Northwestern
Illinois
Wildcats Fall To Illini, 34-28
11/22/2001 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov 22, 2001
Complete Statistical Package in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Northwestern's 2001 season came to an end on Thursday, but not before giving 10th-ranked Illinois a scare.
It appeared the Illini would run away from the Wildcats after opening up a 34-13 lead late in the third quarter. But Northwestern did not go away. Two fourth-quarter touchdown passes by Zak Kustok, along with a trick two-point conversion run by David Wasielewski, brought the Wildcats to within six, at 34-28.
After Illinois was forced to punt, Northwestern got the ball back on its own 12-yard line with 2 minutes 18 seconds remaining. The Wildcats, however, could not gain a first down and turned the ball over to the Illini, who then ran out the clock. On Northwestern's second-down play on its final series, Kustok came within inches of making connections with Kunle Patrick, who had sneaked past the entire Illini secondary.
"We thought we were going to score on that last drive and win the game," said Northwestern coach Randy Walker. "Zak and Kunle didn't miss by much on that play. It was that close."
So instead of knocking off the Illini for a second straight year, the Wildcats lost their sixth straight game -- the longest losing streak of Walker's coaching career. The 34-28 win gave the Illini a share of their 15th Big Ten title. An Ohio State victory over Michigan on Saturday (Nov. 24) would give Illinois the outright Conference championship and a berth in a BCS bowl.
"We had one goal and that was to win the Big Ten championship. This team was not going to let anything derail them from that goal," coach Ron Turner said.
The Illini (10-1, 7-1 Big Ten) finished with their best regular-season record since the 1983 Rose Bowl team and are sill in the hunt for a Bowl Championship Series bid, regardless of the Michigan-Ohio State outcome.
Turner said the Illini have done enough on their own.
"Do we deserve to be in a BCS game? Yeah, we do," he said. "We're 10-1 and our only loss is against a Top 10 team. There's no question about it."
As they have all season, the Illini beat the Wildcats (4-7, 2-6) on a standout performance by senior quarterback Kurt Kittner. The four-year starter mixed short passes with a handful of long throws to complete 33 of 43 passes for 387 yards and four touchdowns. He also had one interception.
"We were consistent the entire game. We didn't have to rely on big plays all the time," said Kittner, who became the school's winningest quarterback with the victory. "It was one of my best games."
Illinois took a seven-point late lead in the third quarter on John Gockman's 52-yard field goal, then forced Northwestern to punt on its next possession.
The Illini drove 64 yards in eight plays, the last a 12-yard touchdown pass from Kittner to Brandon Lloyd that gave Illinois a 27-13 lead.
Illinois got the ball back again when Kustok threw an interception on the first play after the kickoff.
Kittner found a wide-open Lloyd again on a 15-yard touchdown pass with 2 seconds remaining in the third quarter to make it 34-13 lead. Lloyd finished with 12 catches for 140 yards and two TDs.
"We came to win today and we prepared to win, but Illinois made the big plays when they needed them just like they have all season," Northwestern defensive end Napoleon Harris said.
"It was disappointing. We gave ourselves a chance to win in the fourth quarter. Illinois made the plays that champions make," said Walker.
Kustok finished 19-of-41 for 266 yards and a career-best four TD passes. Torri Stuckey, who began the season fourth on the Wildcats' depth chart, ran for a career-high 127 yards on 22 carries.
Neither team had much success stopping the other in the first half.
Illinois drove to the Northwestern 7 on its first possession, but turned the ball over when Rocky Harvey fumbled.
The Illini opened the scoring on Peter Christofilakos' 34-yard field goal, and made it 10-0 on Kittner's 10-yard TD pass to Brian Hodges. Kittner completed 12 straight pass attempts at one point in the first half and was rarely pressured by the Northwestern defense.
Northwestern scored on its next possession on a 20-yard touchdown pass from Kustok to Sam Simmons, but missed the extra point. Illinois came right back, going on a 76-yard drive that ended with Kittner's 33-yard touchdown pass to Walter Young.
Illinois will likely play in the Citrus Bowl if the school is shut out of the BCS.
"Now that we've won the Big Ten it's time to move on the bigger and better things," Lloyd said.
(Some information for this story provided by the Associated Press.)
