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College Football National Cup - Day 1/Game 2 - (NCAA 14) 
Posted on July 11, 2013 at 08:17 PM.
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GROUP A - Day One
Northwestern - 12 vs. Rice - 7
Memorial Stadium - Lincoln, NE


They Kain, They Saw, They Conquered
Colter's late touchdown caps off defensive struggle


Lincoln, NE - The last time Northwestern squared off in Lincoln, Nebraska, they scored 28-points off of three Kain Colter touchdowns. This time around? Let's just say points were hard to come by.

The Wildcat's (1-0-0/3PTs) first, and only, touchdown in their game against Rice (0-1-0/0PTs) came with only 0:56 left in the game. It did prove to be the only touchdown they would need, however, as they tight roped out of Lincoln with a close 12-7 win. Despite Colter completing 7-of-8 passes, he did not find much success through the air and, yet again, relied on his feet to propel Northwestern to a 12-7 victory.

"We were able to complete some short passes," said Colter, who' go-ahead 15-yard touchdown run ended up being the difference. "But we ran more passing plays than it would suggest on the stat sheet. Luckily I was able to escape some pressure and avoid throwing into their coverage. If not for a few lanes, I'm not sure I'd have had much success."

Despite his humble analysis, Colter did carve Rice's defense with ease on all 9 of his rush attempts. His 82-yards, good for 9.1 yards per rush, was the difference in a game filled with defensive stops.

After taking a 7-0 leading late in the 2nd quarter off of a Tyler Smith touchdown, Rice was held to zero points the rest of the way. Despite Northwestern receiving a few breaks from the Rice offense, they weren't able to get enough going to even reach the redzone again.

It should be noted that the Rice defense also deserves some credit as well. Up until the last minute the Owls could do no wrong, as they held Northwestern to only two field goals. The offense on the other hand was just simply not able to benefit from all of those stops.

"It's tough. Tough to look at the stat sheet. Tough to look at the yards we gave up. Tough to look at the time of possession," said Rice head coach David Bailiff. "A loss is a loss, but when you outperformed a team all game and give it up in the final minute? That just stinks. We missed our opportunities to score and put them away."

One of those missed opportunities came off of a missed 48-yard field goal late in the fourth quarter by Chris Boswell. A 10-6 lead may've been crucial for Rice, as another missed opportunity came in the final minutes for the Owls offense. In field goal range down 12-7, Rice quarterback Taylor McHargue threw a desperation ball that was intercepted by Northwestern's Davion Fleming.

Quietly, Northwestern kicker Jeff Budzien scored half of the Wildcat's 12-points and kicked a deep 53-yard field goal as the clock ran out in the first half. Coming off the heels of a touchdown from Rice, the 15-second scoring drive from Northwestern to end the half proved to be a huge momentum swing.

With 3-points, Northwestern joins Big Ten foe Iowa atop the Group A standings. In their next game, set to be played in Eugene, OR, the Wildcats will be facing Iowa for sole possession of first place in the group. Meanwhile, despite a valiant effort, Rice must now carry their 0-points into a matchup with another 0-point team in Notre Dame. The good news? Rice will be playing only five miles down the road from their campus in Houston, TX.

Copyright by STATS CFNCA and The National Cup Media Bureau

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Kain Colter's 15-yard go-ahead touchdown run with 0:56 remaining



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GROUP A STANDINGS
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