestern enjoyed a bye a week ago, but had the Wildcats been forced to play they would have been without 13 starters or key reserves, head coach Pat Fitzgerald told the media, including Mark, who is out for the season with a fractured ankle suffered against the Badgers, and defensive tackle Tyler Scott, who leads NU in tackles for loss (nine) and sacks (five). Colter, meanwhile, has played in eight of nine games, but missed good chunks of the Wisconsin, Iowa and Nebraska contests. "If we didn't have bad luck, we wouldn't In his career at Northwestern, senior quarterback Kain Colter has completed 69.1 percent of his 314 passing attempts with 18 touchdowns, while rushing for 2,100 yards and 27 touchdowns. photo by Stephen J. Carrera have any luck at all," Fitzgerald said. "That's just the way it is. It's the cards we've gotten dealt. "For us, it's kind of been a reoccurring theme since we started Big Ten play. It seems like we're losing two, three, four guys each week. But it is what it is. There's not a whole lot we can do. You've got to keep trudging on. Next man up mentality, that's all you can do. What: Michigan at Northwestern. When: Nov. 16 • 3:30 p.m. Radio-TV: Big Ten Network will televise the game nationally. The game can be heard on the Michigan Sports Network (950 AM in the Detroit area and on SiriusXM Channel 135 and 196) with longtime partners Frank Beckmann and Jim Brandstatter, and sideline reporter Doug Karsch. Coaches: Michigan: Brady Hoke (2510, third season). Northwestern: Pat Fitzgerald (54-44, eighth season). History: Michigan leads Northwestern 54-15-2, last beating the Wildcats 38-31 in 2012. Northwestern Notes: NU will wear military-inspired uniforms, donning the red, white and blue for this weekend's game in support of the Wounded Warrior Project … Cornerback Matthew Harris is the first true freshman to start on defense for the Wildcats since 2006 … Northwestern ranks first nationally in the Academic Progress Rating report and has a graduation success rate of 97 percent … Senior Kain Colter is one of only nine quarterbacks in Big Ten history to eclipse 2,000 career rushing yards and 2,000 career passing yards.

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