By Ben
BolchBy Ben
Bolch
Disastrous fourth quarter spells letdown for NU
This isn't happening, is it? This couldn't be happening, could it?
Barely a moment had passed after this loss - this awful, terrible loss - when a Northwestern student realized the meaning of it all.
The student, one of many fans who before the game picked up a free T-shirt commemorating the Wildcats' recent win over Notre Dame, flung the shirt across the student section in apparent protest.
MU 30, NU 28: Do You Believe in Letdowns?
In the course of one horrible fourth quarter, Northwestern erased all hope of a promising 1995. To lose a No. 25 ranking with the flick of a second-string snapper's limp wrist is embarrassing. But to beat Notre Dame and then return home and blow a 28-7 lead to Miami of Ohio? They don't make a T-shirt for that, do they?
The Redskins, behind the play of a second-string quarterback and a second-string running back, outscored the Cats 23-0 in the final quarter to eke out the win. The Cats, behind the play of a second-string snapper, botched four long snaps to extend their home winless streak to 10 games.
"It's real gratifying," said Miami coach Randy Walker, whose 2-1 team lost to Ball State earlier in the season. "It's the first ranked team we've ever beaten. People are going to remember this one for a long time."
No one is going to remember it longer than Larry Curry. NU's backup long snapper, working in the absence of injured first-stringer Paul Janus, flubbed the ball past punter Paul Burton's feet with 43 seconds left and the Cats hanging on to a 28-27, more-precarious-by-the-moment advantage.
Burton chased the ball down to the NU 1-foot line, where he was tackled for a loss of 36 yards on the play. Four downs later, the Redskins booted a 20-yarder to take the contest.
About 20 minutes later, NU sophomore Josh Yetman remained seated alone in the Dyche Stadium rafters. As the early evening shadows began to creep over the field, Yetman stared into the distance, still in disbelief that Curry could have muffed four snaps in an afternoon.
"Even if he's a backup, it's still his job and he's got to do it," Yetman said.
To single out Curry as the cause of the Cats' demise is unfair, though, as a particularly snippy Rob Johnson pointed out after the game.
"I think we all put ourselves in a bad position," Johnson said. "We were up 21 points and we let everything go."
NU (1-1) appeared bored early, scoring on touchdown drives that easily could have been sustained to the Sears Tower if necessary. Quarterback Steve Schnur was solid, throwing first-quarter touchdown passes to receiver D'Wayne Bates and tailback Darnell Autry.
But the Cats failed to deliver the knockout blow, substituting freely for Bates and Autry when leaving them in would have surely put the game away and made NU 2-0 for the first time since 1975.
Now even a 3-1 start seems disappointing, considering the lofty expectations that followed NU's 17-15 win over Notre Dame two weeks ago. Anything less than 3-1 seems disastrous.
Rose Bowl? Northwestern? The laugh track is still on pause.
But the T-shirts are far from printed.
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