Nov. 16--SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Before overtime Saturday in Northwestern's nutty 43-40 victory over Notre Dame, Wildcats coach Pat Fitzgerald stepped on the field to deliver a direct message to his defense.
Smiling and clapping his hands, Fitzgerald explained later he wanted his players to soak in a moment he sensed would be memorable for everybody -- if only they followed Fitz's strategy.
"This is fun out here, guys. We'll be fine -- just have fun!" Fitzgerald told them, surely speaking from experience.
Every time Fitzgerald comes to Notre Dame Stadium, he has a ball.
His last visit with Northwestern changed a football program -- Sept. 2, 1995, when Fitzgerald starred at linebacker as the Wildcats pulled off an upset for the ages in beating Notre Dame 17-15. This victory simply changed the tenor of a season that has been more up and down than Fitzgerald would like.
"Much more enjoyable today," Fitzgerald said. "I don't think I had a clue what was going on back then."
He knows better than to think this Northwestern victory will make college football history like the one 19 years ago did but for a Wildcats program that has endured a difficult past 13 months, it was a Saturday to be savored nonetheless.
Kicker Jack Mitchell, an unlikely hero who perhaps only '95 Northwestern quarterback Steve Schnur can relate to, would be the first to agree. Mitchell, an outfielder for the Northwestern baseball team, delivered the equivalent of a walk-off home run with a game-winning 41-yard field goal in overtime. This came moments after Mitchell nailed a 45-yarder with 19 seconds left in regulation to tie the game 40-40. Mitchell's previous career long was 29 yards.
Before each kick on this 27-degree day, Fitzgerald followed protocol by giving his kicker the cold shoulder, allowing Mitchell to follow his routine.
"Stay as calm as possible, stay away from everyone," Mitchell said as cameras surrounded him. "This is incredible."
Whatever method Mitchell used, worked. Once the ball sailed through the uprights in the north end zone, teammates mobbed Mitchell. Fitzgerald began hugging anyone and everyone; starting with his dad, Patrick Sr., moving to athletic director Jim Phillips and saving the longest embraces for players. While Notre Dame regretted losing three fumbles and coach Brian Kelly going for two with an 11-point lead, Northwestern rejoiced.
"I don't know if today was a shock," Fitzgerald said later. "Maybe to you. It wasn't to me."
His team acted more surprised than he sounded.
At midfield, Wildcat players mugged for the cameras as Fitzgerald talked about overcoming an 11-point deficit in the final 4 minutes, 10 seconds as if he expected it all along. When Fitz was done, Northwestern players gave bedlam a break long enough to gather around wide receiver Austin Carr.
"Heavenly Father, we thank you for such a great game," Carr said.
Nobody in purple should forget to thank Kelly for his role.
For reasons Kelly inadequately explained, he decided to attempt a two-point conversion after Will Fuller's third touchdown gave Notre Dame a 40-29 lead with 10:34 left. In what turned out to be a pivotal play in a wacky game of giveaway, Everett Golson's pass failed.
Afterward, Kelly first called the two-point call "a coin toss." Asked a second time, he acknowledged: "Our chart says go for one we felt given the circumstances of our kicking situation we were going to try ... a two-point play."
Only when pressed a third time about the decision that will dominate discussion throughout Notre Dame Nation, Kelly came close to admitting the coaching mistake that cost his team.
"In retrospect, there's no advantage (to going for two) -- in retrospect," Kelly said.
In retrospect, Kelly focused on the errors his team continues to make but his own deserve scrutiny too. When Cam McDaniel lost a fumble with 1:28 left, it left Kelly to defend another debatable decision to hand the ball off at all considering Notre Dame could have knelt down and punted with less than 30 seconds left.
"I don't know if I've ever in my college career taken a knee and then punted the football," Kelly countered.
To make Notre Dame pay, quarterback Trevor Siemian -- Northwestern's "No. 1 punching bag," Fitzgerald said -- still had to lead the Wildcats into field-goal range. Siemian threw two ill-advised interceptions and endured six drops from wide receivers but there he was, with a legacy on the line, confidently completing 5 of 8 passes for 44 yards on the final drive to set up Mitchell's tying field goal.
"The craziest game of my life," Siemian said.
It was the most dramatic victory of Fitzgerald's career -- as a coach.
Before jubilant Northwestern players ran off the field, each one touched a wooden sign that carried a message preached often since losing a winnable game to Michigan: "Trust yourself." As Phillips, a Notre Dame assistant athletic director from 2000-2003 jogged by, he was asked if he visited his favorite place on campus: The Grotto.
"Of course, I did," Phillips answered.
For Northwestern football, seems every trip here is special.
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