B-Dawg's Northwestern Wildcats: Navigating the new Big Ten in CFB25

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UAB’s Duke Hack kicks the winning 45-yard field goal with six seconds left in the game.


UAB’s Ryan Wear ends Northwestern’s comeback hopes by picking off a pass on the final play of the game.


Receiver J.C. Cantwell scores on a 61-yard touchdown catch with 29 seconds left.


Northwestern quarterback Vernon Starr plows his way into the end zone with a go-ahead 2-pointer with 29 seconds left.


Sam Topa gives UAB the lead with 1:21 left on a 49-yard interception return.


UAB’s Andre Stick scores on a 42-yard pass play.

PERFECT NO MORE
Northwestern’s unbeaten season ends
with semifinal loss to UAB on late FG

GLENDALE, Ariz. — When J.C. Cantwell caught a 61-yard touchdown pass and quarterback Vernon Starr scored the go-ahead 2-pointer with 29 seconds left, the celebration was on amongst players on the Northwestern sideline.

One problem: Those 29 seconds.

The Wildcats left Alabama-Birmingham enough time to get down the field and kick the winning field goal with six seconds remaining in the national semifinal game at the Fiesta Bowl.

Duke Hack’s 45-yard kick gave the Blazers a 38-36 victory and ended a season that had been perfect through 14 games for the top-ranked Wildcats.

Northwestern had one final Hail Mary, but Ryan Wear grabbed his second interception of the game to give 12th-ranked UAB (12-3) the stunning upset.

Having authored a historic comeback one week earlier, rallying from 31 points down in the fourth quarter against Notre Dame, Northwestern wasn’t fazed by a 28-14 deficit entering the fourth against UAB.

Sure enough, the Wildcats fought back to tie the game 28-28 with 4:58 left. They had the ball with a chance to take the lead, only to serve up a ghastly 49-yard pick-six by Sam Topa with 1:21 remaining. It was shades of the playoff loss to Mississippi the previous season when the Wildcats lost on a 56-yard pick-six by Mike Lemmons with the same amount of time on the clock.

This time, Northwestern shook it off and got a 61-yard touchdown pass from Starr to Cantwell with 29 seconds left. Rather than settle for a tie and a possible overtime, B-Dawg had Starr run for the go-ahead 2-pointer, which he barely got by bulling his way through free safety Manu Cajuste.

UAB went right back to work, getting a 22-yard pass from Nathan Goodin to tight end Terry Shoemaker on the first play. After throwing the ball away, Goodin hit Alex Vargas with a 15-yard pass that put the Blazers in field goal range. Following a 3-yard run by George Brazill, Hack came on for the winning field goal.

“We left them too much time,” B-Dawg said. “We also had four turnovers while they had none. You aren’t going to win too many games that way. This is pretty crushing to get this far undefeated, only to be sent home by a team that, quite frankly, isn’t as good as many of the teams we beat this season.”





NORTHWESTERN BLOCKING: Hayden DiMarco 12 pancakes, 0 sacks; Juan Gore 7-0; Nate Barr 5-0; J.D. Amatova 4-0; Miles Mount 4-0; Alex Jameson 3-1; Bryce Maloney 2-0; Daniel King 2-0; Eric Gibbs 1-0; Desean Licata 1-0; Jamie Stack 1-0.

[tarheelguy4736]

NOOOOOOO - great season though BDawg. Love to see it.

[BDawg35]

Oklahoma beats UAB for 2031 natty



Final 2031 national rankings



Final 2031 Big Ten standings

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Here is the 2031 Northwestern football season wrap-up. I will blow through the offseason and preseason stuff and just do game coverage, probably in a condensed form, for the final two seasons I finished in CFB 25 so I can move on to CFB 26.

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2032 NORTHWESTERN FOOTBALL SCHEDULE

AUG. 28 — JAMES MADISON
SEPT. 11 — at FLORIDA
SEPT. 18 — TULSA
SEPT. 25 — RUTGERS
OCT. 2 — at MINNESOTA
OCT. 9 — at MICHIGAN STATE
OCT. 16 — at INDIANA
OCT. 30 — PENN STATE
NOV. 6 — at OREGON
NOV. 13 — IOWA
NOV. 20 — at OHIO STATE
NOV. 27 — ILLINOIS

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James Madison running back Faitele Choi breaks a tackle attempt by linebacker Ross Stewart on his way to a 78-yard TD run.


