EVANSTON, ILL.-As junior quarterback John Stocco's pass sailed into the hands of Wildcat safety Reggie McPherson, the small number of fans donning purple at Ryan Field in Evanston on Saturday could let out a sigh of relief.
Northwestern (1-1 Big Ten, 3-2 overall) accumulated a school record 674 yards of total offense, scoring on seven straight possessions, en route to a 51-48 victory over the Badgers (2-1, 5-1).
\We definitely just need to regroup now,"" UW freshman defensive back Allen Langford said. ""We need to start communicating a lot better, we are not communicating like we should. We lost all fundamentals today.""
The final blow for the Wisconsin defense, which came into Saturday holding their opponents to 336.8 yards per game, took place with seven minutes remaining in the game. Northwestern running back Tyrell Sutton rushed up the middle, seemingly through junior safety Zach Hampton, and 62 yards for his third touchdown of the day, giving the Wildcats a 16-point league.
""He's a good running back,"" junior running back Brian Calhoun said of Sutton, who ran for 244 yards on the day. ""I really didn't know much about him coming into the game, but he definitely proved that he's a tough running back. He broke a long one at the end, and he broke a lot of tackles.""
Sutton's play shadowed the terrific performance by Calhoun, who lead the team in receiving and rushing yards with 128 and 122, respectively. He became the first Badger to go over 100 in each category in a single game.
The Badgers had a late chance, when Sutton fumbled at the Wildcat 45-yard line with just over three minutes remaining. Stocco, who threw for 326 yards on the day, then marched the offense down the field in less than a minute and finally connected with senior wide receiver Jonothan Orr for a 21-yard touchdown. Orr caught five passes from Stocco all day, four for touchdowns. Still, he could not look back at personal accomplishments after the crushing loss.
""We lost, that's the main thing. As a competitor, you do want to play well week in and week out, but if your team doesn't get the victory, it doesn't mean all that much,"" Orr said.
After Wisconsin stopped the Wildcats short on fourth down, Northwestern's punter nailed their kick out at the three-yard line. The next play, though, McPherson intercepted Stocco to essentially end the game.
Wisconsin missed a big opportunity in the middle of the fourth quarter. Trailing by 10 and facing a second-and-six from the Northwestern 41-yard line, Stocco appeared to complete a 27-yard pass to senior wide receiver Brandon Williams. However, the play was called back due to a holding call on junior left guard Joe Thomas. The referee's flag did not sit well with head coach Barry Alvarez.
""I thought that was a huge call,"" Alvarez said. ""I'm anxious to look at that. That was a huge call, because it took us out and gave us a fourth-and-eleven. If it would have been a fourth-and-five or less I would have gone for it. But that took us out of the 3-point field. So that was a huge call.""
The Badgers led 17-10 at halftime, but the Wildcats came out of the locker room with a chip on their shoulder.
The Wildcats drove down the field, behind fifth-year senior quarterback Brett Basanez who connected on a beautiful 31-yard fade to Jonothan Fields. After Basanez rushed 20 yards on the keeper, the leader on of the Wildcats fired a four-yard touchdown to Mark Philmore.
Basanez caused trouble for the Wisconsin defense all day, with his ability to scramble out of the pocket. He passed for 361 yards and three touchdowns, with no interceptions.
""It's definitely difficult because he knows the ins and outs,"" Langford said. ""He knows where certain people are going to be, where they are not going to be. Not only that, he can scramble, he can get the ball around so then he can make plays.""
Having put up 48 points in the contest, the Badgers offensive players were frustrated after the game.
""Our defense couldn't stop anybody. We had some mental errors on special teams,"" Calhoun said. ""We shot ourselves in the foot.""
""It's tough to swallow, but it's over now,"" Williams said. ""When we were taking the momentum, they were taking it right back.""
With their first loss out of the way, the Badgers will begin preparation for their battle in Minnesota this Saturday. There certainly is a lot of work to be done.
""We'll see if this team is resilient,"" Alvarez said. ""We'll see if they can bounce back. We have to do a lot of correcting, obviously.""
