Mutka: Big Ten gets a kick out of its bowl victories

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Updated: February 10, 2012 9:00AM

Football specialists — kickers in particular — don’t receive much attention. Usually, you’ll find them off in a corner with a retriever, or bashing footballs into the net on the sidelines, waiting for the summons when a drive begins to fizzle.

Poor neglected souls, they may be part of a team, but isolated. Only offensive linemen are more anonymous, but even they can draw comfort from belonging to a unit, lining up shoulder-to-shoulder in the trenches. 

Yet, where would coaches be without the robotic talent of these soccer-style migrants?

You want important? Look no further than 10 Big Ten bowl participants to register on the applause meter. They only won four postseason games, but without kickers could easily have slumped to 1-9.

Purdue’s 37-32 victory over Western Michigan in the Pizza Bowl provides a classic example. Carson Wiggs not only kicked three field goals, but executed two successful onside kicks, recovering one himself. If that doesn’t make him game MVP, at least order him a loaded Little Caesar pepperoni and breadsticks.

In the first place, Purdue wouldn’t even have qualified for a bowl without Wiggs’ heroics. Danny Hope might consider gold-plating his kicker’s foot since he extended the coach’s career with field goals of 50 and 47 yards in an opening 27-24 squeaker over Middle Tennessee and booted two field goals in an overtime thriller with Ohio State. Scratch him from the lineup and Purdue probably goes 5-7 instead of 7-6.

Michigan quarterback Denard Robinson has been canonized the last two years, but when Virginia Tech smothered the superstar in the Sugar Bowl sophomore kicker Brendan Gibbons bailed him out.

His three field goals, including a 37-yarder in overtime, rescued the Wolverines from a  season-ending setback. Granted, Junior Hemingway caught two touchdown passes, but Virginia Tech deserved a better fate, considering its 377-184 bulge in total offense.

At Michigan State, coach Mark Dantonio’s 0-for-4 postseason slump wouldn’t have ended without kicker Dan Conroy. After the Spartans needed triple overtime to stymie Georgia in the Outback Bowl quarterback Kirk Cousins was besieged by the idolizing media. Never mind that he practically handed the game to Georgia with an interception in overtime.

Conroy salvaged the 33-30 victory with 35 and 28-yard field goals in overtime.

Cousins avoided boos and hisses only because Bulldogs’ Blair Walsh missed a 42-yard field goal in overtime, then had a 47-yarder blocked on the final play.

“He’s going through a tough time,” sympathized Conroy, who finished the year with 17 of 23 field goals and 48 straight extra points. 

Of the four Big Ten winners only Illinois managed to thrive without significant contributions from the kicking game. The Illini presented fired coach Ron Zook with his second straight bowl victory, halting a six-game losing streak in the process.

While Zook and UCLA’s Rick Neuheisel were scanning the want ads the Illini handed the Bruins their eighth loss. UCLA warmed up for the Humanitarian Bowl, which drew a sittting-room-only crowd of 29,878 with a 50-0 loss to USC.

Of greater importance to new Illinois coach Tim Beckham is the loss of junior Whitney Mercilus, who opted out for the NFL draft after leading the nation with 16 sacks.

Here’s how the other six Big Ten qualifiers fared in a sub-par postseason:

Iowa

Oklahoma displayed too much firepower for the Hawkeyes, who made their 11th consecutive bowl appearance. The Sooners treated a record crowd of 52,247 at the Insight Bowl to a 31-14 romp.

Hawkeye receiver Marvin McNutt, coached by former Michigan and Roosevelt star Erik Campbell, tied a single-season school record with 82 catches. The gifted senior also broke the record with 1,315 receiving yards.

Nebraska

South Carolina gave up 13 points in the first quarter, but shut out the Cornhuskers the rest of the way for a decisive victory in the Citrus Bowl.

Running back Rex Burkhead led them with 89 yards and five catches. The junior workhorse finished with 1,357 yards on 234 carries, second-best in NU history

Nebraska won nine games for the fourth straight year under Coach Bo Pelini, but did not live up to the hype in its Big Ten debut, finishing a modest 5-3 in the mathematically challenged conference. 

Defensively, the Big Red will miss All-American linebacker Lavonte David, who exited with 11 tackles against the Gamecocks (11-2).

Northwestern

Dan Persa set a Division I completion record of 72.7 percent (460-633), but the Wildcats went 0-for-4 in his years with the program. Sharing quarterback duties with part-time wide receiver Kain Colter, he was sacked seven times in a 33-22 bowl  loss to Texas A&M.

Nearly matching the Cubs for futility, the Wildcats haven’t won  in postseason play  since Gary’s George Maddock  and East Chicago’s Alex Sarkisian (Hall of Famer) and Art Murakowski (Big Ten Silver Medal winner) contributed to a 20-14 victory over California in the 1948 Rose Bowl.

Ohio State

You could call it belated revenge for Florida, which avoided its first losing season since 1979 with a 24-17 victory in the Gator Bowl. Next season  the Buckeyes will be directed by former Gator coach Urban (Renewal) Meyer. Thanks to NCAA sanctions their string of 11 consecutive bowl appearances won’t be extended.

Quarterback Braxton Miller, the national freshman of the year, gave Meyer something to smile about by completing 18 of 23 passes against Florida.  In a 6-7 season he passed for 1,159 yards and 13 touchdowns. It was Ohio’s first losing season in history, according to Wikipedia.

Penn State

New coach Bill O’Brien inherits a troubled program which felt obliged to sever a half-century connection with Joe Paterno, a guilt-by-association victim of  the Jerry Sandusky scandal. The former New England offensive coordinator’s task is to restore punch to an anemic team which managed to finish 9-4 while scoring 20 points or less in four of its last five games.

Undoubtedly distracted by their tarnished image, the Nittany Lions swooned 30-14 to Houston in the Ticket Bowl.  Quarterback Casey Keenum blitzed them for 532 yards and three touchdowns.

Wisconsin

In a year of heartbreaks, All-American tailback Montee Ball relieved the gloom by announcing he would return for his senior season. The Heisman Trophy finalist decided to further his education after being projected as a third-round draft choice.

Ball cheered up the Badger after a record-setting 45-38 loss in the Rose Bowl. He scored his 39th touchdown, which ties an NCAA record, and rushed for 164 yards against Oregon.

What could have been a championship season blew up with back-to-back dramatic losses to Michigan State and Ohio State in midseason.

The Spartans won  37-31 on  Cousins’ last-second pass, which bounced off B.J. Cunningham’s helmet and was grabbed by Keith Nichols, who struggled into the end zone on a flukish 44-yard play. Originally, he was ruled short, but it was overturned after review. A week later, Miller threw a 40-yard touchdown pass with 26 seconds left to stun the Badgers, who finished 11-3.