Northwestern receiver Eric Gibbs celebrates a 53-yard touchdown catch.


Northwestern defensive end Austin Monty sacks James Madison quarterback Leon Charbonnet.


Northwestern receiver Andres Nickey grabs a 7-yard touchdown pass.

WAKE-UP CALL
Northwestern responds after long TD,
beats James Madison in 2032 opener

EVANSTON, Ill. — Faitele Choi poked the bear.

Northwestern is accustomed to giving up long touchdown passes or pick-sixes from time to time, but nobody outside of the Michigan Wolverines ever breaks off long scoring runs against a defense that barely allows any rushing yardage.

Choi broke a tackle attempt by outside linebacker Ross Stewart and rambled 78 yards to the house, giving underdog James Madison a 14-0 lead with 2:39 left in the first quarter of the 2032 season opener.

It was a wake-up call for second-ranked Northwestern, which didn’t allow another point and got a nearly perfect passing performance from Floyd Keenan to win 31-14 on Aug. 28, 2032.

Before this game, Northwestern had allowed only nine runs of 50 yards or more in the first eight seasons of this dynasty. Five were by Michigan players, including a 97-yarder by Donovan Edwards in 2024.

Choi had more yards on one run than Northwestern allowed in 12 of its 14 games last season.

Keenan evened the score by halftime, throwing touchdown passes of seven yards to Andres Nickey and 53 yards to Eric Gibbs in the second quarter.

A 4-yard run by Stan Baron with 7:30 left in the third gave Northwestern the lead for good. James Madison made a head-scratching decision on its next possession, punting on fourth-and-three from the Northwestern 34.

With Baron checking out with a bruised sternum to start the fourth quarter, it was fullback Brady Ellington who scored an insurance touchdown with 8:34 remaining.

Other than a couple of fumbles, not many balls hit the ground. Keenan was 26-for-30 for 305 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions, while James Madison quarterback Leon Charbonnet was 22-for-25 for 260 yards, no touchdowns and no picks.





NORTHWESTERN BLOCKING: Hayden DiMarco 15-0; Juan Gore 8-0; Daniel King 7-0; J.D. Amatova 6-0; Alex Jameson 4-0; Bryce Maloney 2-0; Andres Nickey 1-0; Brady Ellington 1-0; Jamie Stack 1-0; Joey Wilcox 1-0; Nate Barr 1-0.

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Northwestern’s Jay Olsen kicks the winning 21-yard field goal with 26 seconds left.


Northwestern’s Levi Ingram intercepts a pass to set up the winning field goal.


Florida’s Mateo Catanzaro heads to the end zone with a 21-yard touchdown run.


Northwestern defensive end Austin Monty sacks Florida quarterback Alex Muti.

GATORS CHOMPED!
Late interception allows Northwestern
to beat Florida on field goal with :26 left

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — When Floyd Keenan threw his third interception of the game with 3 minutes and 20 seconds remaining, it looked like Northwestern was going to suffer defeat in The Swamp.

But Levi Ingram bailed out the second-ranked Wildcats by intercepting a Florida pass on the very next play, setting the stage for Jay Olsen’s winning 21-yard field goal with 26 seconds left in 27-24 victory over the fourth-ranked Gators on Sept. 11, 2032.

The field goal was a chip shot, but the winning drive was far from easy.

With Northwestern facing fourth-and-inches at Florida’s 33-yard line, moved the chains with a 3-yadr run with 1:57 remaining. Facing first-and-18, Eric Gibbs caught a pass to give the Wildcats a first down at the Florida 20.

Ankrah made another first down on third-and-one, allowing the Wildcats to creep closer and milk clock before Olsen kicked the field goal with 26 seconds on the clock. B-Dawg kicked it sooner, not wanting to risk a clock rundown like one that cost Northwestern a victory earlier in this dynasty.

