Grieving Program Finds Relief in Victory

After the long, ugly, tragic and litigious month of August, the Northwestern Wildcats embraced September and the start of a discussion that didn’t have to be cleared by university lawyers. You didn’t know which way it was going to swing, whether the death of Rashidi Wheeler on Aug. 3 would tear the team apart or bind it together.

If Friday night was an indication, the healing process has begun. After a somber start, which began with a pregame moment of silence for Wheeler, Northwestern shook off a sluggish first half and then outpaced Nevada Las Vegas en route to a wild 37-28 victory before a crowd of 26,721 at Sam Boyd Stadium.

Victory brought more relief than joy.

“It was kind of difficult, because we miss him so much,” receiver Sam Simmons said of Wheeler. Added star tailback Damien Anderson, who gained 113 yards in 28 carries: “When you have a tragedy like that, you just want to respond in a positive manner. I know it was on all the guys’ minds.” Before the game, Northwestern players removed their helmets to pay tribute to Wheeler, who collapsed and died Aug. 3 during a conditioning workout.

Coach Randy Walker told his players it was OK to make it a spiritual moment. “You get right with the one you get right with,” he said.

The craziness off the field has been well chronicled, but it’s been some time since Northwestern has been able to let loose and go crazy on the field. The Wildcats’ spread offense, as it did last season, gave an opposing defense fits.

UNLV had all summer to prepare for the bag-of-tricks gadgetry, but it mattered little. Northwestern averaged 38.5 points and opened the 2001 season with 37 points.

It wasn’t easy--it is never easy for Northwestern--but it was exciting. After a rather dull first half, which produced a 9-7 Northwestern advantage, the second half yielded an onslaught of yardage, miscues, near-misses, mistakes and touchdowns for both schools. It was hard to keep track of the momentum swings.

When Northwestern kicker David Wasielewski’s 35-yard field-goal attempt rattled off the left upright in the third quarter, the shift tilted toward UNLV. The Rebels, trailing, 16-14, took over at the 20 and were driving toward the lead when Northwestern linebacker Napoleon Harris literally snatched a short Jason Thomas pass out of the air for an interception.

Northwestern drove 43 yards in six plays and scored on a Zak Kustok pass to Eric Worley, putting the Wildcats up, 23-14. UNLV answered with another deep drive, but tailback Joe Haro’s fumble at the Northwestern 32 was scooped up by Kevin Bentley and returned 45 yards to the Rebels’ 32. Six plays later, Kustok and Sam Simmons hooked up on 18-yard scoring play to put Northwestern up, 30-14, with 14:06 left.

But the game was not over. Last year, Northwestern won a 54-51 shootout with Michigan, and edged Wisconsin, 47-44. This had the makings of that kind of an encore.

Just to make things interesting, UNLV’s Thomas heaved a 42-yard scoring pass to Michael Johnson, who made the catch over Marvin Brown, the safety who won the starting job from Wheeler last spring. Thomas’ run on the two-point conversion trimmed the lead to 30-22 with 11:14 left but, on UNLV’s next possession, a botched punt gave the ball to Northwestern on the Rebels’ 42-yard line.

That led to a one-yard Kustok touchdown run with 5:14 left to push the lead to 37-22. Game over? Not quite.

UNLV freshman Dominique Dorsey returned the ensuing kickoff 87 yards to the Northwestern three, but the Wildcat defense stuffed the drive with a goal-line stand that ended with Thomas getting tackled on fourth down short of the goal. “I was trying to play my heart out for my best friend, No. 30,” Bentley said of the goal-line stand. “He gave his all, so we’re going to give our all every game.” Game over?

Not quite.

UNLV gave it one last fling, Thomas firing a 53-yard scoring pass to Johnson with 2:07 left. Again, Johnson beat Brown, Wheeler’s replacement at safety.

But when the Rebels’ two-point conversion attempt failed, keeping the lead at nine, Northwestern knew it finally had the game secured.

“It wasn’t a work of art,” Walker said. “I don’t think any of our kids thought we played well.”

The Wildcats played well enough. The victory could put Northwestern on course for another championship season.

The Wildcats were Big Ten co-champions last year and have been picked to win the title this year. They face lowly Duke and Navy in nonconference before beginning a conference schedule that does not include Michigan and Wisconsin.

The game was another missed opportunity for UNLV, which fell to 0-2. The Rebels lost their opener last week at Arkansas, 14-10. UNLV dominated the game until the final minute, when Arkansas took advantage of a muffed punt to score the winning touchdown.

“We have big holes in the kicking game we have to shore up,” UNLV Coach John Robinson said. “We may have to have a tryout in the student body to find someone who can snap and someone who can catch the ball. We’ll just go out and practice special teams hard again this week.”

Thomas was miserable in the Arkansas loss, completing only four of 16 passes for 40 yards with three interceptions.

He was better Friday, completing 18 of 39 for a career-high 304 yards with two touchdowns, but he also threw a crucial interception and was stopped short of the goal line on a key fourth-down play.

“We had a great opportunity to beat two great teams from two storied conferences, and we let it slip away,” Thomas said of the defeats to Arkansas and Northwestern.

The game was one of several this year that will be played on Friday night, once the sacred province of high school football.