While war veterans filled the stands to celebrate Heroes’ Day at Ryan Field, junior kicker Stefan Demos was the only true hero on the football field Saturday in the Wildcats’ second game of the season. Northwestern narrowly defeated Eastern Michigan University, with Demos kicking the game-winning 49-yard field goal with 11 seconds left in the game.

Though the ‘Cats can add one more win to their tally, Northwestern’s performance in this non-conference game is a surprising disappointment for the team and their fans, especially after their crushing victory over Towson last Saturday.

Head coach Pat Fitzgerald said this near-loss was caused by “self-inflicted wounds and not continuing to play our style of football [...] We made a lot of big plays, but we also gave up a lot of big plays.”

Ending the first half of the game leading 21-3, the Wildcats seemed destined for a commanding victory. Northwestern’s offense dominated throughout, scoring a touchdown in both the first and second quarters.

Junior halfback Stephen Simmons started out with an impressive game, rushing for two touchdowns and 73 yards. Simmons also returned kickoffs for 108 yards and caught a 15-yard pass.

The ‘Cats final touchdown was completed by sophomore linebacker Ben Johnson. Johnson intercepted an Eagles’ pass and ran the ball 70 yards the other way to score.

Sophomore superback Drake Dunsmore was responsible for 48 of the Wildcats’ 158 receiving yards, the highest for the team today; however, other big names in the ‘Cats offense were far less present in the game. Senior starting wide receiver Andrew Brewer moved the ball only 18 yards today, compared to his 145 yards against Towson. Running back Arby Fields also gained only 5 rushing yards today, compared to 48 yards last week.

Another major disappointment of Northwestern’s game was its defense, especially in the second half. Starting in the third quarter, the Wildcat linemen let the Eagles move the ball quickly down the field with some big rushing and passing plays. This allowed Eastern Michigan to score their first touchdown, bringing the score to 21-10.

Eastern Michigan continued to control the second half of the game, scoring two more touchdowns in the fourth quarter. The final score by senior running back Terrence Blevins tied the game at 24-24 with 2:40 left.

After receiving back-to-back penalties for holding and pass interference, Northwestern found itself at the midfield line, first down and 35 yards, with 43 seconds left on the clock. The ‘Cats managed to bring the ball to the Eagles’ 32-yard line with 11 seconds left, leaving the game in the hands — or feet, rather — of kicker Stefan Demos.

“It’s a kicker’s dream to kick a game-winning field goal,” Demos said after the game. “I just played my game.”

While Demos and a few others helped save the team from defeat, the Wildcats have a lot of work to do before they begin playing more challenging opponents in their Big Ten conference games.

“We’re going to need to correct these things in a hurry,” Coach Fitzgerald said. “It was a disappointment. We should be better than that.”

Next week, Northwestern takes on Syracuse on the road. Hopefully, there will be more than one hero on the field in New York for the Wildcats.

Check out our liveblog of Saturday’s game.