Northwestern had ridden quarterback Peyton Ramsey for three quarters, three touchdowns and a 21-13 lead over Auburn.

But with a chance to put a hammer lock on the VRBO Citrus Bowl, the Wildcats turned to an almost forgotten friend: the running game.

After the defense stuffed Bo Nix on a fourth-and-1 quarterback sneak at midfield, Cam Porter ran the ball seven straight times for 50 yards and the touchdown to give the Wildcats a 28-13 lead with 12:13 left and effectively end the game.

The No. 14 Wildcats, coming off of a turnaround 2020 season that produced a second Big Ten West title in three years, started 2021 with a bang by posting a 35-19 victory over Auburn to claim their fourth consecutive bowl victory.

More importantly, it sent retiring defensive coordinator Mike Hankwitz out with the 400th win over his 51-year coaching career. And it was Hankwitz who got the Gatorade bath after the game.

While Porter, who rushed for 98 rushing yards, was the finisher, it was Ramsey who was the player of the game for the Wildcats. The grad transfer turned in his best performance of the season, finishing 24 of 35 for 291 yards and three touchdowns through the air, while running for another score on the ground.

Despite playing without leading sacker Eku Leota and first-team All-Big Ten cornerback Greg Newsome II, Northwestern’s defense held Auburn to just two third-down conversions in 13 attempts and claimed the game’s only takeaway.

Nix wound up 25 of 42 for 292 yards and a TD; he left the game briefly in the fourth quarter with an apparent injury before returning to finish the game off. He also led the Tigers with 32 rushing yards as Northwestern limited Auburn, which was playing without leading rusher Tank Bigsby, to just 61 yards on 26 carries.

Ramsey came out of the runnel with guns blazing in this one. Running a quick-tempo attack, Ramsey led the Wildcats right down the field for a touchdown on their first possession. He fired a 14-yarder to Riley Lees on a crosser on third-and-8, and then he delivered a perfect throw to a wide-open Ramaud Chiaokhiao-Bowman for the 35-yard touchdown. All told, Ramsey went a perfect 5-for-5 for 66 yards to open the game.

After Auburn went three-and-out twice, Ramsey went back to work. He hit Lees over the middle on a fourth-and-8 play at the Auburn 45 for the first of three fourth-down conversions in five attempts in the game. Then, at the 6-yard line, Ramsey rolled out to the right after a great cut block from Porter on the edge, and hit John Raine, who leaped into the end zone to give the Wildcats a 14-0 lead with 3:14 left in the first quarter.

Ramsey’s numbers at the end of the first quarter: 11-for-14 for 152 yards and two TDs.

The second quarter slowed down considerably for Northwestern’s offense, however. The Wildcats punted twice while Auburn found some offensive success moving Nix out of the pocket and utilizing him on quarterback runs.

Auburn didn’t get its first first-down until less than three minutes remained in the first quarter. The Tigers finally put together some semblance of a drive on a short field, going 20 yards to reach the Northwestern 27-yard line. But Blake Gallagher put Nix under wraps on a third-and-9 blitz, forcing an incomplete pass and, on the next, play, a field-goal attempt that Anders Carlson drilled from 50 yards out to close the gap to 14-3 with 6:03 left in the half.

On their next possession, the Tigers drove it 72 yards with Nix again doing most of the damage and completing passes to five different receivers. On third-and-10, Nix connected on a sideline throw to Eli Stove, who shook off a tackle from Cameron Mitchell to pick up 12 yards and the first down.

The Tigers had a first down at the NU 5-yard line, but that’s where the Wildcats rose up and showed why they are the No. 4 defense in the red zone in the nation. Mitchell knocked the ball away from Elijah Canion in the end zone, a Nix fade pass fell incomplete and then a third-down catch by Seth Williams was out of bounds with Mitchell in tight coverage.

Auburn was forced to settle for a chip-shot field goal and Northwestern took a 14-6 lead into the locker room at the half.

Northwestern looked to be in control until midway through the third quarter, when Auburn hit them with its biggest play of the game. Cornerback A.J. Hampton bit on a play fake and Nix hit a wide-open Canion in stride, and he stiff-armed his way down the sideline for a 57-yard touchdown.

And just like that, it was 14-13 and the game was a dogfight.

The teams traded punts until Ramsey got the Wildcats back into the end zone for the first time since the first quarter. He hit Raine for a 30-yarder and Chiaokhiao-Bowman for 7. After a hand-to-the-face penalty against Auburn and a couple incomplete passes, Ramsey made the biggest play with his legs. On a third-and-10 from the Auburn 30, he broke contain and, with the Tigers in man coverage, made a mad dash for the end zone, getting just inside the pylon to give Northwestern a 21-13 lead with 2:10 left in the third.

Then, it was the defense’s turn. On fourth-and-1 at midfield, Nix tried a quarterback sneak and was stoned by a surge led by defensive tackles Joe Spivak and Jake Saunders down low, and JR Pace and Paddy Fisher over the top.

That forced a turnover on downs, and Porter then went to work on the ground to put the Wildcats up 28-13.

With blood in the water and Nix on the sideline, Northwestern’s defense forced a fumble when Shaun Shivers got hit by Blake Gallagher and Jordan Butler in the backfield and Earnest Brown IV recovered it at the Auburn 24. Five plays later, Ramsey hit Lees for a 6-yard TD and the rout was on at 35-13.

Nix came off the bench and, throwing on every down, he led the Tigers to the NU 2-yard line, where DJ Williams ran it in with 4:41 left for the final points of the game.

Northwestern, coming off of a 3-9 disaster last year, ended its 2020 season with a 7-2 record.