Rapid Reaction: Northwestern escapes Michigan State with impossibly dramatic 24-21 win

Well, that went just as everyone expected.

Pat Fitzgerald’s and Aidan Chiles’ first games against their former teams more than lived up to the billing.

A blocked kick at the other end led to a one-minute drill that eventually resulted in a Jackson Kleather 34-yard field goal. That was the difference, as No. 25 Northwestern (5-1, 2-1 Big Ten) took down the Michigan State Spartans (2-4, 0-4 Big Ten) 24-21 at the wire, despite only leading for two seconds in the entire second half.

Chiles is still yet to throw an interception this season, putting up 226 yards through the air and 25 yards and one score on the ground. Komolafe led the ‘Cats on the ground with 67 yards and a score. For the Spartans, Alessio Milivojevic put up 216 yards and two scores through the air while Chrishon McCray hauled in three passes for 64 yards and a score. Brayden Brus led all tacklers with 15 while Ben Roberts registered two TFLs and two sacks.

Northwestern deferred possession until the second half and started the game on defense. Michigan State opened the contest with back-to-back chunk plays, moving 25 yards on its first two snaps. Fitzgerald got aggressive early, leaving the offense out for a fourth-and-four from the Northwestern 44-yard line, but the pass intended for Bryson Williams hit the turf, and NU took over on downs.

Chiles only gained a single yard on his first two snaps as the opposing quarterback in Spartan Stadium, and NU moved back 5 yards on third down after a delay of game. On third-and-14, Chiles gunned one toward Hayden Eligon II, but the junior couldn’t haul it in through contact.

Both defenses continued to see success early on. After an explosive start to its first drive, the ‘Cats forced MSU into an early third-and-6 on its second possession, and Michael Kilbane made his presence known, beating his man off the edge to hit Milivojevic as he released the ball and recovering his own fumble to set the Wildcats up at the 10.

But NU’s offense still hadn’t woken up. After a 2-yard gain on first, Chiles rolled out to his left to escape pressure, but stepped out of his bounds while tip-toeing the sideline to push NU back to a third-and-goal from 15 yards out. On the ensuing third down, MSU’s Anelu Lafaele forced a fumble of his own, getting a strip sack on Chiles, but NU was able to recover and Jackson Kleather gave the ‘Cats a 3-0 lead from 39 yards.

The biggest explosive play of the quarter didn’t come from either offense, but MSU’s special teams. Kenneth Williams returned the kickoff for 44 yards to start the Spartan drive in NU territory. The Spartans converted a third down, only to hit fourth down a few plays later. Fitzgerald stayed aggressive, and this time it paid off as Patterson ran right through the middle to keep the drive alive. Three more run plays gave MSU a fourth-and-one from the three. Milivojevic faked the handoff, rolled out to his right, and walked into the end zone untouched for the first touchdown of the game.

NU moved the sticks for the first time following an Aidan Chiles sneak on third and inches, and found its second first down on the very next play as Chiles took it himself for 10 yards on the ground to end the quarter. MSU outgained NU 72-13 in the first period.

It looked like the offensive woes would continue after the break when back-to-back runs for Joseph Himon II went for negative yardage. But on third-and-12, NU found a chunk play when Chiles hit Griffin Wilde for a first. An incompletion on a second consecutive Wilde target was immediately followed by an 18-yard carry and 11-yard reception, both to Himon II, to take NU to the 10-yard line. The ‘Cats had found their groove, and on second down Komolafe made a man miss and ran into the end zone standing to put the ‘Cats up 10-7.

Looking for a response, Milivojevic found Frederick Moore for five yards to kick off the drive. Braden Turner flew into the backfield to blow up an end around and set up third-and-12, but Milivojevic threw a dart over the head of Brayden Brus to find Moore for 29 yards. A Montae Pae tackle brought up yet another third and short. The NU D-line stuffed the run at the line, but for the fourth time in the half, Fitz kept his offense on the field for a fourth down. Rodney Bullard Jr. broke free deep, but the pass sailed over his head as the NU defense caught a break.

The ‘Cats picked up right where they left off on the last drive. Chiles opened the drive with a 23-yard strike to Eligon II. A quick out to Drew Wagner moved the sticks on third and short following an eight-yard Komolafe carry. An incompletion and penalty forced NU into third-and-9. From 23 yards out Chiles looked for the end zone, and placed the ball perfectly in Drew Wagner’s hands, but the wideout let six points slip through his fingers. Kleather walked out looking to nail his second field goal of the afternoon, but Eli Coenen stretched his hand out and made contact with the ball on its flight toward the uprights.

