CHAMPAIGN, Ill.--After back-to-back mortifying losses, Northwestern went into Champaign and reclaimed the Hat with a 45-43 win over Illinois.
"I'm thrilled, winning rivalry games is never easy," head coach David Braun said. "We knew we were going to get a fight for the full four quarters."
The Wildcats spent all year in the mud with their Big Ten opponents, dragging their opponents down into the mire and beating them with experience. Their offense would do just enough to get a lead, and then tag their defense to finish the job.
That wasn't the case tonight. The Illini scored in bunches, punting just once, but turned the ball over four times between their offense and special teams. The Wildcats tallied 16 points off turnovers, and came away with a plus-2 for their turnover margin that already ranks among the best in the nation.
Here are our takeaways from the Wildcats' third straight victory to finish the season:
Northwestern sent out the Big Ten West in style: For the first time since 2016, both teams in this rivalry scored 20 or more points, and they did it by halftime. Then, they did it again in the second frame. The 88 combined points tonight were the most in the rivalry's history.
"Is that not Big Ten West football?" Braun said, tongue firmly in cheek. "Not the end score we anticipated, but there have been so many scenarios this year that we didn't anticipate.
"This group keeps battling. I know it sounds cliche and redundant. You can talk about the words and put them on a wall, you can put them on a PowerPoint, or you can point to a group of guys that continue to do it."
It was a helter-skelter affair filled with turnovers, big plays and great performances. Illinois quarterback John Paddock became the first 300-yard passer of the season against the Wildcats, finishing 24-for-34 for 334 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions.
Ben Bryant didn't match the same output for yardage, but followed suit with three scores and two picks. His final line was 24-for-32 for 234 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions, as well as 15 yards (including sacks) and a touchdown on the ground.
He threw a tough pick-6 that gave Illinois a 20-14 lead, but responded with a lightning-quick, seven-play, 75-yard touchdown drive in 1:01 to retake the lead just eight seconds before halftime.
It was a lead the Wildcats would relinquish just once, for 3:08 of the fourth quarter, when they were down 31-28. Bryant was cool as could be though, completing 16-of-18 passes after his pick-6.
"It sucks, no one wants to throw a pick-6," he said. "We knew we were going to have another chance to get the ball that half and go down and score. Nobody had a sour look on their face, everyone was ready to get back out there. We executed, we scored, it was great to see."
Braun's a defensive coach by nature, and he stressed the importance of letting Bryant work through it.
"It's behind us, it's on to the next," Braun said. "I think coaches, I can be guilty of this too, have a tendency to want to harp on what just happened. Let's learn from it but put it behind us. I don't think there's a better example than at the end of the half."
Braun's said his trust in Bryant, and in Bryce Gallagher on the other side of the ball, has been freeing this season.
"The absolute best offenses and defenses are built on concepts that allow a quarterback or Mike linebacker to get coaches out of bad calls," he said. "They have the ability to check. That requires great teaching throughout the week then trust in your players.
"Ben Bryant is someone that has earned that type of trust, and no different than Bryce Gallagher at Mike linebacker."
Wildcats got the Hat back: After two losses the last two years by a combined score of 88-17, the Wildcats stormed into Champaign and took back their most treasured trophy.
"There was certainly motivation to bring that Hat back to Evanston," Braun said, going on to pay respect to Illinois' staff. "Today was a great step up for us on the recruiting trail.
"We really put on display what this program has been, and what it's going to look like moving forward. End of the day, we recruit nationally but we have to be great in the Chicagoland area. We have to be great in the state of Illinois... Great opportunity for us to put on display the brand, and the way this group wins."
Bryant is a sixth-year senior and this is first Land of Lincoln game, but as an Illinois native and a leader of this team, he understood well what it meant.
"It's so nice to go out like this in the regular season with this team," he said. "The last two years we lost, to get the Hat back is huge. I'm just so happy for this team."
AJ Henning, who played his high school ball at Frankfort (Ill.) Lincoln-Way East, talked about the importance of the game as an Illinois native.
"Coming in as a transfer and knowing what the rivalry was all about, knowing the importance and seeing how much it meant to the older guys where it might be their last game...it's a big deal," he said. "I take great pride in winning this game, it feels really good to come into their house and take the Hat back to where it belongs."
Henning took the podium in Bryant's t-shirt from the Northwestern NIL store, and shouted his quarterback out at the start of his media session. Then, he closed it with a unique sign-off.
"Go Griffins! Go Cats! Go Ben Bryant!"
The Griffins are in reference to Lincoln-Way East; they face off against Loyola Academy for the IHSA 8A state title tonight.
Braun explained fourth-quarter decision making: Kicker Jack Olsen missed a 45-yard field-goal try, made a 46-yarder and didn't get to try a 47-yarder.