The Gators got the ball at their own 13 with 23 seconds left. After throwing the ball away twice, Florida quarterback Alex Muti was sacked by defensive end Eric Kuhn to end the game.

Northwestern running back Stan Baron suffered a bruised sternum on the team’s first possession and left the game with only three carries for 10 yards. Ankrah shouldered the load from there, running 27 times for 99 yards and a score.

Jamie Stack had 11 catches for 104 yards, while Gibbs had eight for 147 yards and a score.





NORTHWESTERN BLOCKING: Alex Jameson 9 pancakes, 0 sacks; Hayden DiMarco 5-0; Daniel King 5-0; Juan Gore 4-0; J.D. Amatova 4-1; Walter Flanagan 3-0; Bryce Maloney 2-0; Brady Ellington 2-0; Jamie Stack 2-0; Joey Wilcox 1-0.

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Northwestern linebacker Ricardo Ruston forces Tulsa receiver Matt Brown to fumble.


Northwestern running back Stan Baron is in the clear with a 62-yard touchdown catch.


FREAK!

HISTORY IN THE MAKING
Kuhn racks up 4.5 sacks vs. Tulsa,
could set B-Dawg’s career record

EVANSTON, Ill. — Why is B-Dawg still messing around with a College Football 25 dynasty when the new game has dropped?

Eric Kuhn, that’s why.

When you have a freak player with a chance to become one of your all-time greats, you don’t leave his career in a state of perpetual moth balls while you go on to the next shiny new thing.

Kuhn, a junior, had 4.5 sacks and eight tackles for losses during top-ranked Northwestern’s 24-13 victory over Tulsa on Sept. 18, 2032.

Kuhn’s fourth sack of the game was the 30th of his career. With the potential for more games in the College Football Playoff era, he has a chance to break B-Dawg’s all-time record of 57 sacks set by Michigan linebacker Jammal Lavin from 2011-14 in NCAA 2005.

Other juniors from the epic five-star group in the Class of 2030 who have a chance to do special things are running back Stan Baron and linebacker Ricardo Ruston. Baron ran 29 times for 119 yards and a touchdown, while catching three passes for 92 yards and a touchdown. Ruston racked up nine more tackles, a forced fumble and an interception.

Some bad news for the Wildcats came on the medical report when 80 OVR junior free safety Avery Carswell went down with an injury that will sideline him five weeks.





NORTHWESTERN BLOCKING: Alex Jameson 12 pancakes, 0 sacks; Juan Gore 9-0; J.D. Amatova 4-0; Brady Ellington 4-0; Quentin Upshaw 3-1; Daniel King 1-0; Nate Barr 1-0; Bryce Maloney 1-0; Andres Nickey 1-0.

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Northwestern receiver Eric Gibbs had 4 catches for 138 yards and 3 touchdowns before going down with an injury.


Northwestern receiver Kevin Lamb hauls in a 75-yard touchdown pass with 3 seconds left in the first half.


Northwestern defensive end Eric Kuhn picks off a pass from Rutgers' Joey Spitz.

GREATNESS CUT SHORT
Eric Gibbs goes down with injury
after monster stretch vs. Rutgers

EVANSTON, Ill. — Eric Gibbs had an opportunity for a historic performance, only to have his day cut short by an injury that is expected to keep him out the next three games.

With 6:18 left in the second quarter, Gibbs already had four catches for 138 yards and three touchdowns. He scored touchdowns on three consecutive drives on plays of 87, 21 and 16 yards.

Had B-Dawg been in the mood, he could have gone into stat-padding mode, allowing Gibbs to have an all-time great game.

That decision was removed from B-Dawg’s control when Gibbs went down with an injury on the Wildcats’ next drive.

That allowed Kevin Lamb to step up and catch a 75-yard touchdown pass with three seconds left in the first half, giving Northwestern a 42-7 halftime lead in what became a 52-10 victory on Sept. 25, 2032.

The Wildcats took their collective foot off the gas in the second half, scoring only 10 points after halftime.

Keenan, who threw five interceptions in his previous two games, was darn near perfect. He went 9-for-10 for 285 yards and four touchdowns, all in the first half.

