There is one fact often ignored when considering cliches and it has nothing to do with their banality or lack of imagination.
It is: So very often, they are as true as deep love.
So let us utilize one of them here to capture the essence of this ever-evolving Northwestern football season. The only thing consistent about it has been the Wildcats’ wild inconsistency.
Often, in the sincerest of tones, players and coaches have bemoaned this trait and then, as if they were sinners intoning a holy mantra, they have promised to repent and right their errant ways. But never have they truly done that, never have they just come roaring out the tunnel and offered up a complete game for their fans to savor.
That reality is still true even after they roused themselves just enough Friday night at Ford Field to escape with a 26-14 victory over Eastern Michigan. The triumph pushed their winning streak to three and left them just one short of being bowl eligible. But it was also, once again, as incomplete as a sentence that’s missing a verb.
There was no good reason for NU to revert to this habit it should have kicked long ago. The Eagles, only 2-6, had no running game and, at quarterback, were using a callow freshman in place of their injured starter. The Eagles, in sum, were there for the Wildcats (5-3) to treat as nothing more than hopeless prey.
But these Wildcats long ago showed their disdain for doing anything easily, and again they turned their back on that way from the beginning.
Northwestern kicked to open the game and allowed the Eagles’ Dontayo Gage a return to their 42. The Wildcats held and forced a punt, but on their first series, they were called for holding, they allowed a sack of quarterback C.J. Bacher and Bacher himself threw a ball into double coverage that was intercepted.
That set up Eastern for an easy score that put it up seven with barely more than eight minutes gone, a slap enough to stir the somnolent Wildcats. So inspired, they immediately drove 66 yards and gave themselves a first down on the Eagles’ 7. But, reverting to character, they stalled and settled for Amado Villarreal’s 25-yard field goal.
This was hardly roaring out of the tunnel and taking advantage of an overmatched foe. It was instead a harbinger of the Wildcats’ night, which they continued to mottle with examples every bit as inconsistent as their very season.
They gained 289 yards in the first half — but they scored only 13 points. Bacher went 16 of 25 passing for 211 yards in the first half — but in the third quarter, he went 2 of 9 for 17 yards.
They missed countless tackles — but they created four turnovers. They allowed Kyle McMahon, the Eagles’ freshman quarterback, to go 28 of 48 for 282 yards — but they kept him from throwing any TD passes.
NU’s offense, so spectacular the last two games, coughed and sputtered and produced only on occasion. But the Wildcats’ defense, so porous the last two games, rose up and asserted itself and keyed their victory.
Their performance, in sum, was mediocre at best. But their resiliency, in the end, was once again enough.
“As a win, wins are wins,” coach Pat Fitzgerald fairly snapped when asked to assess his team’s play.
“When you’re fighting and scratching and clawing to win football games, it doesn’t matter how you win. It matters that you win.”
This was, in its way, a roaring defense of his team, not unexpected from the man who leads them.
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Then proving that he’s also an honest man, he went on to later say, “We didn’t play a perfect football game today. There are going to be plays we look at and shake our head and say what were we doing?
“When you win, you win … but I’m not very pleased right now with the way we played in that game.”
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Wildcats 2-minute drill
Getting offensive: With his team clinging to a five-point lead on third-and-6 at its own 29, receiver Kim Thompson caught a deep slant from C.J. Bacher at the 50, bounced off a pair of defenders and carried the 71-yard play into the end zone for the final points.
On the defense: For a change, the defense carried the team, primarily by creating four turnovers. Middle linebacker Adam Kadela had 12 tackles, one interception and a tipped pass that teammate Deante Battle caught.
The number: 40. The points the two teams combined to score. The fireworks were expected to match those seen on the 4th of July. Instead, it was a dud.
They’re still talking about: The Wildcats’ overall performance, which was as inconsistent as their season. There was no obvious reason for their victory to be so difficult.
Sick bay: At first report, vacant.
Audible: Injured running back Tyrell Sutton did make his long-awaited return with an appearance in the first half. He didn’t get a carry. But he did touch the ball, which he flipped to Eric Peterman on an end around.
Looking ahead: The Wildcats return to the Big Ten next Saturday at Purdue.
— Skip Myslenski
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