TAMPA, Fla. — Pat Fitzgerald reached into Northwestern’s bag of tricks one more time, hoping to pull out the perfect play to give his team a dramatic victory over Auburn in the Outback Bowl.
“I’ve had it in my back pocket for four years, and people tell me I’m too conservative. So I said, ‘What the heck. We’re here to win, so let’s go,’ ” Fitzgerald said after a version of the old fumblerooskie failed in overtime, leaving the Wildcats with a 38-35 loss Friday.
“And I’d do it again,” the 35-year-old coach said. “Next time I’d score, though, and we’d be celebrating.”
Wes Byrum kicked a 21-yard field goal in overtime, and Auburn (8-5) overcame several mistakes, including two costly penalties, that gave Northwestern (8-5) chances for its first bowl victory in 61 years.
On the game’s final play, the Wildcats sent backup kicker Steve Flaherty onto the field seemingly to try to force a second overtime. But with kicker Stefan Demos on the sideline after being injured in the overtime, Fitzgerald had no intention of trying to tie the score.
“I just kind of felt like the stars were aligned there when we lost Stef,” Fitzgerald said.
Receiver Zeke Markshausen took a handoff between the legs from holder Dan Persa and circled right end to try to win the game, but Auburn’s Neiko Thorpe stopped him after a 3-yard gain to the 2.
Auburn coach Gene Chizik couldn’t recall a wackier ending. “I’ve been in some wild games,” he said. “Ones that come down to the end numerous times. But one that goes back and forth — Did we win? Did we not win? Is he down? Is he not down? No.”
Northwestern 7 0 14 14 0 — 35
Auburn 14 7 0 14 3 — 38
First quarter: Aub — Burns 1 run (Byrum kick), 12:25. Aub — McFadden 100 interception return (Byrum kick), 4:37. NU — Brewer 39 pass from Kafka (Demos kick), 2:04. Second quarter: Aub — Carr 46 pass from Todd (Byrum kick), 8:54. Third quarter: NU — Brewer 35 pass from Kafka (Demos kick), 2:42. NU — Dunsmore 66 pass from Kafka (Demos kick), :27. Fourth quarter: Aub — Tate 5 run (Byrum kick), 10:10. Aub — Tate 7 run (Byrum kick), 7:32. NU — Kafka 2 run (kick blocked), 3:20. NU — Stewart 18 pass from Kafka (B.Mitchell pass from Brewer), 1:15. Overtime: Aub — FG Byrum 21. A — 49,383. NU Aub
First downs 33 18
Rushes-yards 37-93 39-190
Passing 532 235
Comp-att-int 47-78-5 20-33-2
Return yards 1 103
Punts-avg. 5-31.6 6-42.2
Fumbles-lost 1-1 3-2
Penalties-yards 3-25 12-140
Time of possession 34:11 25:49
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Northwestern, Schmidt 8-36, Kafka 20-34, A.Fields 3-8, Markshausen 2-7, Simmons 3-7, Concannon 1-1. Auburn, Tate 20-108, Zachery 1-50, McCalebb 6-18, Burns 5-16, Fannin 2-14, Team 1-(minus 1), Todd 4-(minus 15).
PASSING — Northwestern, Kafka 47-78-5-532. Auburn, Todd 20-31-0-235, Burns 0-2-2-0.
RECEIVING — Northwestern, Markshausen 12-84, Stewart 10-97, Dunsmore 9-120, Brewer 8-133, Ebert 6-64, D.Fields 1-26, A.Fields 1-8. Auburn, D.Adams 12-142, Fannin 3-10, Zachery 2-11, Carr 1-46, Burns 1-23, Blake 1-3.
