Sweet victory for Northwestern
Northwestern's first 9-win season since coach Pat Fitzgerald wore shoulder pads didn't develop overnight.
Or over the course of 13 weeks. Or within a year.
Try four seasons - or five for several Wildcats who saved their best for Illinois and their final game at Ryan Field.
It somehow seemed fitting that, as jubilant fifth-year defensive end Kevin Mims held the Sweet Sioux Tomahawk aloft in the middle of the field Saturday afternoon, NU students and fans mimicked their team's long, steady journey by continuing to stream out of the stands and join the scrum on the grass.
Long after the Illini disappeared into the visitors' locker room - in disbelief their post-Rose Bowl season ended without another bowl - the Wildcats and their fans stuck around to celebrate a 27-10 Big Ten triumph in frigid Evanston.
Now they'll wait contentedly for a week or two to learn their bowl destination.
The Champs Sports (Dec. 27), Alamo (Dec. 29) and Outback (Jan. 1) are the three possibilities - likely in that order.
"We set out to win a bowl game at the beginning of the year," said fifth-year senior quarterback C.J. Bacher. "That was our main goal. We've put ourselves into position to get to a warm place, maybe play in a later game, so it feels great."
Northwestern (9-3, 5-3), which shared fourth place in the Big Ten with Iowa, earned some sun with a cold-cocked response just as Illinois (5-7, 3-5) made its first legit attempt to salvage a bowl berth.
After trailing 13-0 at halftime and never getting inside Northwestern's 45, the Illini pulled within 16-10 with 12:24 to go on Jason Ford's 1-yard leap and Matt Eller's 21-yard field goal.
Illinois held on three downs, then Northwestern held on three downs.
That set the stage for one of the few things the Wildcats hadn't done all year: Return a punt for big yardage.
Junior Brendan Smith, whose longest return of the season had been 12 yards, found the wall and scissored his way up the NU sideline for 51 yards to the Illini 20.
"They gave me a seam and I tried to take advantage of it," Smith said. "I just wanted to set up one more block to see what we could do, but I'm not greedy. It set up a touchdown. That's all that matters to me."
Two plays later, Bacher found senior Eric Peterman open near the goal-line pylon for an 18-yard touchdown. When Stephen Simmons crashed in for the 2-point conversion with barely an effort from Illinois' defense, the party began in Evanston.
It became official when Mims crashed through the line, handed Illinois quarterback Juice Williams his fifth sack of the day and forced a fumble that was recovered by linebacker Quentin Davie.
Williams posted 306 of Illinois' 335 total yards to break Tony Eason's single-season school record for total offense, but the Illini lost their last three games to fall 1 win short of bowl eligibility.
"As I told (the players), 'Blame the coaches. Blame me,' " said Illinois coach Ron Zook. "That's our job, to get these guys playing the way they're capable of playing, and we didn't do it."
At the opposite end of Ryan Field - not to mention the opposite end of the emotional spectrum - Fitzgerald reflected on everything that put him in charge of Northwestern's rising fortunes.
"To have the opportunity to come back when Coach (Randy) Walker offered me the opportunity as a young assistant coach to come back to my Alma Mater," said a hoarse Fitzgerald, "and now through the most difficult circumstances I've been put through in my life to put into this role, I couldn't be more proud to be a Wildcat."