THE TRANSATLANTIC MAGAZINE
THE TRANSATLANTIC MAGAZINE
Northwestern University quarterback Ryan Hilinski sat behind the microphone at the postgame press conference platform in the bowels of the Aviva Stadium when he was asked a question about Ireland being a special place for him. "Yea, um, shoot," he stammered before picking up a piece of cloth that had lain inconspicuously on the table in front of him. "My parents write me a card before every game," he continued, "this is my brother's patch that he wore ten years ago on his jersey – Ireland 2012, it says. To open your card and see this fall out, it's pretty special."
Turns out that Ryan’s older brother Tyler was a quarterback on a varsity high school team that travelled to Ireland to play a game as part of the Global Ireland Football Tournament ten years ago, and his younger brother had come along to watch him play. Tyler died by suicide in 2018.
With the patch tucked under his thigh pad in his game pants, the younger Hilinski had just finished completing 27 of 38 passes for 314 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions in leading the Wildcats to a 31-28 upset victory over the Nebraska Cornhuskers in front of 42,699 on a picture-perfect Dublin evening.
"As soon as I saw my mom tonight, I was like, 'The Hilinskis are now 2-0 in Ireland.' So definitely Ireland has got a special place in my heart, a special place in the Hilinskis' heart for sure," Ryan said.
Hilinski, who threw just three touchdown passes all of last season, didn't actually know he was going to be the starter until shortly before the game. Head coach Pat Fitzgerald had decided to keep his cards close to his chest and consider his options before naming a signal caller for the season opener.
"I found out at the same time y'all did," Hilinski deadpanned. Turned out to be a good choice.
Coming into the game, this version of the so-called “American Football Classic” didn't necessarily have the makings of a particularly scintillating matchup. Both teams were coming off of six-game losing streaks to finish last season with underwhelming 3-9 records. One of Nebraska's three wins was a 56-7 thrashing of the Wildcats.
Nevertheless, this was a regular season matchup of two Big Ten schools, one of the top football conferences in the country. The Cornhuskers have been one of the traditional powerhouses of college football in years past, while Northwestern are just one season removed from winning the Big Ten West.
Nebraska actually scored more points than they allowed last season despite their record, as all nine of their losses were by single digits. They'd been referred to as the best three-win team in the country, and for head coach Scott Frost it was critical coming into this season to build on the positives and show the program is moving in the right direction.
To help do that he handed off the play calling duties to new offensive coordinator Mark Whipple and installed Casey Thompson as his starting quarterback, a transfer from Texas, who threw for 24 touchdowns last season. The Vegas bookmakers seemed to like the changes. They had Nebraska pegged as 12-point favorites at kick off.
After the Huskers received the opening kick in the bright Dublin sunshine, things decidedly started on the right foot, as Thompson completed five of his first six passes, driving his team 75 yards and hitting Isaiah Garcia-Castaneda on a 32-yard strike to open the scoring.
After the Wildcats opened their account with a field goal, Thompson authored a 14-play, 80-yard TD drive to put Nebraska up 14-3, and it was looking like it could turn into another blowout.
But Hilinski hit Raymond Niro III on a 41-yard TD bomb four plays later, and as Nebraska was subsequently driving deep into Northwestern territory to answer on the following drive, linebacker Greyson Metz made a crucial play when he snatched the ball out of Garcia-Castaneda's hands after a catch at the 11-yard line to halt the Huskers' momentum.
The 'Cats weren't done, as they capped the first half with a long 82-yard drive on 13 plays, with Hilinksi hitting Navarro III in the back of the endzone on 3rd down from the 6-yard line, and Northwestern went into the locker room with their first lead of the day, 17-14. Game on.
