Where to start?
With a knee injury to the winningest quarterback in Northwestern history? With his replacement finally getting a chance to shine after five seasons and two hip surgeries? With an offensive attack that produced two 100-yard rushers against an SEC team? How about with two bizarre coaching decisions on fourth down?
Or do you start with a Music City Bowl officiating crew that had all of America fuming by ejecting perhaps the best players on both teams?
The result of the game almost seemed secondary, but not to the Wildcats from the Big Ten.
Northwestern’s 24-23 victory over Kentucky gave the Wildcats their fifth 10-win season in school history — and third under coach Pat Fitzgerald.
But it came at a price.
Clayton Thorson was carted off after making a catch on a trick play, the type Northwestern rarely tries. Jeremy Larkin took a handoff and fired across the field to Thorson, who made the 24-yard catch before linebacker Jordan Jones tackled him.
Thorson immediately grabbed his right knee. The stadium hushed. Justin Jackson approached to offer encouragement. Friends since their grade-school days of youth sports in Chicago’s western suburbs, they tapped heads. Several Kentucky players also approached to offer encouragement and shoulder taps.
But the postgame report was encouraging, with Fitzgerald saying that a preliminary exam revealed “nothing overly alarming … I think he hyperextended it, from my vantage point. But we’ll get an MRI when we get back.”
Matt Alviti replaced him and held his own, rushing for 54 yards and completing 4 of 11 passes for 50 yards.
“Matty’s a unicorn in college football,” Fitzgerald said. “He battled through numerous quarterback competitions and ended up being the No. 2. And he didn’t pout, didn’t cry. He said: I want to stay. I love my brothers. I love this place. I came to get a degree. And now I want to get two.”
Alviti said what touched him the most were the teammates who approached him after Thorson’s injury and said: “You’ve got this; we believe in you.”
The biggest stars of the game, though, were Jackson (157 yards rushing), Larkin (112) and the linemen who cleared the holes.
Despite all that production, Northwestern opted for another trick play on fourth-and-1 from the Kentucky 2 in the fourth quarter. It was a reverse pass that had receiver Riley Lees scrambling away from pressure and flinging a pass into a crowd.
“That was my call,” Fitzgerald said. “We practiced the heck out of it, so why not run it? Feel free to second-guess me all you like.”
Kentucky took over, but safety Kyle Queiro intercepted a Stephen Johnson pass and tip-toed down the sideline into the paint. That 26-yard pick-6 gave Northwestern a 24-14 lead.
“I was overwhelmed by emotion at that point,” said Queiro, a senior.
An even more shocking decision came with 2 minutes, 36 seconds to play. If Northwestern had lost, its fans would be harping on it until next New Year’s Eve.
Nursing a 24-17 lead, the Wildcats faced a fourth-and-1 from their own 39. Rather than punt, Fitzgerald called a quarterback sneak. Alviti was stopped short, making Northwestern 1-for-5 on fourth downs.
“Why not go for the win?” Fitzgerald replied. “We got it. Did you see the replay? I did.”
He turned to Alviti and asked: Did you get it?
Alviti: “Yup.”
“We went for the win right there,” Fitzgerald said.
Kentucky coach Mark Stoops was among the masses surprised by Fitzgerald’s decision, saying: “I was. Yes. But guess what? He won’t have to answer that very much because he won.”
Kentucky had a chance to tie the game after Johnson scrambled home from 9 yards out with 37 seconds to play. But Stoops opted to go for two.
Fitzgerald called for time. Twice.
Finally, Johnson threw into the end zone, and cornerback Marcus McShepard broke up the pass.
Finally, Northwestern had a victory in one of the strangest games in recent memory.
“We got the exact look (from the defense we anticipated),” Stoops said. “We played it very well; they played it very well. It’s a matter of inches.”
Inches, feet, yards … Jackson chewed up everything in sight over four seasons, exiting after having rushed for 5,395 yards, 10th in NCAA history and third among Big Ten backs, trailing Ron Dayne and Archie Griffin.
He also scored his 40th and 41st career touchdowns Friday.
“Justin had a few carries, a couple of yards, a couple of MVPs,” Fitzgerald deadpanned. “He’s a once-in-a-coaching-lifetime young man.”
Jackson also got the final word in the news conference.
Asked if he finally can kick back after a stellar career, he replied: “I promise that we’re going straight to … the … bar.”
Cheers.
Wildcats 2-minute drill
Targeting the officials: Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald fumed at halftime over Paddy Fisher’s ejection. The All-Big Ten linebacker drilled running back Sihiem King in the chest, with officials ruling he led with the crown of the helmet. “It might be the worst call I have ever seen in the history of college football,” Fitzgerald said on WGN-AM 720. Fitzgerald was more subdued after the game, simply nodding when asked if he didn’t agree with the call. He later added: “I’m a big advocate of the rule, but that’s not why it’s in place.”
Targeting the officials, part II: More egregious was the ejection of Kentucky stud running back Benny Snell after an odd interaction with an official who appeared to try to help him up. The official involved in the play, Chris Coyte, told a pool reporter: “I was on top of the play. And the player got up and grabbed my arms and pushed them away and contacted me. That’s a foul.” Snell carried six times for 15 yards before his second-quarter ejection.
Goodbye to an Wildcats legend: Fitzgerald announced that assistant head coach Jerry Brown, who has been mentoring Northwestern defensive backs since 1993, is retiring. “I love Jerry like a brother,” Fitzgerald said. “He will always be a Wildcat. He will have (Northwestern) tickets wherever he goes.”
Up next: Northwestern opens its 2018 season on a Thursday night — Aug. 30 at Purdue.
Twitter @TeddyGreenstein