Defensive tackle J.T. McHugh, overshadowed by star defensive end Eric Kuhn, had 3.5 sacks and five tackles for losses.

While subbing in the second half, B-Dawg kept in his starting offensive line to give his backups some protection. That move backfired when 90 OVR senior right guard Alex Jameson went down with a hamstring tear.





NORTHWESTERN BLOCKING: Daniel King 13 pancakes, 0 sacks; Juan Gore 11-0; Alex Jameson 7-0; J.D. Amatova 4-0; Quentin Upshaw 4-0; Brady Ellington 1-0; Joseph Watt 1-0; Hayden DiMarco 1-0; Tyler Ankrah 1-0; Fredrick Slade 1-0; Walter Flanagan 1-0.

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Northwestern defensive end Ofisa Hand sacks Minnesota quarterback Joe Erving on fourth-and-goal late in the game.


Northwestern cornerback Jabu Newcomb picks off a third-down pass in the end zone in the fourth quarter.


Northwestern running back Stan Baron scores the go-ahead touchdown late in the third quarter.


Malik Simms grabs the second of Minnesota’s two pick-sixes in the third quarter.

TOO CLOSE FOR COMFORT
Northwestern lets Minnesota hang around
with two pick-sixes before settling down

MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota had no business being in the game, but serving up back-to-back pick-sixes has a way of providing hope for an overmatched opponent.

Northwestern led 20-7 at halftime, but that lead evaporated when Floyd Keenan got generous with the football.

Donte Wear took an interception off a dig route 45 yards to the house with 8:50 left in the third quarter, while Malik Simms jumped a drag route and returned a pick 14 yards for a score with 5:51 remaining.

Suddenly, the Golden Gophers (3-2) had a 21-20 lead over the top-ranked team in the nation.

Gun-shy about putting the ball in the air, Northwestern coach B-Dawg had his team pound the ball on the ground with great success. The Wildcats responded with an 11-play, 81-yard drive that culminated with a Stan Baron 5-yard touchdown run with 1:36 left in the third quarter.

Keenan’s 2-point run gave Northwestern a 28-21 lead, which would be the final score after a defensive stalemate in the fourth.

Minnesota had two great scoring chances down the stretch, but Northwestern came up with big plays to thwart both drives.

The Golden Gophers had third-and-six at the Northwestern 11-yard line with cornerback Jabu Newcomb picked off a pass in the end zone with 7:50 left.

After Baron was stuffed on fourth-and-one, Minnesota’s next drive reached the Northwestern 3-yard line. On fourth-and-goal, defensive end Ofisa Hand got a sack with 4:02 remaining. The Wildcats drained the clock from there.





NORTHWESTERN BLOCKING: Hayden DiMarco 12 pancakes, 0 sacks; Daniel King 8-0; Brady Ellington 6-0; Quentin Upshaw 5-0; Juan Gore 5-0; J.D. Amatova 4-0; Nate Barr 2-0; Jamie Stack 1-0; Bryce Maloney 1-0; Walter Flanagan 1-0.

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Fifth-year senior quarterback Kristian Brown matched his career total for touchdown passes with three in the second quarter.


Northwestern receiver Jamie Stack caught two touchdown passes 28 seconds apart late in the first half.


Northwestern receiver Andres Nickey hauls in a 67-yard touchdown catch.

ONE SHINING MOMENT
Career backup throws 3 TD passes
in Northwestern’s rout of Spartans

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Kristian Brown has been an after-thought on Northwestern’s quarterback depth chart, languishing his entire five-year career behind Ryan Boe, Vernon Starr and Floyd Keenan.

But while he’s unlikely to ever start a game for the Wildcats, Brown will at least always have the memory of what he accomplished during No. 1 Northwestern’s 45-3 rout of Michigan State on Oct. 9, 2032.

Brown went 11-for-18 for 280 yards and three touchdowns, entering the game when Keenan was shaken up in the first quarter. Brown was 9-for-15 for 242 yards and three touchdowns in the first half before Keenan returned for the second half. Brown got some more action in mop-up duty.

