WildcatReport's Tim Chapman, a former high school football head coach, breaks down the Wildcats’ win over Illinois for the Land of Lincoln Trophy.

1. The run game is the best it’s been all season. The Wildcats gained 261 rushing yards against Illinois, which was 77 better than their best performance coming in - and that was against Iowa, the fifth-best run defense in the country. Isaiah Bowser averaged 9.2 yards per carry and had a 55-yarder, the longest run from scrimmage all season. Backups Chad Hanaoka and John Moten IV each averaged 6 per carry and are a change-of-pace from what Bowser brings. These performances make things seem brighter than the ill-informed public portrayal. With the line getting stronger and the running backs healthier each week, the Wildcats have a running game that’s much better than their No. 14 ranking in the Big Ten suggests.

2. The red-zone game has been money. Offensively, the Wildcats scored on all four of their trips inside the 20-yard line - three TDs and a FG. They did the same a week ago against a pretty good Minnesota defense. Northwestern has been moving the ball down the field, and when they get to the money zone they are cashing in with touchdowns more than field goals. And while their offense has been good, their defense in this aspect has been great. They’ve allowed opponents to score just three touchdowns and three field goals in the last nine trips inside the NU 20.

3. The senior class beat Illinois four years in a row. There’s a lot of importance to dominating the home-state school. Aside from the rivalry aspect and the Land of Lincoln Trophy they get for winning the “state championship”, it does a lot for recruiting. It makes the marketing slogan of “Chicago’s Big Ten Team” more than just a geographical reference. It gives the fans and families a sweet taste to end the regular season. It’s the last game before the post-season and these Wildcat seniors went out in style, in front of their families, and they did what they were expected to do against a team to which no one in Purple ever wants to lose. These seniors were perfect in this purpose for their entire playing careers and as Coach Pat Fitzgerald said, he’s “incredibly proud of them.” We echo that sentiment.

1. What will this secondary look like against Ohio State next weekend? The secondary is missing their top three cornerbacks from the beginning of season. According to sources, CBs Montre Hartage and Trae Williams may be ready to go against Ohio State. We don’t know the status of Greg Newsome II, who hasn’t played since the Michigan game. While he would be a great addition to this secondary against the Buckeyes, we shouldn’t expect to see him.

Veteran Alonzo Mayo and redshirt freshman Cameron Ruiz got the bulk of the snaps but were picked on quite frequently by the Illini offensive attack - and for the most part, the Illini receivers won. The task of covering and running with these speedy Buckeye receivers will easily be the greatest challenge this group has faced all season.

Safety Jared McGee returned on Saturday for a limited number of snaps, no doubt to get him some reps before the title game. In his absence, the Wildcats saw the emergence of Travis Whillock. But McGee presents a better deep pass-coverage safety, whereas Whillock is a better player against the run. Is McGee back to full strength and can he and/or Whillock play with eye discipline to effectively keep the lid on top of this explosive vertical Buckeye passing game?

2. Will Thorson and the O-Line be ready to go toe-to-toe against this defense? We’ve seen Thorson put up numbers this season against Michigan State and Nebraska, and this Buckeye defense is not as dominant as past OSU squads. The key will be protecting Thorson so his receivers can run their routes precisely and utilize the timing and spacing it takes to create big plays and move the chains for the Wildcats. The group up front has played better each week in their current seven-game winning streak, but the athleticism and tenacity they’ll see from the Buckeyes up front will be such that they really haven’t seen since Michigan (with all due respect to Iowa and Minnesota). What will it take to punch and counter this Buckeye front to give the veteran Thorson and his able receiving corps to find their spots and make the catches they’ve made all season?

Northwestern will be a double-digit underdog heading into Saturday - and that’s exactly where they want to be. It’s no secret that the Buckeyes, coming off their 62-39 whooping against one of the nation’s best defenses in the country quarter, will be heavily favored against this “overachieving” Wildcat squad. Coach Pat Fitzgerald even joked about the upcoming and inevitable narrative that “little Northwestern should just polish up there pretty purple uniforms trot their guys out there to play a fun game and hope not to get hurt.” Little does much of the country realize, however, this is exactly what fuels this Wildcat team. You can bet that Fitzgerald will play the lack-of-respect card with his team this week.

