Northwestern’s Gator Bowl Win: The Great, The Good & The Disappointing

Let’s kick things off with a 16-minute video highlight diversion, thanks to our pal, Northwestern Highlights which you can see by clicking here and typing in the case sensitive password BowlWin.  Pretty much anything of even marginal importance is in the highlight package and you get the added benefit of hearing Dave Eanet’s play by play call. While you are there you can also hear Fitz’s emotional postgame interview with his former teammate Sam Valensizi. Plus, Fitz’s pregame speech can be seen here:

Let’s dig in to the details:

THE GREAT

Quentin Williams – The departing senior went out in epic style with a tone-setting pick six in the first minute of the game, but kept on going with a monster hit on MSU’s RB for a 5-yard loss for one of his two TFLs and he also registered a sack.

Pass Defense – We won one of the major keys to the game by shutting down Tyler Russell thanks to four interceptions and consistent pressure all day. Russell went just 12/28, 106 yds, 2 TDs with a long pass of only 18 yards. What sweet irony that the secondary stepped up to help us win this game when the offense struggled for part of the day.

Trevor Siemian’s 3rd quarter drive – There is no way to sugarcoat it, Kain didn’t have his best game. His pair of INTs forced some indecision in his game, but he still obviously made some huge plays throughout the day. However, how about Trevor Siemian’s 3rd quarter drive after MSU tied it up at 13? It was the game-changing drive of the second half as all the momentum was in the cowbell holders.  Siemian scrambled on 3rd and 10, avoided a sack and launched a fantastic pass to Rashad Lawrence for the first down. Siemian followed it with a pair of great passes, highlighted by the 37-yard strike to Dan Vitale. I couldn’t believe they kept Siemian in on first and goal as Mick McCall had his call of the day which would put us up 20-13.

Mick McCall’s call on 1st and goal with Trevor – Raise your hand if you yelled out “what are you doing?!!!” I did. Siemian trotted out to QB at 1st and goal from the four and I was stunned. Well, tip of hat to Mick McCall for stunning everyone with the QB option keeper to #13 who waltzed in to the endzone untouched.

The Postgame – We reviewed this at length yesterday, but man, it was really a “you had to be here” experience. The fans singing exiting the stadium, everyone so darn happy and stunned and already fired up about 2013. The concession folks had Gator Bowl Champion t-shirts and NU fans were gobbling them up.

3rd Down Defense – We held MSU to just 1-11 on third down and came up with seemingly clutch play after clutch play from the D.

Dan Vitale – The freshman tag is a misnomer at this point. Dan Vitale, my pick to click, made me look somewhat intelligent for the first time in awhile. Vitale led all receivers with 7 rec/82 yds including the awesome 37-yarder. He is such a counter-threat to great secondary units that he will be giving B1G coaches fits for years to come. It’s just hard to stop that man coming out of the backfield when DBs are forced to make split second decisions on who to cover, especially in man coverages.

New Friends – One of the benefits of coming to a bowl game is the bevy of new people you meet. I met so many new people it is impossible to remember all the names, but guys like Glenn Geffner and family, Todd Martin, Sam Skinner, Jon Shainman, Louie Vaccher and dozens of folks who found out I was LTP and we had great conversations.  It’s what makes the bowl experience.

THE GOOD

Discipline – NU earned only two penalties for 20 yards which became critically important compared to several mental errors by MSU, who had six penalties, but they also seemed to be crucial.

Adjusting With Siemian – Give Dan Mullen credit. His defense really held the Kain Colter and especially Venric Mark show in check. Instead of waiting, Mick made the move and put Trevor in after halftime to exploit the lack of all-everything CB Johnthan Banks, who didn’t return after injuring his foot.  McCall let it fly and played to win the game the rest of the way.

Jeff Budzien – He should likely be in the “GREAT” category as he just has set the bar so darn high. Jeff had another perfect, ho-hum day, drilling a 34-yarder and 37-yarder.  He finished the year perfect on PATs as well and is the nation’s best kicker in my book.

The O-Line – They were just awesome in pass protection. The only stat you need to know is “0 sacks”.  Wow. They struggled at times with some interior blocking, but it was a tad unfair since MSU was loading up on us. Northwestern ended up with 161 rushing yards.

THE DISAPPOINTING

2nd Quarter Conservsatism – The ‘Cats were dominating MSU and went in to the second quarter up 13-0.  It was gas on the pedal time and then Mick McCall seemed to go very conservative and play the clock management game. The lowpoint of this was back-to-back Trumpy hand-offs up the gut which went nowhere. Thankfully, McCall adjusted at halftime and let it rip.

The Stadium  – It was pretty poor. The half-empty stadium, which recently hosted a Super Bowl, couldn’t handle the lines as fans trying to get to the club level had to wait in long lines for two elevators, only to find out you could walk up througha back door.  The food options were terrible and they ran out of several food items, including hot dogs by halftime. The sightlines were solid in the stadium, but it just felt very dated. I heard the press box had standard def old school monitors making it near impossible for reporters to see replays.

The Band’s Audio – There was a pretty strong wind on Tuesday and the great folks in NUMB were in the corner facing the other side of the stadium. The net result was few of us could even hear a hint of the marching band, but instead were faced with MSU’s band which seemed to play every single moment.

The Cowbells – They were indeed loud and sounded annoying as heck in person. The joke of the day was the Mississippi State administrator doing a PA announcement saying he expected to respect NU and not play when we had the ball. Yeah, right.

BOX SCORE