WildcatReport's Tim Chapman, a former high school football head coach, breaks down the Wildcats’ win over No. 10 Wisconsin to improve to 5-0.

NU had five takeaways to help them to 5-and-0. Two of NU’s “BFG” linebackers -- Chris Bergin, Paddy Fisher and Blake Gallagher -- had a hand, literally, in nearly all of them. Four came in the first half: two fumbles and two Brandon Joseph interceptions. And the fumbles weren’t from sloppy handlings by Wisconsin ball carriers. They were hard-earned, forced fumbles by the aforementioned veteran LBs, who have seven years of starting experience between them.

Both of Joseph’s interceptions were the result of disguised coverages and great linebacker pass defense by Fisher. On the first one, No. 42 got a hand on the Graham Mertz pass intended for backup TE Hayden Rucci, and Joseph tracked it into his mitts for his fourth pick of the season. Then, on the very next drive, Fisher’s drop into the passing lane caused Mertz to fire a bit high of his intended target, and -- again -- into the hungry hands of Joseph. Even though the offense had trouble turning those takeaways into treasure, taking the ball away from a potent opponent five times should result in victory nearly every time. It did on Saturday.

The offense blew some opportunities. As often as the defense gave their other side a chance to create some separation, the offense did very little with it. After the first Wisconsin fumble and an incredible reverse pass from Riley Lees to Ramaud Chiaokhia-Bowman put the Cats on the Wisconsin 1-yard line, Isaiah Bowser mishandled a simple handoff and the ball went tumbling forward, right into the arms of Spencer Lytle for a touchback.

The second Badger fumble ended in a missed field goal from Charlie Kuhbander that hooked left and looked bad. They also skunked Joseph’s first INT by going four plays and punting. The final interception put them in Wisconsin territory, but, leading 17-7, coaches elected to go for it on fourth-and-7, when a FG would have put the Badgers in need of two touchdowns. Head coach Pat Fitzgerald later said they wanted to go “for the jugular,” which isn’t a bad thought. But given their struggles with moving the ball on that short field, the points may have been a much higher analytical probability, and a more long-term psychological edge.

Peyton Ramsey was smart with the football. We said the grad transfer signal caller was going to have to be nearly perfect, and though he wasn’t perfect, statistically, he was near flawless in avoiding trouble. Ramsey avoided several sacks -- he was hurried 13 times but the Badgers only managed to sack him once. He didn’t force any throws, and when he did throw it, it was put where it was only going to be caught by a Wildcat or nobody at all. He also threw zero interceptions in a game where his celebrated counterpart, Graham Mertz, threw three.

Ramsey spread the ball to four different wide receivers, two different tight ends and three different running backs. Seven of the nine pass-catchers had multiple receptions. Kyric McGowan actually led with seven grabs for 80 yards, but he also dropped a couple, and on two others that he did catch, he slipped in trying to make a cut that could have resulted in big plays.

Ramsey never seemed to blink, and it was this poise under pressure that permeated through his offense and never really put the defense in poor field position. As we know by now, when this defensive group can apply pressure without being under pressure, great things result by game’s end.

Okay, seriously, what’s up with the running game? Northwestern had 24 yards rushing on 23 carries. You don’t need to do the math -- just know that it’s not good. Fitzgerald said they were “a block away” on several attempts, and we’ll have to take his word on the schematics, because to the naked eye, we just didn’t see it.

Their long run Saturday was six yards, and that was by Ramsey, running for safety on third down. Leading rusher Drake Anderson never topped four yards, and Cam Porter only got as many as two, while McGowan and Bowser couldn't manage more than one yard.

True, the game plan seemed to be to have Ramsey throw the ball to win, but you still hoped for some kind of a threat -- maybe even to reach 50 yards on the ground. Wisconsin has a very good run defense, but 24 yards is low, no matter who you’re playing. And it was a problem last week against a lesser Purdue rush D, too, when they only ran for 80 yards on 40 carries. To be honest, Northwestern hasn’t really blown the doors off of any team on the ground since Maryland in week one. For a team that “is a run-first team,” they damn well better get there fast, before it catches up to them.

Fortunately, the Wildcats are facing three subpar rush defenses in their next three games, so we’ll have a chance to see if this run game has any kind of a pulse before postseason play.

How many points will NU’s defense allow in the second half, the rest of the year? Wisconsin became the fourth team this season to be shut out after halftime against Northwestern. The Badgers came in averaging a robust 47 points per game, including 19 in the second half of two games that were already put away. On Saturday, Northwestern’s defense made them look like they were a transitional FCS team just cutting its teeth in the Big Ten.

Only one team, Purdue, has put anything on the board against the Wildcats after halftime, and they’re averaging 14 second-half points per game on the season. The Wildcats have only given up four total touchdowns after the first quarter this year -- in five games. We don’t want to get too much ahead of ourselves, but Michigan State, Minnesota and Illinois are each averaging 8.5, 10 and 8 points in the second half, respectively. From where we stand, this is setting up to look pretty good.