Brown was a four-star recruit in the Class of 2028, but could land the starting job. Coming into the game, he was 21-for-39 for 287 yards, three touchdowns and one interception in his career. His most action came as a redshirt freshman in 2029 when he was 12-for-25 for 181 yards and two touchdowns.

Brown’s first touchdown pass was a 67-yarder to Andres Nickey with 7:03 left in the second quarter. He then connected with Jamie Stack for touchdown passes of 28 and 59 yards only 28 seconds apart in the final minute of the half.

Stack had a chance to shine as the No. 1 option with speedy Eric Gibbs sidelined by an injury, catching eight passes for 183 yards and two touchdowns.

Northwestern led only 7-3 before outscoring the Spartans (2-3) 31-0 in the second quarter. A 4-yard run by fullback Nate Barr in the third quarter was the only score of the second half.





NORTHWESTERN BLOCKING: Hayden DiMarco 8 pancakes, 0 sacks; Daniel King 4-0; Juan Gore 4-1; Jeff McBride 3-0; Brady Ellington 3-0; Lonnie Claybrooks 2-0; Josh Rourke 1-0; Quentin Upshaw 1-0; Braylon Best 1-0; Ricardo Ruston 1-0; Blair Wilbur 1-0; Fredrick Slade 1-0; Thomas Pifer 1-0; Walter Flanagan 1-0; David Coat 1-0; Jamie Stack 1-0; Nate Barr 1-0; J.D. Amatova 1-0; Bryce Maloney 1-0.

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The Big Ten Conference has the top three teams in the country in the latest national rankings.

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Northwestern receiver Andres Nickey is in the clear for a 75-yard touchdown on the final play of the game.


Northwestern receiver Joey Wilcox celebrates a touchdown catch.


Northwestern defensive end Eric Kuhn adds to his sack total.

OUT OF SPITE
B-Dawg chucks final bomb for TD
in response to 2 late Indiana scores

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — B-Dawg wasn’t in the mood to be a good sport.

He figured if Indiana was going to keep trying to score, there’s no reason his Northwestern offense should be shackled by some supposed "code.”

Totally out of spite, B-Dawg had quarterback Floyd Keenan heave a 75-yard touchdown pass to Andres Nickey on the final play of the game, making top-ranked Northwestern’s winning score over Indiana 47-20 on Oct. 16, 2032.

B-Dawg was in a foul mood after Indiana, which hadn’t scored a touchdown all day, had a 68-yard pick-six with 1:44 remaining, then 88-yard touchdown pass off a quick out route with nine seconds remaining.

“I was ticked off,” B-Dawg said. “First, it was stupid of me to still be throwing on that pick-six. But when I saw them clown our backup defense to score their first offensive touchdown, I wasn’t going to take that lying down. They needed to know what’s up.”

Indiana (3-3), fully expecting Northwestern (7-0) to run out the clock, blitzed a safety and left Nickey wide open.

The touchdown pass helped resuscitate the passing numbers for Keenan, who finished 12-for-20 for 300 yards, four touchdowns and two picks.

With backups playing most of the second half, Northwestern had three quarterbacks throw at least eight passes, nine players rush the ball and 11 players catch a pass.

B-Dawg subbed out starting running back Stan Baron to protect him from the ravages of wear and tear, but key backup Tyler Ankrah suffered a season-ending injury in the fourth quarter.

The first half was total domination by the Wildcats. Leading 34-0, they had a 16-2 advantage in first downs, 278-54 in total offense, 137 to minus-6 in rushing, and 141 to 60 in passing. Indiana had only four total pancake blocks compared to Northwestern’s 43.





NORTHWESTERN BLOCKING: Hayden DiMarco 14 pancakes, 0 sacks; Thomas Pifer 5-0; Daniel King 4-0; J.D. Amatova 4-0; Juan Gore 3-0; Quentin Upshaw 3-1; David Coat 2-0; Brady Ellington 2-0; Bryce Maloney 2-0; Joey Wilcox 2-0; Josh Rourke 1-0; Nate Barr 1-0; Jeff McBride 0-1.