Olsen squeaked the 45-yarder over the uprights to give Northwestern a 45-37 lead with 2:56 remaining. But when the Wildcats ended up with the ball at the Illinois 30, just one yard further back, with 1:14 left, they opted to take a delay of game penalty and punt.
Braun broke down his thought process.
"That was a difficult decision, a lot went into it," he said. "His last kick just cleared the uprights and the trajectory of his ball was coming out a little lower than it typically does.
"In that scenario, being up eight, we talked through it as a staff and weighed the risk of potentially getting blocked, and the potential field-position loss if we didn't make it. We felt good we could pin those guys inside the 10."
Braun's logic was sound, as Olsen's arc on his 46-yard make was noticeably flatter than his 45-yarder, a stinger-type kick for the golfers out there. However, most of his guardrails against an Illinois score were quickly overrun when Runner's punt went into the end zone for a touchback and the Illini started at their own 20, not the 10.
Braun's nightmare may have been a block, but reality may have turned out worse that that. Paddock hit Case Washington for an 80-yard touchdown two plays later.
Illinois failed to convert a two-point try thanks to Paddock's pass ricocheting off Carmine Bastone's helmet and then Xander Mueller's hand, nullifying a pass-interference penalty.
"In hindsight, the punt didn't go how we wanted it to and the defensive series didn't go as we wanted it until we got a two-point stop," Braun said. "But a lot of factors went into that decision."
Braun defender Olsen's performance. Olsen has been a reliable kicker all season, but split his last four field goals, albeit one miss was due to swirling wind against Purdue.
"He's just such a competitor," Braun said. "He's been so consistent this year, he's a master of his craft.
"All those guys, that entire [specialits] group: Will Halkyard and Hunter Renner. To come back and drill that [46-yard] field goal was absolutely critical. Our decision was not a reflection of not believing in Jack's ability to knock it through. it was just some of the risk in a potential block."
Special teams starred: Things looked bleak and the spotty Memorial Stadium crowd was starting to make some noise when the Illini took a 31-28 lead and Northwestern responded with a three-and-out and a punt.
But the football gods were smiling on Braun and the Wildcats because Illinois' Isaiah Williams muffed that punt, giving Northwestern the ball at the Illinois 18. The Wildcats punched it in for a touchdown five plays later and took the lead that would last the rest of the game, 35-31.
The gods came through again for purple-and-white when Illinois muffed the ensuing kickoff as well. Braydon Brus jarred the ball loose from Kenari Wischer, and safety Garner Wallace scooped up it up and stumbled his way through would-be tacklers for Northwestern's second touchdown in nine seconds of play.
"It was insane," Wallace said before pointing out the family ties that made this game so special. "My sisters committed here for basketball, and so my whole family was here.
"It was just ridiculous. I got the ball and I was like, 'Uhhh, can I return it?' That flashed through my mind. Then, I was like, 'Alright, bro, I'm not getting tackled right now.' It's insane. For my whole family to be here, too, it was an amazing feeling."
That amazing feeling led to a 42-31 Wildcat lead. Thanks to Wallace, and special teams ace Ray Niro III, who fell on the muffed punt, the Wildcats put a cap on their thoroughly unexpected season.
The David Braun Effect: With the win over Illinois and a 7-5 record, Braun has outperformed expectations and is a favorite to win the Big Ten Coach of the Year award. He's the winningest first-year Northwestern coach since 19-3, and he now has the highest winning percentage of any NU coach since 1905, albeit through just 12 games.
If you really want to be impressed at Braun's accomplishment, take a look at the difference between last year's and this year's teams against Big Ten repeat opponents.
To quote Braun from almost every postgame press conference this season, "When I look at that, I'm speechless."
Almost every coach says no one believes in their team. Michigan and Ohio State brought out dueling apparel about their doubters while combining for 23 wins this season. But when Braun says it, he means it. The Las Vegas over/under line before the season was 2.5. I picked this team to be 2-10.
The perfect encapsulation of how different the Wildcats have been this season came at the end of the first half. After a pick-6, Bryant and the offense took the field at their own 25 with 1:09 on the clock.
Given Northwestern's uber-conservative history in situations like this, many would have expected the Wildcats to take a knee and go into halftime trailing by six points. Instead, Bryant rattled off a touchdown drive in 61 seconds and, just like that, the Wildcats were back in front.
They've won games every which way this season, with a rock-solid defense and an offense scoring in the low 20's. On Saturday, in an 88-point shootout, they took the Hat back and finished second in the last year of the West division.
"This group just finds different ways to win football games," he said. "It's not always the same cookie-cutter model. That's a reflection of a good team, a team that plays for one another and really trusts their teammates."
In a sentence that feels ethereal to type, the Wildcats will find out their bowl destination on Dec. 2.