Northwestern should be ranked in the Top 10 in the first College Football Playoff rankings that come out Tuesday. They have beaten 2-1 Maryland, an Iowa team that is turning out to be pretty damn good, a Purdue team that should be 3-1 (no thanks to the suspect Big Ten officiating of late), and now an established No. 10 Wisconsin program. And the Cats are doing it with one of the best defenses in the nation. ESPN says that the Wildcats have the best Strength of Record (SOR) in the country, and that Top 25 teams playing the same five opponents they’ve had to face would have only a 9% chance of going 5-0. To put it into perspective, top-ranked Alabama, from the almighty SEC, is No. 2 in the SOR, where it suggests teams would have a 13% chance of having the same record against their foes.

The Wildcats are ranked 11th in the AP poll. Ahead of them, No. 10 Miami is seriously overrated and No. 9 Oregon only beat by 3 a UCLA team playing with a backup QB starting his first-ever game. Northwestern has simply won every game and have really gotten people’s attention with the suffocating, shut-down style of defense they are playing under the Wizard, Mike Hankwitz. This train just keeps rolling. Next stop- East Lansing and the reeling Michigan State Spartans.

Offensive game ball: WR Ramaud Chiaokhiao-Bowman. RCB had quite the game last week but topped it on Saturday with a four-catch performance for 95 yards (23.7 yard average), with all four catches resulted in a first down or a touchdown. Of course, his touchdown (he almost had one in the first quarter when he barely stepped out of bounds on the 1-yard line after the reverse pass from Riley Lees) was the most incredible NU touchdown catch since Bennett Skowronek's diving, game-winner against Iowa in 2018. If you recall, the Wildcats won the West that season by going a perfect 8-0 that took them to Indianapolis for the Big Ten championship game. Chiaokhiao-Bowman continues to get better and currently leads the Wildcats in every receiving category. Northwestern will need it, as the target on their backs gets larger (especially since ESPN is now wising up to their success), and the offense continues to find ways to attack.

Defensive game ball: WLB Blake Gallagher. There were some who were clamoring for Brandon Joseph as the defensive MVP, and he played very well, swiping his fourth and fifth interceptions in the fifth game of this season. (To put that into perspective, the entire team had just seven all of last year in a 12-game season.) But Gallagher was deeper into the fire and came out a hero once again, making 14 tackles, with a sack, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. As the guy who is probably getting the least amount of credit from a rather disrespectful (and uninformed) media this year, Gallagher is leading the team in all of those aforementioned categories, and he is second in sacks. He wears the No. 51 about as well as anyone who has ever worn it in Evanston, save for the best ever, his proud head coach.

Special Teams game ball: LS Tyler Gilikin. Gillikin can sometimes get overlooked when his kicking specialists do their job, but not against the Badgers. Once again, he was perfect on his snaps, all 14 of them. He also got downfield to make a tackle on a punt late in the game, helping to keep the Badgers in less-than-optimal field position. “Doc” Gillikin, the medical student and Mannelly Award nominee as the nation’s top long-snapper, continues to take care of the small details that often go unnoticed by others but keeps the Northwestern special teams in good health -- just as a doctor should.

Wildcat Warrior: DT Jake Saunders. “Mad Dawg” had a career game, racking up five total tackles, including four solos. At times, he appeared unblockable, even by that stout Wisconsin front. He’s been called one of the strongest Wildcats in the weight room, and it came in handy on Saturday night, when the defense needed everyone to be on their game. Not only was Saunders strong, but he looked like he had a lot of fun doing it. Even with the return of slated starter Trevor Kent Saturday night, Saunders seemed to engrave his place in the lineup going forward. After suffering a couple of debilitating injuries earlier in his career, Saunders came back for a fifth year and seems to be making the most of it, with the peak (so far) coming against the Badgers. Because of his grind, his strength and his flowing locks, we proudly award the Wildcat Warrior award to Saunders.

RCB’s incredible catch on an incredible throw by Ramsey. Tied at seven, deep into the second quarter, the game was about as back-and-forth as it could be. Mertz had just thrown his second interception of the game and his Wisconsin career, and the Cats had missed converting on three previous turnovers. A failure to cash in here could have shaken the offense's confidence.

But after completing six straight passes, Ramsey saw an opportunity to hit his go-to scoring threat in Chiaokhiao-Bowman. He dropped a beautifully thrown ball into No. 81’s bread basket, and RCB, with heavy coverage draped on him by Dante Burton, shielded his inside, turned outside and brought the ball in with his eyes. He dragged his toes and completed the process of a catch -- a 25-yard touchdown catch that ultimately decided the outcome in this Big Ten West heavyweight bout.

Tim Chapman is a teacher and former Michigan high school football coach who is currently working on a book titled "ChampioN Underdog" about the 1995 Northwestern Rose Bowl team. Follow him via Twitter: @Champion_Lit. Email him at nufbhistorian@gmail.com.