• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • Sports
    • Baseball Not By The Numbers
    • Chicago Bears
    • Chicago Cubs
    • Chicago White Sox
  • Entertainment
    • Booth Reviews – About Us
    • Booth Reviews – Our Ratings
  • Home Improvement USA Radio
  • About Us
    • Business Services
    • Paid Content Guidelines
    • Hoops, Hops, and Hopes: 1982 in Chapel Hill
    • Email Sign Ups
SRN Broadcasting

SRN Broadcasting

Sports, Talk Radio, and more

You are here: Home / Sports / College Football / Cats refuse to go away, defeat Nebraska on homecoming

Cats refuse to go away, defeat Nebraska on homecoming

October 13, 2018 by SRN

The Northwestern Wildcats seemed down and out Saturday against the Nebraska Cornhuskers. Faced with the daunting task of a 99-yard touchdown drive with two minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, it seemed the Wildcats were going to fall short yet again at home.

Against all odds, quarterback Clayton Thorson led his team on that march. He kept his offense on schedule and remained calm in one of the most improbable drives of his career. He found J.J. Jefferson for the touchdown and the extra point tied it up.

“That’s just absolutely spectacular,” coach Pat Fitzgerald said. “You know, 99-and-a-half yard drive with no timeouts to get us into overtime, you know, I think that was a huge huge huge huge confidence builder for our offense.”

But to those who thought the story of this game couldn’t get better, Drew Luckenbaugh stepped in.

Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald: SRN Broadcasting

The Wildcats’ defense did its part in overtime and the offense moved the ball into field goal range. The sophomore kicker from Spring Grove, Pennsylvania had a chance to leave his name in the Northwestern history books. One swing of the leg sent the ball sailing 37 yards in the air and through the uprights to secure the Cats’ third Big Ten victory of the season.

It was also his first collegiate start at placekicker.

“It still hasn’t really hit,” he said afterward.

Charlie Kuhbander, NU’s regular placekicker, was ruled out for this week’s homecoming game, meaning it was Luckenbaugh’s time to step up. Despite missing a field goal in the third quarter, he delivered when it mattered most.

“I was just, yeah, a little bit excited to go out there for the first one. But, you know, as I was growing up we had a saying, ‘Fix it and forget it.’ So, you know, I realized what I did and then just moved on and fixed it for the next one.”

Nebraska jumped out to a touchdown lead on their opening possession of the game, but the scoring came to a halt as the two teams sized each other up. Northwestern broke through with 7:41 left in the second quarter as Thorson found Flynn Nagel in the end zone to knot it at seven apiece. The Cats later scored on a strip sack of Nebraska quarterback Adrian Martinez to take the lead. The half ended with a Nebraska touchdown but a missed extra point kept the momentum with the Wildcats.

We’ve seen that story, however, and it has ended with Northwestern snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. Such seemed to be the case on Saturday, as the Cornhuskers went ahead by 14 to start the fourth quarter. This time, however, the script had changed.

“We realized that was the issue the first few weeks,” Thorson said of their early second-half woes. “And so we just addressed that, and address that in practice and move on. But the guys are playing real resilient right now.”

Thorson, looking for the end zone, threw a pick at the Nebraska three to start the half, and a 97-yard touchdown drive from the

Northwestern kicker Drew Luckenbaugh: SRN Broadcasting

Huskers ensued. NU got an interception on Nebraska’s next drive but missed the field goal. The Huskers responded with a touchdown and suddenly they had a 28-14 lead to begin the fourth. That “Here we go again” feeling began to creep in.

 

But as Thorson said, the Cats remained resilient. Thorson, under pressure, found Nagel, who made a contested catch and broke free for a 61-yard touchdown to make it a one-possession game with 12:31 left in the fourth. A Nebraska field goal with 5:41 remaining, however, put Nebraska back up by 10.

Of course, it wasn’t enough, as the cats scored 10 unanswered and won in overtime.

“Great team win. We found a way to get it done. Obviously, we put ourselves, I think, in a hole to start it,” Fitzgerald said. “To have the guys be resilient and find a way to make some just huge plays down the stretch in all three phases.”

The story could not have been written without the efforts of Thorson and Nagel, though. Thorson threw for 455 yards and three touchdowns, while Nagel had 12 receptions for 220 yards and two touchdowns. The duo linked up three times for 52 yards on the final drive.

“He was playing out of his mind,” Thorson said of Nagel. “On that last drive there, when he ran kind of a little wheel route, he turned to me and said, ‘Throw me the ball. This is why I’m here.'”

“They came up with a saying, Justin Jackson the Ball Carrier, around here. Right now it’s Clayton Thorson the thrower,” Fitzgerald said.

The Wildcats travel to New Jersey to face the lowly Rutgers Scarlett Knights next week before a showdown with the Wisconsin Badgers at Ryan Field on October 27th.

“The [students] that, you know, are thinking about coming out in a couple weeks, we’re going to need them. And I hope they come out and I hope they enjoy it.”

Twitter: @crbevins11 @radiomogul

Hear audio from Pat Fitzgerald, Clayton Thorson and Drew Luckenbaugh:

https://internetfm.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Northwestern-vs-Nebraska_mixdown.mp3

Filed Under: College Football, Featured Sports, Sports Tagged With: Big Ten, college football, Cornhuskers, Football, Nebraska, Northwestern, Wildcats

Primary Sidebar

Hoops, Hops, and Hopes: 1982 in Chapel Hill

A narrative memoir by Steven Leventhal - coming soon. Sign up for the mailing list to get updates. I am working feverishly on my forthcoming memoir. This is the story of a pivotal year in my life. I had a front seat for one of the most … Read more about Hoops, Hops, and Hopes: 1982 in Chapel Hill

Our Radio Partner

Acid Flashback Radio logo
JAVASCRIPT HTML RADIO PLAYER powered by WordPress Webdesign Agentur Mainz

Featured Story

Meet Spencer West – Incredible and Inspiring!

In October 2019, at the Ensemble Travel conference in Seattle, I got to hear and talk to one of the most incredible individuals I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. The theme of the annual travel agent convention was "Travel With Purpose." Spencer West lost his legs below his pelvis at age … [Read More...] about Meet Spencer West – Incredible and Inspiring!

The Hunt for Venture Capital – Our First Success

It really isn’t a stretch to use the well worn Grateful Dead quote, “What a long strange trip it’s been.” Two years ago Eric Leventhal and I stood up in front of a group of entrepreneurs, investors, and other invited guests as part of a pitch contest at the Chicago chapter of StartUp Grind. It […]

Entertaiment

Jordan and Nike

The story of how Michael Jordan and Nike changed the shoe business has been turned into a Hollywood film. Here’s the real story, culled from Michael Jordan:The Life, by Roland Lazenby, one of the best biographies ever written about Jordan. Sonny Vaccaro and his college roommate started the Dapper Dan Roundball Classic in the early […]

Home Improvement

Home Improvement USA – July 2021

with David Rusch and Steve Leventhal On the July 2021 edition of the Home Improvement USA program, Dave and Steve discuss reasons, other than investment purposes, to buy a home instead of renting a … [Read More...] about Home Improvement USA – July 2021

Footer

  • Home
  • About Us
  • Contact Information
  • Our Core Values
  • Privacy
  • Business Services
  • Email Sign Ups
  • Paid Content Guidelines

Archives

  • May 2023
  • March 2023
  • February 2023
  • November 2022
  • September 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • December 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011

Copyright © 2023 · Magazine Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in