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A perfect Ten Wildcats survive Wolverines in 54-51 thriller
Updated: Sunday November 05, 2000 4:25 PM
EVANSTON, Ill. (AP) -- When Northwestern's Damien Anderson dropped the ball at the goal line with about 90 seconds left, Michigan receiver David Terrell thought for sure the game was over. Oh, no. Not even close. Sam Simmons caught an 11-yard crossing pass with 20 seconds left as No. 21 Northwestern outlasted No. 12 Michigan 54-51 on Saturday in a frenzied game that was destined to come right down to the end. The Wolverines had a chance at the last second as Hayden Epstein attempted a 57-yard field goal, but the ball went through the hands of the holder. Epstein, who drilled a 52-yarder in the third quarter, found Evan Coleman on a desperation pass, but he was tackled at the Northwestern 33.
"I felt the game was won," Terrell said. But the Wolverines, so cautious with the ball all day, gave the ball back on only their second fumble. As Thomas pounded through the hole, Sean Wieber got his hand on the ball and popped it loose. "I thought the A-Train was gone," Wieber said. "He came through the hole and no one else was there. I think he saw 80 yards in front of him and started swinging his arms a little too much." That's exactly what happened, Thomas admitted. "All I had in my mind was the first down, and I tried to get a little bit too much," he said. Covington jumped on the ball at the Michigan 30 with 46 seconds left, giving the Wildcats new life. "When I saw it, I said they were not going to get that ball back from me," Covington said. "They're going to have to rip my arms off to get it from me. That ball was mine." Kustok connected with Anderson and Johnson on quick hitches, moving Northwestern to the Michigan 12. He then hit Simmons on a perfect crossing pass. Simmons leaped high in the air after he caught the pass, and the first sellout crowd at Ryan Field since 1998 went into a frenzy. Trailing 35-23 after Henson's 11-yard TD pass to open the third quarter, Northwestern got a couple of key gifts from Michigan in the second half. Backed up on a third-and-23 from his own 34, Kustok managed only 6 yards before he went out of bounds. But Michigan linebacker Eric Brackins hit him late, giving the Wildcats an automatic first down and 15 yards. Two plays later, Kustok hit Kunle Patrick for a 30-yard gain to move Northwestern to the Michigan 11. That set up Kustok's 1-yard scoring pass to David Farman, which cut Michigan's lead to 35-29. The Wolverines tried to eat up some of the clock with a 65-yard, four-minute drive that was capped by Thomas' 1-yard scoring run. But Northwestern, which rallied from 21 points down last week, came right back. Louis Ayeni ripped off a 54-yard kick return from the end zone, and Anderson scored on a 45-yard run to make it 42-36 with 3:40 left in the third. Thomas' third scoring run, a 1-yarder, gave Michigan a 51-46 lead with 8:34 left. But it wouldn't be enough. "It looked like there were two very good offensive football
teams out there and two very poor defensive teams," Carr said.
"We just ran out of time."
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