After beginning the season a flawless 4-0 against non-conference opponents, the Wildcats started their Big Ten play jumping straight to the cream of the crop in Ohio State.  The two combined for a terrific four-quarter battle, one in which Northwestern led in the game 23-20 heading into the fourth quarter.  Then the Buckeyes rallied outscoring the opposition 20-7 in the final 15 minutes winning with a final score of 40-30.  Nonetheless, with such a terrific hard fought battle by Northwestern,  they should have left the stadium feeing good about their performance and how well they played one of the best teams in the country.  But they didn't.  

We knew the WIldcats coming off a week of rest were going to invest their heart and soul into that game and give literally everything they had.  The only problem was they had seven games remaining on their schedule and had seemingly ran their tank dry after the week six loss, both physically and mentally.  One of the best coaches in the game, Pat Fitzgerald wanted that win more than anybody and prepared his athletes like it was the Super Bowl.  Speaking from history, teams that lose the Super Bowl are ready for a five month break where the game of football is nowhere in sight.  Unfortunately, the Wildcats had to go play another seven games and their inability to recover from that game against Ohio State has shown over and over again.

Since the devastating loss on October fifth, Northwestern has encountered numerous acts of "bad luck" turning wins into losses that could be straight out of a comic strip.  The following week they got outed by the Badgers.  The theme after the game was the team came out flat after the Buckeye game expunged too much life out of them to recover in such a short period of time.  No need to panic, after all Wisconsin was and still is a hell of a football team.  The next week they lost to the Gophers on the final drive.  If your counting along at home now, that's three in a row.   Then it was a 17-10 overtime loss to Iowa, followed by an improbable and ridiculous hail-mary conversion by the Nebraska Cornhuskers.  Which brings us to last week where the Wildcats had the game in hand against the Wolverines and were ready to soak up their first and long deserved first Big Ten win on the season.  What could go wrong, right? Shanking a punt for seven yards doesn't help, as the Wildcats set up the Wolverine with first-and-goal while trying to seal the game.

With Michigan on their final drive hoping to tie the game the Wildcats dropped what would have been a game clinching interception with just minutes remaining on the clock.  Then with just twelve seconds remaining, Devin Gardner hit his wide out to set them up in field goal range.  Unable to call a timeout the Wolverines special team's unit sprinted on the field, snap, hold, kick up, kick good.  Overtime.  Typical for the Wildcats at this point in the season.  It didn't stop there as Northwestern stripped the ball forcing a fumble but was unable to pounce on the ball which would have ended the game.  The Wolverines would later go on to score in triple over-time to steal another win away from Northwestern.  

There's no doubt other factors have played into the cause and effect of the Wildcats six straight losses in six straight weeks to Big Ten opponents.  All in all they were extremely lucky when it came to the injury bug last season and it seems its caught up to them this year.  Injuries to some of their best players like running back Venric Mark who is out for the season and missed time from star quarterback Kain Colter in a offensive system like Northwestern's is far to much to overcome.  The defense has played with high energy all year and was even tied with other teams for first place in interceptions.  However, the fact remains that they have found more ways to lose than they have found ways to win.  After a quick start leading to high praise and plenty of optimism, the 2013 season for the Wildcats will go down as a frustrating one, filled with a plethera of "ifs" and "buts."  Specifically because in the end, Northwestern has not been able to control the things that were controllable.  Not bad luck.                


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