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Northwestern Pulls Away From MSU 34-20 To Claim Gator Bowl
JACKSONVILLE,
Fla. – The No. 20 Northwestern Wildcats (10-3) downed the Mississippi
State Bulldogs (9-5) 34-20 in the TaxSlayer.com Gator Bowl.
Northwestern
wasted no time getting on the board when Quentin Williams returned a
Tyler Russell interception 29 yards just 47 seconds into the game.
Jeff Budzien added a pair of field goals on the Wildcats next two drives from 34 and 37 yards, respectively.
The Bulldog defense then stopped the Northwestern offense on back-to-back drives leading to MSU’s first points of the day.
Devon
Bell got the scoring going with a 27-yard field goal. After MSU forced
a three-and-out, Russell connected with Arceto Clark for an 18-yard
touchdown and sent State to the locker room only trailing by three.
Nickoe
Whitley stopped Northwestern’s first drive of the second half with the
first of his two interceptions on the day. Three minutes later,
Bell tied his career-long with a 47-yard field goal to square the game
at 13 apiece.
The Wildcats quickly retook the lead with a
six-play, 76-yard drive that only took 1:12 off the clock and then
added another touchdown with 1:35 left in the third quarter to take
27-13 lead into the final stanza.
MSU tacked on another
touchdown when Russell floated a pass to Malcolm Johnson in center of
the endzone just 3:18 into the fourth quarter.
The MSU defense
forced another three-and-out on Northwestern’s next drive but,
Russell’s fourth interception of the day was returned 44 yards to the
five yard line. The Wildcats punched in their final touchdown to secure
the win.
Josh Robinson finished the game as State’s leading
rusher with 91 yards on seven carries. Junior LaDarius Perkins added 85
yards on 19 carries.
Clark finished with three catches for 36
yards and a touchdown, while Johnson hauled in two catches for 24 yards
and a score. Chad Bumphis also grabbed three catches for 18 yards in
his final game as a Bulldog.
Russell completed 12-of-28 for 106 yards, two touchdowns and four interceptions.
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