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You know what time it is! Time for Levi Ingram to take two picks to the house!


Northwestern center Hayden DiMarco set B-Dawg’s all-time record with 24 pancakes against Penn State.


Receiver Kevin Lamb scoops up a fumble in the end zone to give Northwestern a touchdown.

COMEBACK CATZ
17-point deficit doesn’t face Northwestern
in come-from-behind win over Penn State

EVANSTON, Ill. — When you have players who have come back from 31 points down in the fourth quarter of a national quarterfinal game, your team doesn’t freak out at a piddly little 17-0 deficit early in a game.

That’s the lead fourth-ranked Penn State built against top-ranked Northwestern after one quarter of their showdown on Oct. 30, 2032.

That lead evaporated when Northwestern scored three touchdowns during a 4-minute, 32-second stretch of the second quarter. The lead went back and forth from there until Northwestern had another three-touchdown eruption in the fourth quarter to win, 45-37.

It’s the fifth time in the nine-year history of this dynasty that Northwestern has won a game in which it trailed by at least 17 points.

The Wildcats were down 20-0 to Oregon in the 2027 Big Ten Conference championship game before winning 28-23.

They were down 27-7 to Michigan on Oct. 7, 2028 before winning a 46-44 shootout.

They were down 21-0 to Oregon on Sept. 29, 2029 before winning 38-35.

Then, of course, there was the comeback for the ages against Notre Dame in last year’s national quarterfinals. The Wildcats trailed 40-9 early in the fourth quarter before storming back to win 46-43 in overtime.

Even a year ago, Northwestern came back to beat Penn State 42-24 with a 21-0 fourth quarter after trailing 24-21 after three quarters.

Cornerback Levi Ingram played a large role in the comeback, returning two interceptions for touchdowns, the first one cutting Penn State’s lead to 17-14 with 4:32 left in the second quarter.

Penn State responded to Northwestern’s initial comebacks, taking a 24-21 lead on a 65-yard touchdown pass from Karlos Childers to Wayne Wimbley with 39 seconds left in the first half, then going up 31-24 after three quarters on a 10-yard pass from Childers to Bret Miles.

A 1-yard run by backup running back Desean Licata tied the game 31-31 with 9:17 left. Then, just 20 seconds later, Ingram’s second pick-six put Northwestern in the lead to stay. Receiver Kevin Lamb fell on a fumble in the end zone to bail out the Wildcats and extend their lead to 45-31 with 5:51 left.

The Nittany Lions (6-2) kept the pressure on by scoring on a 38-yard pass from Childers to Hugh Hyde with 3:50 remaining. Inexplicably, probably driven by some silly analytics nonsense, Penn State went for two. The pass was broken up, meaning Penn State would need a two-pointer to tie the game if it scored another touchdown.

That never happened as Northwestern was able to grind out first downs and drain the clock behind a line led by 85 OVR redshirt sophomore center Hayden DiMarco. DiMarco had 24 pancakes, breaking B-Dawg’s single-game record of 21 shared by Western Michigan’s Dominic Moran against Akron on Oct. 21, 2006 in NCAA 2006 and Northwestern’s Jordan Knox against Arizona in the 2026 Independence Bowl in this dynasty.

Stan Baron was the beneficiary, running for 153 yards and two touchdowns on 30 carries. The team had 204 yards on 51 carries.

“No wonder we had such massive holes,” B-Dawg said. “We just ran a simple I-formation power game and it worked a lot better than you’d expect against a team like Penn State. I guess running up the middle behind Hayden should be our game plan from here on out.”






NORTHWESTERN BLOCKING: Hayden DiMarco 24 pancakes, 0 sacks; Juan Gore 9-0; Daniel King 8-0; Brady Ellington 7-0; J.D. Amatova 5-0; Quentin Upshaw 5-1; Bryce Maloney 3-0; Joey Wilcox 2-0; Jamie Stack 2-0; Walter Flanagan 2-0; Kevin Lamb 1-0; Nate Barr 1-0.

[BDawg35]

Northwestern would play Oregon if the College Football Playoff started today. The two teams will meet this Saturday in Eugene in what could be a playoff preview.

