WildcatReport's Tim Chapman, a former high school football head coach, breaks down the Wildcats’ come-from-behind win over Nebraska that improved their record to 3-0.

This is not a team of stars, but we mean this is a good way. Only three players rank in the top five of the Big Ten in any significant statistical category: K Charlie Kuhbander in scoring, LB Paddy Fisher in tackles and S Brandon Joseph in INTs. But maybe that’s why this particular team is currently 3-0. They were at 58/42 run/pass distribution on Saturday, and though their starting RB, Isaiah Bowser, was out, backup Drake Anderson continued to shine as a solid “next man up”, netting 89 yards on 18 carries, with a touchdown. QB Peyton Ramsey spread the ball to seven different receivers, all of them making a catch of 10 yards of more, and two for touchdowns. Defensively, they played great team defense, as they always do under coordinator Mike Hankwitz. Nine of their 11 defensive starters registered four tackles or more, the three LBs led the way and were all within three stops of one another, while their four starters in the secondary were the next tier and all within two. Their back seven is proving to be top-notch, especially against the pass. Special teams are getting the job done, especially new punter Derek Adams, who’s helped put the Wildcat defense in good field position week in and week out. They don’t need gamebreakers; right now, they’ve got game-winners.

Slow and steady is winning the race (and the West). Northwestern won again by putting together strings of execution and converting on third down. The Wildcats' three scores came on drives of seven plays (80 yards), 10 plays (61 yards) and six plays (44 yards). In these three marches, they converted four sizable third-downs, and even one fourth-down (they are a perfect 6-for-6 on fourth-down conversions this year). Their trio of touchdowns came in three different quarters, too, which shows their confident resolve to make the most of their opportunities and not press in situations we saw them stress in last year.

The pass defense is keeping everything in front of them. That’s typically what they want to do in Hankwitz’s defense, but this year they are doing an exceptional job. Once again, they protected the top by not allowing big plays to get behind them. There was the 28-yard completion to WR Marcus Fleming and a 25-yard pass to TE Austin Allen, both in the middle of the second quarter, but that was pretty much it. Greg Newsome was tested a couple of times, as was Brandon Joseph, but in all instances, the ball was either knocked away or intercepted. They have not allowed a single point in the second half this year, and have only given up one passing touchdown in three games. They’ve also shown they go about eight deep in that defensive backfield, and with the best trio of LBs in the Big Ten helping them underneath, this team is set up for something special this season.

Will Peyton Ramsey continue to be the quarterback that can help them win the West? Winning quarterbacks don’t have to be flashy, and Ramsey certainly hasn’t been. Some will look at his stats and say that he has a pedestrian TD-INT ratio of 3-3, and that he’s only averaging 170 yards passing per game. But he’s completing 66% of his passes and making the clutch throws when he needs to. True to form in his first two games, he completed 56% of his third down throws against Nebraska, and if you take out the times he was hurried, he hit 83%! Not only that, but adding in the times that he ran the ball, NU converted 58% of the time the number three flashed on the down marker. So many of Ramsey's incompletions this year have been deliberate throwaways, where the defense can’t hurt them, and allowed the Cats another chance. He’s been good when they’ve needed him to be and he continues to play smart, but will he continue to cash in on these money downs (and stay healthy), as Northwestern’s games continue to increase in magnitude?

Why so many sloppy penalties? Four of the eight Northwestern penalties were the kind that might indicate a need for discipline. They erroneously committed an offside penalty on defense, as well as two false starts, and a 12-men-on-the-field mistake on offense. There were some questionable calls in there, too, particularly the infractions sustained by Newsome. The Wildcats are averaging about six flags per game, but in the last two weeks they’ve committed nine “senseless” infractions that can ultimately drive a coach nuts. We trust this will get fixed by next week, but it’s certainly a trend that can make you a little nervous, as they head into bigger games.

This defense team really wrenches it up in the red zone. Northwestern stopped Nebraska three times (in six opportunities) for zero points inside the 20, and twice they took the ball away near the goal line. This group garners strength and becomes galvanized when their opponents tread beyond that 25-yard stripe. They rank eighth in the nation, allowing opponents to score just 64% of the time (7 of 11 opportunities) and only 27% of the time do they allow touchdowns. That's the best in the country. They’re only giving up 12 points per game and have held each of their opponents to their lowest point total of the season, which can certainly mess with the confidence of their opposition. We’ve seen how defense can win championships, and right now, this is Northwestern’s best defense since that magical season of 1995.

Offensive game ball: TE John Raine. After being blanked on the offensive stat sheet last week in Iowa City, No. 0 was again the No. 1 receiver for Ramsey and this offensive passing game. His longest catch went for a 13-yard third-down conversion, knowing he was going to take a hit from an oncoming safety, to help out his quarterback and his team. He also caught a 2-yard touchdown pass, his first as a Wildcat, and again with physical sacrifice. He now has nine catches in two games, putting him third on the team in receptions, and will continue to be a key offensive weapon for the Wildcats. How important has the grad transfer from Florida Atlantic been this year? Last season, the Cats got only seven catches from the entire TE room.

Defensive game ball: WLB Blake Gallagher. Gallagher led the team in tackles (14) and TFLs (2), and added a pass defended and a QB hurry, to help hold the Husker offense to just 13 points and one touchdown Saturday. Proving to be every bit as good (and some might say a tad better) as his teammate and media favorite, Fisher, "Gally" has been rock-solid on the run side of that trio of tacklers in the middle level of the defense. It certainly helps to have a lot of peripheral help, but Gallagher continued to stronghold the middle of that defense.

Special Teams game ball: P Derek Adams. In a tight game like we saw Saturday, the punting has to be solid and Adams was just that. He averaged 43.5 yards per kick, putting four inside the 20, and he added a 58-yard rocket as well. A firm shout out goes out to their coverage unit, bottling up Wan’Dale Robinson and Omar Manning in on their two returns for a net of -3 yards, and forcing fair catches on four others.

Wildcat Warrior: SLB Chris Bergin. Bergin took Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week honors, but we'll give him the Warrior award here. He was called on to play in space against the Husker athletes, expected to cover the pass, as well as set the edge on the run, and tackle in the open. He made 11 tackles and 1.5 TFL, and successfully defended two passes, one of which was the key interception late in the fourth quarter when the Huskers had it second-and-goal from the 2-yard line. It was nice to hear Bergin get praise from the BTN broadcast team, who also echoed Fitzgerald’s appreciation for Bergin, a former walkon who, quite frankly, has been a warrior from day one.

The best moment was the best offensive drive of the game. Northwestern, up by a single point early in the fourth quarter, sent Riley Lees back to return a Nebraska punt. He fielded it, made a move past two Husker defenders, then made another that nearly broke the ankle of a third white jersey before being run out of bounds after an energizing 36-yard return that set the Wildcat bench into a frenzy. A 21-yard catch-and-run by Evan Hull and a clutch third-down haul by Ramaud Chiaokhiao-Bowman followed before the topper: a nice catch in traffic by Lees, who used a spin move to dodge two defenders, and then slither and stretch across the goal line, giving the Wildcats a solid eight-point lead that turned out to be the difference.

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.