After further review: Northwestern 31 Utah 20

WildcatReport's Tim Chapman, a former high school football head coach, breaks down the Wildcats’ Holiday Bowl win over Utah.

1. Clayton Thorson went out the way he started: beating a higher-ranked Pac-12 team. Flashback to Sept. 5, 2015, when the Wildcats welcomed 21st-ranked Stanford to Ryan Field in the season opener. Going up against the Cardinal was a baby-faced redshirt freshman quarterback named Clayton Thorson, making his first career start. He had a lot of hype but no college game experience, going against a team that had some pretty high aspirations for 2015 - certainly higher than Northwestern's. Thorson played a clean game, allowing his team to succeed by simply running the offense and not making any mistakes. He was 12 of 24 passing, but more importantly, no interceptions and a memorable 42-yard zone keeper for the TD that turned out to be the deciding score.

Fast-forward to New Year’s Eve 2018 for Thorson’s final game, once again against a higher-ranked Pac-12 team in No. 17 Utah. Once again the underdog, Thorson was steady and did not make any costly mistakes. He finished 21 of 30, but this time he threw two touchdown passes. He once again earned respect and led the Wildcats to the win, the 36th of his career to set the school record. He also threw for 241 yards to become Northwestern's all-time leading passer, with 10,731 yards, which also puts him in fourth place on the all-time Big Ten passing list.

2. This team got to that point where they can just plug-and-play. All good college programs are consistently successful because of their ability to not only find the right guys, but also develop that talent so that they are ready to play when their number is called. Wildcat next-men-up Riley Lees, Ramaud Chiakhiao-Bowman, Alex Miller and Alonzo Mayo, among others, filled in for some important starters and got the job done to help bring the school their third consecutive bowl victory and fourth in their last five tries.

While Northwestern may not bring in a Top 10 recruiting class, the Wildcats are certainly getting the right guys to fit their system and their needs. In the end, that’s what matters the most.

3. This defense proved to be better than Utah’s, and things look good for next year.

Heading into the game, Utah’s defense was statistically better than Northwestern's in all of the major defensive categories. But after the second-half kickoff, it was clear that the Wildcats’ D was the better of the two on this night. The game stats can be deceiving because Northwestern allowed more yards than Utah did, but the Utes came in with a more explosive offensive attack.

Mike Hankwitz’s defensive scheme is based around the concession of yards outside the 40, but once an offense breaks that boundary, the clamps tighten - and that’s exactly what the Wildcats did on Monday night. Utah went 3-for-4 in red-zone scoring opportunities, with just one touchdown. The Wildcats also forced two turnovers on the plus side of the field, as well as a turnover on downs in scoring territory. Conversely, Northwestern was a perfect 4-of-4 in red-zone opportunities with three touchdowns - two coming through the air against a pretty good secondary.

What’s even more impressive is that most of the defense will be returning next season. All of their top LBs and secondary players from this Holiday Bowl will return, headlined by Paddy Fisher, Blake Gallagher, JR Pace and Travis Whillock. Steady fourth LB Chris Bergin and Greg Newsome and Cameron Ruiz at the corner positions round out a group that give Wildcat the basis for a stout D again in 2019.

1. What was the difference in the second half? Clearly this was a tale of two halves.

In the first half, the Northwestern defense gave up 246 yards and 20 points to a Utah offense that was missing their top passer, rusher and receiver. The Utes only punted twice, scored four times and turned it over once by fumble. Northwestern’s offense gained 131 yards on offense, punted four times, turned it over on downs and threw an INT, while only scoring a field goal.

In the second half, though, everything got flipped. Northwestern limited Utah’s offense to just 147 total yards while forcing five turnovers (two INTs and three fumbles), two punts and, most importantly, zero points. They got great play from each of the three levels of defense, especially in the secondary, where guys like Pace and Newsome emerged as stars, and scored a touchdown on an 82-yard Jared McGee fumble return.

Offensively, Northwestern accounted for 21 points on 191 yards on offense, a number that would surely have been greater but the defense set them up with short fields on their scoring drives. Plus, for most of the fourth quarter, the Wildcats were playing a conservative, clock-bleeding brand of offense geared to preserve the victory.

So what accounted for such a turnaround? One, the defensive stand at the end of the first half that cut into the Utes momentum and injected hope back into the Wildcats. Two, head coach Pat Fitzgerald used his halftime motivational magic to prime his players for their most important half of football. And three, this team got aggressive and played to win, rather than to look respectable.

If you watch the offensive and defensive styles in the second half, the Wildcats went on the attack. They got a better pass rush on Utah QB Jason Shelley, their LBs got more penetration into the backfield and their DBs did a better job challenging the Utah WRs - even without All-Big Ten CB Montre Hartage.

Offensively, they challenged the Utah secondary, with crossing routes coming free repeatedly. The trick play to Trey Klock was the epitome of Northwestern's bravado. Down three after a turnover, this type of play call could have resulted in disaster and a sea of arms thrown up in the air in the stands. But it worked and added to NU's snowballing momentum. Even Utah coach Kyle Whittingham noticed this. “It was like a landslide. The floodgates opened," he said. "And it was like getting buried.”