[BDawg35]

Northwestern receiver Jamie Stack scores the winning touchdown with 45 seconds left on his 19th catch of the game.


Northwestern safety Avery Carswell makes a leaping interception.

DUCKS COOKED AGAIN
Oregon falls victim once again to
an epic comeback by Northwestern

EUGENE, Ore. — With Oregon leading Northwestern by 24 points midway through the fourth quarter, Ducks fans had every right to be nervous.

They’ve seen this movie before.

For the third time in this dynasty, Oregon blew a lead of at least 20 points against Northwestern, this time choking away its biggest lead yet and much later in the game than the previous meltdowns.

Down 45-21 with less than seven minutes left in the game, top-ranked Northwestern rallied to beat eighth-ranked Oregon, 49-45, on Nov. 6, 2032.

It’s the sixth time in the nine-year history of this dynasty that Northwestern has rallied to win after trailing by at least 17 points and the second week in a row. Oregon has been the victim three times, blowing a 20-0 first-half lead in the 2027 Big Ten Conference championship game and a 21-0 first-half lead on Sept. 29, 2029 before Saturday’s mind-boggling collapse.

There was plenty of time remaining in Northwestern’s first two rallies against Oregon, but it was slipping away — along with any hope for the Wildcats — this time around.

Oregon allowed Northwestern to get close on a few occasions in this game, as a 21-0 lead became 21-14 and a 35-14 lead was cut to 35-21. But the Ducks appeared to have this one locked up when a 20-yard field goal with 8:19 left in the game gave them a 45-21 lead.

The Wildcats got back in the game quickly on three short touchdown runs by backup running backs within a span of 3 minutes and 28 seconds. When George Enechukwu scored from two yards out with 3:01 left, Northwestern was back in it, trailing only 45-42.

Facing third-and-14 from its own 23-yard line on its next possession, Oregon inexplicably ran the ball. It nearly worked, with only a tackle by safety Avery Carswell preventing Alani Cheeseman from not only getting the first down, but probably scoring.

The most dramatic moment in the comeback occurred with Northwestern facing fourth-and-20 from its own 17-yard line. With the rain pouring and his primary receiver’s icon covered with a question mark, quarterback Floyd Keenan found Jamie Stack along the left sideline for a 25-yard gain with 1:19 left in the game.

Stack then got the Wildcats within scoring range with a catch to the 15-yard line with 51 seconds left. One play later, Stack ran a drag route from left to right and Keenan had the patience to wait him out. When the ball was released, Stack was clear of defenders and had built momentum, easily getting into the end zone for the winning 15-yard catch with 45 seconds left.

On fourth-and-11 from its own 43, Oregon completed a pass in the middle of the field but well short of the end zone on the final play.

“The difference between this comeback and so many others during my career is that Oregon pushed back once we got rolling a bit,” B-Dawg said. “Normally, the game’s comeback code kicks in and you just take over from there. We had to keep fighting back from situations that looked impossible.”

As for Stark, he had one of the greatest performances ever by a B-Dawg receiver. Even with the return of Eric Gibbs from injury, Stark was the go-to receiver, hauling in 19 passes for 255 yards and the winning touchdown. He had only one dropped pass.

It’s the second-highest catch total by a B-Dawg receiver. Michigan’s Dee Osborne had 23 against Northwestern on Nov. 15, 2008 in NCAA 2004. Now third on the list is Sean Murphy’s 16 catches for Vanderbilt against Oklahoma on Oct. 27, 2027 in NCAA ’14.

One of the reasons the Ducks built such a big lead was 88 OVR redshirt junior cornerback Kurt Woods, who had three interceptions, including one of the Ducks’ two pick-sixes.





NORTHWESTERN BLOCKING: Hayden DiMarco 11-0; Quentin Upshaw 7-0; Juan Gore 7-0; Nate Barr 4-0; Daniel King 4-0; J.D. Amatova 3-0; Bryce Maloney 2-0; Jamie Stack 2-0; Kevin Lamb 1-0; Brady Ellington 1-0; Andres Nickey 1-0; Joey Wilcox 1-0.