When the teams returned to the field, it was Nebraska's turn to swing the pendulum back their way. On third and eight from their own 24, Thompson dropped back to pass. As pressure closed in, he danced one way, then the other, before rolling out to the left. He darted towards the sideline with his eyes on the first down marker but was headed off by a burly defensive lineman. Pivoting back the other way, with defenders closing in, he heaved the ball downfield towards Garcia-Castaneda, who had managed to get behind the secondary with the defensive backs focused on the scrambling quarterback. The receiver caught the ball in stride and scampered down field before being caught at the 18-yard line for a heart-stopping 58-yard reception. Four plays later running back Anthony Grant punched it in from the 3-yard line to retake the lead.
After a costly fumble from Northwestern running back Cam Porter on the first play of the next drive, Grant scampered 46 yards to the endzone to put the Cornhuskers back up by 11, and the tide was rolling firmly Nebraska's way.
Sensing the Wildcats were ready to be put to the sword, Coach Frost made one of his most critical decisions of the day. He called for an onside kick. Northwestern were far from caught off guard and fell easily on the ball at the 44-yard line. Eyeing up the short field, it took Hilinksi just four plays to nail a 22-yard TD pass to Malik Washington and cut the deficit to 28-24.
"I made that call so that's on me," Frost said later of the decision. "At that point in the game, I thought all the momentum was on our side. I thought if we got it, we could end the game. If I had (to do) it over, I wouldn't make the call."
Nebraska's next two drives went three-and-out. After a missed Northwestern field goal, the Huskers strung together three first downs before Cameron Mitchell picked off a Thompson pass and returned it to the Nebraska 42-yard line in yet another critical play.
Then it was time for the Evan Hull show. A 1000-yard rusher last season, the running back accounted for all 42 yards on a reception and three rushes, capping the drive off with a 4-yard scamper into the endzone and a 31-28 Wildcat lead. Hull would finish with 119 yards rushing and another 55 through the air.
With 11:34 left in the game, Nebraska had plenty of time, but again and again they failed to find an answer. They would not score again. After the failed onside kick, the Huskers punted four times and were intercepted twice, the second coming with 1:27 in the game and allowing Northwestern to run out the clock.
To the victors go the spoils: the Waterford Crystal manufactured Keough-Naughton trophy, post-game pints of Guinness, and a lively plane trip home to Evanston, Illinois.
For the losers it is more like a bitter pill. The loss was the team's seventh in a row, once again by less than a touchdown. It left Frost (who led the Cornhuskers to a national championship as a player in 1997 and was trusted with reviving the Nebraska glory days) facing questions about his coaching future.
"You've got to win in this business to keep your job and that's the way it is," he said after the game. When asked if he would consider stepping down, he replied, "Absolutely not. ... I'm going to fight with the guys, as long as I can fight." His record as Nebraska's coach is now 15-30.
The winners, the losers, the highs and lows, are the stories that sports tell.
Is it worth flying 500 players, coaches, support staff, bands, cheerleaders and literally tons of gear and equipment half way around the world to play a college football game? For them and the 15,000 fans flying in from America it means memories of a once-in-a-lifetime trip abroad to play or cheer their team in a unique game. Not to mention the millions of dollars they leave behind in Ireland. For the 26,000 European based fans, it's a chance to see the passion and pageantry of a big-time US sport, and the fans seem to be buying into that passion. The crowd was raucous and rowdy and – at times – downright deafening.
It undoubtedly is easy enough for some of the locals to roll their eyes at the silly Yanks, but for almost 45,000 people, those memories and that passion and that experience means something.
Northwestern head coach Pat Fitzgerald, who has Irish heritage and visited the farm his grandmother grew up on in County Kildare during the week, was visibly moved when discussing what the experience meant to him and his family. "I hope this game becomes something special for college football, for Ireland and I hope for the Big Ten," he said after the game.
And what about Ryan Hilinski, who played hero for a day under Irish skies with his brother's 'Ireland 2012' patch tucked in his uniform? "Having this here with me tonight is pretty special, and something I'll remember forever," he said. "It just felt like Tyler was out there and he got another win, as well as us."
Yeah, it was pretty special. Looking forward to the next one.
Notre Dame is scheduled to meet Navy on August 26th, 2023 in a reprisal of the 2012 game at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin.
