Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Illinois
Wildcats Fall Short To Fighting Illini, 31-24
11/23/2002 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov 23, 2002
Northwestern Game Notes
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EVANSTON, Ill. - Northwestern staged a valiant fourth-quarterback comeback against Illinois on Saturday afternoon, but the Wildcats ran out of time and lost a 31-24 decision at Ryan Field. In the end, it was four empty red-zone trips that did in the 'Cats. The Wildcats fell, despite a career-high 368 passing yards by Brett Basanez and a career-high nine catches and 118 yards by Jon Schweighardt.
Antoineo Harris ran for 178 yards on 44 carries and broke Illinois' single-season rushing record on a 7-yard rush early in the second half. Harris surpassed the previous school record of 1,281 yards set by Illini career rushing leader Robert Holcombe.
Michael Hall had two interceptions as Illinois (5-7, 4-4 Big Ten) forced five turnovers and limited the Wildcats to just one field goal in five trips inside the Illini 5-yard line. Overall, the Wildcats, who came into the game ranked second in the Big Ten in red-zone offense, were 4-of-8 scoring inside the 20.
"I thought our coaching staff did a good job and gave our kids a chance to win," said Northwestern coach Randy Walker. "We missed some opportunities on offense, but give credit to Illinois for making some plays. It's a credit to our team that we battled back and did give ourselves a chance to win."
Trailing 24-10 midway through the second half, Northwestern (3-9, 1-7) failed to convert on a fourth-and-1.
Basanez faked a run to the right, then threw a lateral across the field to offensive lineman Trai Essex. The 6-foot-4, 280-pound Essex caught the ball and stumbled forward a few steps before being tackled for a 3-yard loss.
"We had the right play called, but then Illinois switched defenses," said Walker. "Give them credit there for that call."
Illinois assumed possession on downs and marched 96 yards. Beutjer threw a 29-year scoring pass to Brandon Lloyd, who leaped over two defenders to make the catch and give Illinois a 31-10 lead.
Lloyd finished with six receptions for 67 yards and two touchdowns.
Northwestern failed to score on three other possessions inside the Illinois 5, turning the ball over twice and kicking a field goal on another possession.
Beutjer, a junior who transferred from Iowa last season, was 21-of-34 for 282 yards. He also gained 31 yards on the ground.
Beutjer's day didn't start nearly as well as it finished. He was intercepted on the first play of the game. Raheem Covington stepped in front of Beutjer's short pass and returned it 17 yards.
Northwestern squandered a chance to take an early lead two plays later when rarely used running back Kevin Lawrence fumbled at the 1 while trying to dive into the end zone.
It was just the second fumble this season by a Northwestern running back. Lawrence was in the game because Walker generally starts his seniors in their final home game.
On Illinois' next possession, Beutjer punctuated an 80-yard, 18-play drive with a 7-yard scoring run.
Northwestern tied the game on its next possession on Basanez's 23-yard TD pass to Kunle Patrick, who had two catches for 39 yards on the drive.
The Wildcats' second turnover, a fumble by Ashton Aikens, set up the Illini's second score -- a 25-yard pass from Beutjer to tight end Anthony McClellan.
After a 35-yard field goal by Peter Christofilakos, Beutjer hit Lloyd on a 7-yard slant for a 24-7 halftime lead.
Basanez finished 31-of-49 for 368 yards with three interceptions and one touchdown, although one of his three interceptions came on a long pass on the final play of the game. It was the sixth-best passing game in NU history. Besides Schweighardt, Patrick also had a strong day, totaling seven catches for 84 yards.
Patrick extended his school-record consecutive catch string to 34 games, which eclipses the previous record (33) held by D'Wayne Bates (1995-98). Patrick has the longest streak in the Big Ten and the longest streak of any non-senior nationally.
Jason Wright finished with his seventh 100-yard game in his last 10 outings and had 188 all-purpose yards, giving him 2,013 for the season -- just 50 yards shy of the single-season mark held by Damien Anderson (2000). Wright rushed for 119 yards -- 99 yards in the second half -- to finish with 1,234 for the season.
The Associated Press contributed to this story