2. What will be this team’s legacy? How will this 2018 team be remembered? In nearly every account, people love to reference the 1-3 start. They often speak of the 3-4 home record and overcoming the career-ending injury to star RB Jeremy Larkin. They talk about the lack of offense for the first three-quarters of the season. The new facilities seem to get more publicity than anything football-related.

But five years from now, what will people say about this 2018 Wildcat football team? They were the school’s first Big Ten West division champions. Their 8-1 conference record is one of the best in school history. They were road warriors that won six games away from Ryan Field. All those things are true.

However, if the program continues its upward trajectory - they've won 36 games over the last four years - this team could be looked at as the one that began the championship era of Northwestern football. More than anything, the 2018 Wildcats are champions: of the Big Ten West and, now, of the Holiday Bowl. The next goal is to become Big Ten champions.

Pat Fitzgerald will continue to call Northwestern home. With interest from the Green Bay Packers in the news all week, Fitzgerald used his post-game interview on the trophy presentation podium to put to rest any speculation about his future. "Hashtag Go Cats, man. I'm not going anywhere,” he said. "This is home forever."

Fitzgerald let it be known that he wants to stay at Northwestern and continue what he’s started. He knows how good he has it - he has a state-of-the-art football facility, a supportive administration and a job for as long as he wants it. And it's all at his alma mater, a place he loves and believes in.

Fitzgerald has earned the ability to do what he wants to do and go where he wants to go as a coach, but he knows that there is nowhere else he wants to be. He will be Northwestern's Bear Bryant, Joe Paterno or Woody Hayes. He has taken the program to impressive heights, and NU fans are excited to see where he can take it in the future.

The DEFENSE. The entire group played well in the second half. Fisher (13 tackles, FF, TFL) and Pace led the way with their ability to swarm to the ball and then separate it from the Utah ballcarriers (each had a forced fumble). LBs Blake Gallagher (7 tackles, TFL, QB hurry and INT) and backup Chris Bergin (8 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 FR), along with DE Joe Gaziano (FF) and McGee (fumble return for a TD), also inked their names on the takeaway board. In all, this unit accounted for six takeaways (five in the second half), 6.5 TFLs and 3 sacks in the victory. And to do so without three of their best defenders to start the game makes these accomplishments even more remarkable.

QB Clayton Thorson. In his final game (53rd overall, a Big Ten record for a QB) of his Northwestern career, Thorson left a winner, in every sense of the word. He finished 21-of-30 for 241 yards, two TDs to one INT, which really wasn’t his fault. He played with great poise, even after being sacked twice and harassed constantly, and seeing one of his passes go through his receiver’s hands and get intercepted. He was the catalyst for Northwestern's offensive revival in the second half and, under his direction, the Wildcats earned their ninth win of the season and 36th during Thorson's time in Purple. Thorson cemented his place among the school's all-time greatest quarterbacks.

SS JR Pace. The Georgia sophomore made his presence known to Utah ballcarriers throughout the game. Pace finished with seven tackles, a fumble recovery, an INT, a pass break-up, and a TFL. Not bad for a night's work. What was most impressive was his physicality, making his case as the next man up in a tradition of great, heavy-hitting Northwestern safeties, including Brian Peters, Ibraheim Campbell and Godwin Igwebuike.

P Jake Collins. In a close contest with PK Charlie Kuhbander, we give the nod to the fifth-year senior grad transfer. Collins had seven punts for an average of 38 yards per punt, but only allowed three to be returned and put three inside the 20-yard line. He did his part to make the Utah offense work, and to give his defense a better chance at success, Collins was once again a very reliable part of Northwestern's game plan.

SB Trey Klock. A transfer from Georgia Tech two years ago, Klock had mostly been used as a superback in short-yardage situations, when they needed more beef in the lineup. To see all 296 pounds of Klock leak out on a seam route on first-and-10 from the 20-yard line and going in for the score was, well, there are no words to describe it.

The thought of him scoring a touchdown was the furthest thing from anyone's mind - which is exactly why it worked. Thorson dropped back to pass with guard JB Butler in the slot to his right, waving his hands in the air and stealing attention away as Klock sneaked down the hash toward the goal line. Utah had a safety in coverage, but Thorson’s throw was so direct that by the time the safety could react to what was going on, the ball was in Klock’s hands. He caught it, took a glancing blow from the safety and then garnered enough forward momentum to rumble across the plane, taking a large chunk of the red-painted end-zone turf with him as trophy.

It was fitting that a guy who had worked hard, persevered, and never really got much glory in his two years of grind, scored the game-winning touchdown of his final collegiate game on a play that he - nor any Wildcat fans - will soon forget.

The defensive stand near the end of the first half. Down 17-3 late in the second quarter, Utah was working on an eight-play drive after intercepting a Thorson pass. The Utes had a first-and-goal from the 2-yard line - certainly not a high-percentage stop situation for the defense. But on three consecutive plays, the Wildcat wall up front stoned the Utah attack and forced a field goal, rather than what seemed to many like an easy touchdown.

Utah got a field goal to go up 20-3 heading into the half, but had they scored the TD and gone up 24-3, that could have been a backbreaker for the Wildcats and given them an even bigger hole to climb out of - both psychologically and on the scoreboard.

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.