In all but one of their victories this year, Northwestern was an underdog. They hung tough with No. 3 Notre Dame and held a lead for about 55 minutes against then-No. 14 Michigan. In their two other losses, the Wildcats were favored but simply beat themselves. But nobody cares about that - the only thing that matters is what’s ahead of them. “We have an unbelievable opportunity in front of us,” said Fitzgerald after the Illinois game. “We’re fired up to take the Purple down to Indy; a 60-minute opportunity to take this team to the Rose Bowl”. That opportunity comes in six days - right now it’s time to get to work.

The O-Line. For most of the afternoon, this group was pushing their way down field, removing Illini D-Linemen in their path. This Wildcat front, led by seniors Tommy Doles, J.B. Butler and Blake Hance, controlled the line of scrimmage by locking into their one-on-ones and removing their opponents from Isaiah Bowser’s path. They also allowed just one sack, which was more-or-less a result of good coverage downfield and Clayton Thorson holding onto the ball for too long when he could have thrown it away. This forward movement and escalating confidence are going to be much needed against another rugged defensive front they’ll see in Saturday’s Big Ten championship game.

RB Isaiah Bowser. No. 25 turned in a career-best performance, running the ball 18 times for 166 yards. It all started with a 55-yard burst on his first touch on the opening drive for Northwestern. The true freshman had seven runs of nine yards or better and put the Wildcats offense in good position for points. He continues to show good vision and a strong balance of patience and burst, depending on what his offensive line creates and what the defense gives him. He also made a nice catch and run on a swing pass in the second quarter that increased his confidence as a weapon in the passing game. He was so impressive that he was shelved for the last quarter and a half so he can be at full strength for the Cats most important game of the season on Saturday.

WLB Blake Gallagher. Gallagher reclaimed his top-tackler crown by wrangling Illini ballcarriers 13 different times, eight of them solo. The sophomore from Massachusetts also stopped the Orange behind the line of scrimmage twice and took away the threat of A.J. Bush, whose longest run was for 9 yards. Gallagher continues to perform well against some of the Big Ten’s best. He’s three tackles off the Big Ten lead and his ability helps to free up fellow LBs Paddy Fisher and Nate Hall or Chris Bergin to clean up and make stops.

P/PK/K Jake Collins. It seems like an easy go to, week after week, but Collins again had triple duty and again performed all three about as well as could be expected. Sure, his kickoffs were all returnable, but his punting and placekicking duties - his more vital responsibilities - were all spot on. Punting, he averaged 45.8 yards per punt on four boots, sticking two inside the 20. He kicked all three PAT kicks between the posts, as well as a 25-yard FG that gave the Wildcats an 18-point lead in the third quarter. A special shout-out goes out to his long-snapper, Tyler Gillikin, who remained perfect on his long snaps, zipping eight of them back in perfect position on placekicks and punts.

QB TJ Green. Green was pressed into duty today as the new placeholder - a position he hasn’t had to play except for part of one game - and also as the quarterback in the fourth quarter. When things got a bit anxious as the Illini started to make a comeback, Green remained unaffected and managed the Wildcat offense. And since Coach Pat Fitzgerald said that there was an “infinity percent” chance that Thorson was going back in the game at that point, regardless of circumstance, Green delivered on the team’s expectations and kept his Wildcat team in the lead and ultimately to victory. And that was the final formation that Green took a snap from on Saturday.

Paddy Fisher’s game-clinching INT. Up 24-16 with just minutes to go in the fourth quarter, the Wildcats had their backs to the wall as the Illini were mounting a comeback and working their way to a potential game-tying TD drive. After completing two straight first down passes to Dominic Stampley for a total of 37 yards, Illinois had it first-and-10 from the NU 17-yard line. Bush took a shotgun snap, looked again for Stampley - locked in is more like it - but failed to account for the athletic MLB from Katy, Texas. Fisher dropped to his middle zone, tipped the pass end-over-end and caught it on its way down, thus eliminating the eminent threat and helping secure Northwestern’s eighth Big Ten victory of the season for the first time since that magical 1995 season.

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.