The Cats keep The Hat

If you’re only going to win one Big Ten game in a season, it might as well be the trophy game against your in-state rival.

Northwestern, a 6.5-point underdog, went into Champaign and upset Illinois, 29-10, to retain the Land of Lincoln Trophy. It was the Wildcats’ fifth straight win over the Illini as well as their first Big Ten win of the season.

And the Wildcats did it with a punishing ground game that hammered out 378 yards and dominated the time of possession by more than a two-to-one margin. What’s more, Coco Azema, a former safety making his first appearance as a running back, led the way with 123 yards and a touchdown.

The Wildcats won’t be going to a bowl game, but after a season full of painful losses they closed out a disappointing 2019 season with an uplifting victory, as well as some hardware.

Here are our takeaways from the win that ends Northwestern season at 3-9 (1-8 Big Ten):

The Cats just pounded the ball: With Isaiah Bowser, Jesse Brown and Evan Hull unavailable, Northwestern came into this game with Drake Anderson as the only scholarship running back, and he was backed up by converted safety Azema and converted wide receiver Raymond Niro III. But that combination, plus a heavy dose of quarterback Andrew Marty, produced NU’s best rushing performance of the season.

Northwestern ran for 378 yards and three touchdowns on 65 carries on the day. The Wildcats ran the ball down Illinois’ throat all day long, rushing for 180 yards in the first half and 188 in the second. They averaged 5.8 yards per carry and ripped off three runs of more than 20 yards while piling up 41:48 in time of possession.

Azema, who has been at running back for all of two weeks, led the way with 123 yards and a touchdown on just seven carries, for an average of 17.6 yards per rush. He turned the corner and turned on the jets for a 62-yard run at the end of the third quarter to set up an NU touchdown and he hit paydirt on a 24-yard run with 1:09 left for the last points of the day.

Marty was the workhorse with 30 carries – an unheard of number for a non-service academy quarterback – for 111 yards and two scores. Anderson had 23 carries for 87 yards, while Niro got four totes for 56 yards, including a 39-yarder.

NU produced two 100-yard rushers in a single game for the first time since November of 2016, when Justin Jackson and John Moten pulled off the trick, also against Illinois.

Given their struggles in the passing game all season and the cold, rainy weather in Champaign, the Wildcats needed a strong ground game to hang onto The Hat – and that’s exactly what they got.

Both lines controlled the line of scrimmage: Northwestern’s offensive and defensive lines both flexed their muscles and got the better of their Illinois counterparts.

You can’t run for nearly 400 yards without a dominant offensive line, and what makes the Wildcats’ feat even more impressive is that Northwestern was often facing eight- or even nine-man fronts from the Illini. The Wildcats played physical, smash-mouth football up front and just put a hat on a hat, as head coach Pat Fitzgerald likes to say. Illinois had just two tackles for loss all day.

Defensively, it was just the opposite as the Wildcats made a living in the Illinois backfield. In all, Northwestern racked up three sacks – by Eku Leota, Joe Gaziano and Paddy Fisher – and a whopping eight TFL, led by Trent Goens with three.

There was no question which team was stronger up front – on both sides of the ball.

NU dominated the first half: The Wildcats led just 10-7 on the scoreboard at the half, but they absolutely dominated just about every other number on the stat sheet. Take a look at these lopsided stats:

Total yards: NU 180 UI 30

Rush yards: NU 162 UI 1

First downs: NU 12 UI 1

Total Plays: NU 46 UI 14

Possession: NU 25:08 UI 4:52

Northwestern looked like the 1990s Nebraska Cornhuskers in just grinding the Illini defense to a pulp with the running game. Meanwhile, the defense limited Illinois to just 2.1 yards per play.

The Illini’s only score of the half came after Nate Hobbs picked off a Marty throw in the first quarter and returned it 29 yards to the NU 39. Matt Robinson then hit Caleb Reams for a 29-yard pass before Dre Brown ran it in on a 6-yard run.

Marty won the battle of the backup QBs: Both Illinois and Northwestern were forced to play backups at quarterback due to injuries.

Robinson was behind center for Illinois, who was without starter Brandon Peters. Marty, who started the season as the fourth-stringer, made his first start for Northwestern after an impressive performance against Minnesota last week in a relief role.

Marty did most of the damage with his feet as Northwestern, with a depleted backfield, called his number again and again. He finished 6 of 10 passing for just 55 yards, but it included a 34-yard touchdown strike to Riley Lees to give the Cats a two-score lead in the third quarter. He also had at least two passes dropped, including what would have been a TD to Trey Pugh in the first quarter.

Marty did throw a pick in the first quarter and should have had another in the fourth, but Stanley Green’s interception was canceled by a hands-to-the-face penalty on Ayo Shogbonyo. Marty ran for a TD on the next play for a 20-10 lead (Charlie Kuhbander missed the PAT).

Robinson had the big strike to Reams to set up one score and had three throws of more than 20 yards. But Robinson finished 8 of 17 passing for 108 yards and was pulled late in the game for Isaiah Williams, who went 3 for 6 for 38 yards.

Illinois was never able to get into rhythm, mostly because they only ran 49 plays, compared to 75 for Northwestern, and held the ball for just 18:12.