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After big comeback, Northwestern can't finish off MSU

When Northwestern should have been putting the finishing touches on another victory, they were instead bowing their heads in prayer.

It was an unfortunate scenario during the fourth quarter of Saturday's game in East Lansing. The Wildcats suffered their first loss of the season 29-20 to Michigan State.

With 6:22 remaining and the score tied, receiver Berkeley Holman took a big hit and stayed on the ground for several minutes. He was eventually driven off the field on a stretcher.

The good news is preliminary reports on Holman were good. He gave a thumbs-up to the Northwestern bench as he left the field.

"He was moving all his extremities, he was having a conversation with our medical team," NU coach Pat Fitzgerald said. "It was a tough hit and a tough play. We're going to lift him up in our thoughts and our prayers, that's what I asked the guys to do after that moment."

Fitzgerald returned to the sideline, gathered his players around him, shared what he knew about the situation, then everyone bowed their heads for a few moments.

Then it was time to resume the football game, at a crucial point of the season.

The result of the play was an interception, so Michigan State took over at midfield, drove 19 yards and kicked the go-ahead field goal with 3:35 remaining. The Spartans scored again on the game's final play by returning an errant NU lateral to the end zone.

"I had a very brief conversation with Jeff Mjaanes, our head team physician, then I walked over and told the guys kind of exactly what I told all of you - he (Holman) is moving everything, he's alert, they're taking him off in abundance of caution," Fitzgerald said.

"Let's hold them at the 50-yard line. Think about him for a moment, and then when it's time to go play football, we've got to go play football and lift him up in your spirits in the way you play. Our defense ends up holding them to 3 right there and gave us a chance to still compete to win."

There was another tough transition for the Wildcats defense earlier in the fourth quarter. After falling behind 17-0 early, Northwestern took a 20-17 lead on Cam Porter's 3-yard run a minute into the final quarter.

MSU's next possession ended with an interception by linebacker Paddy Fisher at the Spartans' 33-yard line. It was an opportunity to put the game out of reach. But on the very next play, Northwestern ran an end around to receiver Kyric McGowan, but he appeared to glance upfield while taking the handoff and lost a fumble. That turnover led to MSU's tying field goal.

"It's part of the flow of the game," LB Blake Gallagher said. "Turnovers are going to happen, sudden change is going to happen. We've just kind of focus in and hone in on what we've got to do and bow up and try to get a three-and-out or get the ball back to the offense."

Michigan State stuck with Rocky Lombardi as the starting quarterback. In the previous game two weeks ago against Indiana, the Spartans turned to Naperville Central grad Payton Thorne. Thorne didn't take any snaps in this game, but another Naperville Central product, Jayden Reed, caught a touchdown pass. MSU was idle last week because a game against Maryland was canceled due to COVID concerns.

Northwestern played without its top receiver, tight end John Raine, due to injury. Libertyville's Charlie Schmidt started at right guard in place of injured Ethan Wiederkehr.

Even with all the tough breaks, the Wildcats struggled to compete in the trenches, losing the rushing yards 195-63. Their first two drives ended with fourth-down failures in Michigan State territory, and in between, they gave up a 75-yard touchdown pass.

"You can't be spotting teams 10 points and think you're going to win," Fitzgerald said. "I don't want to discredit Michigan State. Please write I believe they played really, really well.

"I want to credit their staff and their players, because it just drives me crazy, every time we win a game it seems like the other team played terrible and that was the only reason why we win. So I want to give credit where credit is due."

Northwestern (6-1) can still win the Big Ten West with victories in their final two games. The status of next week's contest at Minnesota is in doubt since the Gophers canceled their game this week after a coronavirus outbreak.

• Twitter: @McGrawDHBulls

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