Persa pick game-changing play for Northwestern (w/video)

IOWA CITY - Dan Persa did what he does last night. For the most part.

He completed 31 of 40 passes for 246 yards and a touchdown, helped Northwestern convert an amazing 16 of 22 third downs and score 31 points. But unlike his dramatic heroics last season, he didn't beat the Iowa Hawkeyes this time and made a huge game-changing mistake in the first quarter instead.

With Northwestern owning a 1st-and-goal at the Iowa 7 in a 3-0 game, Persa dropped back to pass and looked for an open receiver, dancing around in the pocket as he usually does. As the time to throw finally concluded and Iowa linemen Broderick Binns and Steve Bigach draping around him, Persa did the unthinkable for such a good quarterback.

He threw. A literal fling toward no one in particular was intercepted by Iowa free safety Tanner Miller at the 2-yard line, with the former Mid-Prairie prep running it all the way back for a game-changing 98-yard touchdown.

Iowa went on to win, 41-31.

"You look at the game, and we put ourselves in a hole on the road," said Northwestern Coach Pat Fitzgerald. "Tough to come back from. Turn the ball over, a 10-point swing. Then have one thrown over our heads (defensively). That's a recipe for disaster."

Fitzgerald was asked specifically about Persa's pick but chose not to throw him under the bus. The quarterback also fumbled in the second half when sacked by Binns, leading to an Iowa field goal.

"He's been so good for us," Fitzgerald said. "It's just unfortunate that happened."

That was all the coach would say about the play. Persa didn't say anything at all, not one of the three Wildcat players made available to the media.

Northwestern did its ball-control thing offensively, piling up 495 yards, running 92 plays to Iowa's 50 and owning a 17-minute time-of-possession advantage. But it's impossible to ignore the importance of Miller's big play.

"It hurts, especially this one," said Northwestern receiver Jeremy Ebert, who caught 13 passes for 107 yards and a TD. "We just killed ourselves in the red zone."

Killed themselves defensively, too. The Big Ten' worst defense statistically couldn't get any big stops, especially after the game was tied, 17-17.

Iowa had two long pass plays for touchdown (one to Keenan Davis, one to Marvin McNutt) in which receivers were wide, wide open.

"A lot of things we're going to look at hard as coaches," Fitzgerald said. "What are we doing schematically? Are we putting our guys in the right position to make plays? Are we giving them the best opportunity to be successful? Fundamentally are we giving them all the things, all the tools they need to be successful?"

"We had a lot of (defensive) checks in the game. Basically it came down to miscommunication," said Northwestern cornerback Demetrius Dugar. "Some guys were seeing one thing, other guys were seeing other things ... You've just got to focus up."

Here is video of Fitzgerald's postgame press conference. The pause in the middle comes when legendary broadcaster Bob Brooks enters late and fumbles with his tape recorder, prompting a quip from the Northwestern coach.