Jared Thomas, a former Northwestern All-Big Ten center and captain, analyzes Wildcat football for WildcatReport.

Jared Thomas sees things differently than most fans when he watches a football game.

As a former player, he analyzes the Xs and Os and players’ performances, of course. But that the same time, he’s also in tune with the emotional and psychological swings that occur within games.

That’s why, when you ask him for his takeaways from Northwestern’s 35-6 drubbing of Ohio on Saturday, he mentions a sequence of plays in the fourth quarter, after the game had already been decided. It’s a stretch you probably didn’t think twice about when it occurred, if you were watching. The game had already been decided by then.

But to Thomas, a former All-Big Ten center and captain, the sequence meant enough that he sprang up off his couch to write it down, knowing that he would focus on it for this story.

“It really stood out to me,” he said.

Early in the fourth quarter, with Northwestern leading 20-0, defensive tackle Jeremy Meiser tipped Kurtis Rourke’s pass, and safety Brandon Joseph plucked it out of the air and returned it 26 yards to the Ohio 27-yard line. The defense had just gift-wrapped a scoring opportunity for the offense.

After Andrew Clair ran for 12 and four yards, quarterback Ryan Hilinski and Clair fumbled the handoff and Ohio’s Cannon Blauser recovered the loose ball at the OU 13-yard line. It looked like just another empty red-zone trip for Northwestern, which to that point had gotten inside the Ohio 20-yard line four times and had just 13 points to show for it.

But instead of hanging their heads about the offense fumbling away a golden chance, the defense went back out stonewalled the Bobcats on two straight short-yardage situations. They stuffed De’Montre Tuggle on third-and-1, and then stopped Armani Rogers cold on fourth-and-1 at the OU 32 to get the ball right back.

This time, the offense cashed in. The Cats covered 32 yards on six straight runs, five of them by Anthony Tyus III, who scored from seven yards out for the touchdown. Northwestern then went for two, and Stephon Robinson Jr. scored on – what else? – a run, to make it 28-0 with 5:54 left in the game.

So why were these possessions so pivotal for the Wildcats? According to Thomas, it was a microcosm of Northwestern’s season so far. It also built the kind of confidence that will serve the team well moving forward, especially now that they will have nothing but Big Ten games from here on out.

“It’s what’s happened to the team since the beginning of the season, the ups and downs, and the inconsistencies,” he said. “The defense got a turnover, and the offense gave the ball right back. Most teams would hang their heads or sulk or pout.

“But I was looking for Northwestern’s response in that sequence. The defense bowed up on fourth down and got the stop, and the offense scored a touchdown.”

Going into the Ohio game, Thomas talked about the defense’s need to create turnovers in Saturday’s game. They accomplished that, with three turnovers. But “here, the defense created one, and they didn’t get a score. So all that hard work went for naught.

“But they battled back and got a fourth-down stop, and then they got rewarded with the touchdown. It showed the grit, the fight in this team. They could’ve lost momentum, but they battled back and got the stop.”

Thomas called it one of the “small victories” that happen in a game, and a season. He doesn’t think that the defense or offense would’ve responded the same way if the same thing had occurred, say, in Week 1 against Michigan State. It’s a sign of the team’s development and mental toughness.

“Plays like that are needed to create momentum,” he said. “(Plays like that) enable the team to feel more and more confident in the next game.

“It means something psychologically for the offense. They gave the ball back, but then they capitalized when they got another chance. The defense knows that when they get takeaways, the offense will do something with it.”

It’s also a sign of the complementary football that head coach Pat Fitzgerald always preaches.

“You see complementary football physically on the field, but it happens mentally, as well.”

Hilinski plays it smart: Thomas thought that Hilinski did what was asked of him in his first start for the Wildcats. With the team amassing 373 rushing yards, Hilinski didn’t have to do much, and he mostly dumped the ball down to his outlet receivers when he threw the ball.

“I thought he truly embodied take what the defense gives you,” said Thomas. “No fancy throws into tight windows or anything like that. He didn’t force the issue.”

He also took care of the ball and didn’t commit one turnover, which drew praise from Thomas and Fitzgerald.

Hilinski wound up completing 12 of 20 throws for just 88 yards. His longest pass was 20 yards. But that’s just fine to Thomas.

“Stats are sexy, but winning games feels good,” he said. “I’d rather win the game than have the quarterback throw for 400 yards in a loss.”

Thomas thinks that Hilinski’s performance on Saturday will build his confidence as Northwestern heads into Big Ten play. And while Hilinski’s arm wasn’t tested on Saturday, Thomas is sure that it will in the coming weeks. Teams will be focused on stopping the run and putting the game squarely on Hilinski’s shoulders.

“Teams are going to force Hilinski to make throws to beat them eventually,” said Thomas. “Yesterday was not that day.”

Mano e mano in Big Ten play: Northwestern is now done with its non-conference schedule. The Wildcats went 2-1, beating Indiana State and Ohio, but losing to Duke, the lone Power Five school on the non-league slate. They also lost one Big Ten game in the opener against Michigan State.

Thomas says that the Wildcats will have to ratchet everything up a level now that they will face only Big Ten teams for the remainder of the year.

“The biggest thing about non-conference games is that you don’t really know what to expect,” he said. “But in conference play, you’ve seen their stuff, their team and their players. You see them every year. You know exactly what to expect.”

With so much familiarity with each other’s systems, Big Ten games often get a little more primal than others.

“Conference play usually comes down to one thing: dominating the man across from you,” said Thomas. “If you go out and beat your matchup one-on-one more than he beats you, you’ll probably win the game.

“It’s more mano-e-mano, and may the best man win.”

Jared Thomas started 30 games for Northwestern from 2016-20, including the last 26 in a row at center. He was a member of the 2018 Big Ten West championship team and an All-Big Ten honorable mention selection and team captain in 2019. He now plays for the Massachusetts Pirates, who just won the 2021 Indoor Football League championship.