Evanston, Ill. - The row of MSU players knelt on the sidelines in single file, clasping hands, hoping for just one more miracle.

Apparently, it was the Wildcats turn for miracles- again.

That 47-yard Northwestern field goal was the improbable ending to a game that defied all logic.

“I just hoped we had a few more seconds left,” head coach Bobby Williams said.

But the Spartans didn’t. The clock flashed two ugly zeros. The modest crowd at Ryan Field pulsated as security guards in yellow coats tried to keep the chaos in the stands. The players erupted onto the field. MSU’s sideline, which had been jubilant moments earlier, fought back tears and walked with spacey stares away from it all.

“It was pretty dramatic,” senior quarterback Ryan Van Dyke said, gazing at the ground.

Dramatic? It was beyond. Had it been a movie, no one would have bought it.

A kick-off return and a punt-return from MSU’s less-than-spectacular special teams? No way.

Eleven points missed on the kicking game? It was too much.

A three-play, 57-yard drive for a field goal in 18 seconds to win a game? It can happen, I suppose. But in this game, it was overload.

It was every ultimate high, mixed with the gut-wrenching feeling of losing a game by a single point.

Afterward, what could the coaches say that could make them feel better? What do you say to a kicker who missed 10 points, and at the same time address players who had touchdown returns?

“Coach said we played hard, but that we beat ourselves,” senior wide receiver Herb Haygood said.

It was true. MSU’s defense was rigid for so long. It shut down Heisman Trophy candidate Damien Anderson early on. He carried 28 times for only 75 yards.

And MSU’s linebackers had a field day. Senior Josh Thornhill had 13 total tackles. Sophomore Mike Labinjo had 11. So did junior safety Thomas Wright.

And the quarterback situation seemed more positive than anything else we’ve seen in recent games.

Van Dyke was 19-of-31 passing, for 233 yards. Even redshirt freshman quarterback Damon Dowdell scored - on the second play of his college career.

But it was the Spartans’ silly mistakes that overshadowed their shining spots.

Penalties, again, were notable and consequential. Although Northwestern had more (13 compared with our nine) for more yards (105 to our 66), ours were sketchier.

It was a 15-yard penalty for excessive celebration that pushed our extra-point attempt on the final touchdown back to the 35-yard-line. Even if that didn’t end up counting too much - senior kicker David Schaefer’s kick was punched down - it represented a problem that is running deep in MSU’s program and ruining otherwise satisfying plays.

“We made a lot of mistakes,” junior running back T.J. Duckett said. “We just didn’t punch it in.”

No, the Spartans didn’t. One silly mistake - not staying as deep as the deepest receiver on a long pass for example - is simple to make. But our mistakes added up too much, and do too often.

No one who saw the game on Saturday will be forgetting it any time soon. Not the players, not the crowd, not the media nor the fans at home. The highs were so high and the lows so drastic that it belongs almost in a category all its own.

ESPN is airing the game again on ESPN Classic on Wednesday night, because that’s what it was - it was made-for-television drama and excitement.

It was unforgettable and horrible all at once.

But quite simply, maybe Van Dyke summed it up best.

“I hate losing close games,” Van Dyke said. “Everybody feels bad.”

We do feel bad, and at the same time, impressed. It’s a mixed-up feeling.

But for an MSU fan, it certainly isn’t a very unfamiliar one.

Krista Latham is The State News sports editor. She can be reached at lathamkr@msu.edu.