The Spartans took over with 2:47 left in the half and ran one play before the two-minute timeout. Three consecutive completions put the Spartans across midfield and Milivojevic scrambled twice to keep the chains moving. Milivojevic launched toward the end zone from 32 yards out on the next play, only to watch the ball bounce off Bullard Jr.’s fingertips. The very next snap MSU dialed up another deep shot and Williams won the hand fight with Pae to haul in the score. 14-10 Spartans.

47 seconds for an answer before half, and Chiles got slammed to the turf by Lafaele on the first play. The ‘Cats let the half run out and Pat Fitzgerald riled up the crowd as both teams headed for the tunnel.

Chiles entered the half with 55 yards on 5-for-10 passing compared to Milivojevic’s 137 yards and one touchdown on 13-for-17. Komolafe and Himon II combined for 49 yards on nine carries. Defensively, Kilbane forced and recovered a fumble while adding a sack and TFL. Brus led all tacklers with eight total, while Dion Crawford paced the Spartans with six.

The third quarter was much slower than the two that came before. Both teams sputtered in their first drives out of the half. NU went three and out after Chiles missed Wilde over the middle, meanwhile the Spartans rattled off two quick completions before a batted pass led to fourth and two, and for the first time Fitz let his punt unit take over.

NU kept the ball on the ground in its second drive of the half, running the ball five times in a row for 18 yards before Chiles placed a ball in between three defenders to Wagner for 14 more. Two short gains led to back-to-back third downs for the NU offense; on the first Chiles bought time in the pocket and hit Alex Honig for 19 to keep the chains moving, but on the second he sent the ball over the head of Himon II. Kleather knocked it in from 37 to cut the lead to 14-13 with 4:24 in the quarter.

The Spartans set up shop at the 23 looking to extend the lead and stayed in front of the sticks with two carries for 14. MSU gained another first down when they kept the ball in Patterson’s hands, but could only muster up six yards on the next three plays, all passes, and the Spartans punted back to the ‘Cats’ 16-yard line with 1:21 left.

The ball stayed on the ground, but this time in Chiles’ hands as he broke off for 17 yards. NU closed out the quarter with a play-action strike over the middle to Eligon II. Down by one, 15 minutes remained to decide which one of Chiles or Fitzgerald would get revenge on their former squad.

MSU opened up the quarter with its ninth TFL as the run game for NU continued to struggle, and NU was moved even further behind the sticks as Chiles was met by two Spartans in the backfield. Things went from good to great for the Spartans when McCray returned the punt 41 yards to start MSU in ‘Cats territory for the second time.

Milivojevic’s four-yard carry on first down was immediately reversed by a false start penalty on second. But all that did was give Milivojevic more space to hit McCray over the middle. With no safety help over top, McCray ran in 53 yards untouched for the score. The Spartans stretched the advantage to 21-13, and the ‘Cats only had 11:48 to turn things around.

A 20-yard pass for Komolafe kickstarted NU’s drive, and an 11-yard scamper from Chiles moved the sticks again. NU continued to march into the red zone only for a false start to bring up third-and-six. A strike to Honig over the middle put the ball on the one, and Chiles punched it in to cap off the four-minute drive. Chiles connected with Honig again on the two-point conversion to knot the game at 21.

With momentum firmly on NU’s side, MSU gave the ball right back to the ‘Cats when Milivojevic missed a streaking McCray for a would-be touchdown on third down.

Starting the drive with 5:54 left, a holding call and a short Himon gain brought up third-and-16. Chiles was flushed out of the pocket but couldn’t reach the line to gain. Braun and Kelly reached into their bag on their own 28 and dialed up a fake punt, but the pass fell incomplete and MSU set up on the edge of the red zone with 3:29. Two Patterson carries moved the chains and brought up the two-minute warning.

Two timeouts, a Brus TFL and an illegal snap brought up third-and-12 with 1:53 to go for the Spartans. Kilbane wrapped up Patterson and the clock bled to 1:05 before MSU set up what should have been a go-ahead 33-yard attempt, but the NU D-line got a hand up to block the kick and give NU a chance for a go-ahead drive.

Two completions to Komolafe and Wilde got NU over midfield and a 17-yard dart to Wilde on the sideline put NU at the 30, and a Komolafe rush got NU down to the 16, where the ‘Cats spiked the ball with five seconds left. Kleather set up from 34 and knocked it through the uprights to give NU its first lead of the half with two seconds on the clock.

NU squibbed the kick and rallied for the tackle to close out the game 24-21 and escape Spartan Stadium in a nail-biter.

Northwestern will return to Ryan Field next Saturday to take on the Rutgers Scarlet Knights at 11 a.m. CT for family weekend.