NU runs over Illinois 28-10, retains Land of Lincoln trophy
Northwestern will play Ohio State for the Big Ten championship next week, and the Buckeyes go into the game with a week off after its Michigan game was canceled Saturday.
Some thought that might give Ohio State an advantage, but with as little resistance as short-handed Illinois put up Saturday in the Cats' 28-10 win, turns out No. 14 Northwestern basically had a bye week as well.
For the sixth straight year, Northwestern won the Land of Lincoln trophy, NU's longest winning streak in the series that dates back 128 years. It's also the Cats eighth win in nine contests vs. Illinois.
Now the Big Ten Western division champions get their second chance in three years to play Ohio State for the title, and to knock the Buckeyes out of the College Football Playoff.
"Our guys will be excited for the opportunity," NU coach Pat Fitzgerald said. "There's not going to be a lot of people who will give them a chance. These guys have done everything right. They have played their butts off for each other all season and capped it off by beating our rival."
Two programs headed in opposite directions continued those paths on a miserable December day in Evanston. The Wildcats (6-1) bounced back from a 29-20 loss to Michigan State in their most recent game, outgaining Illinois 493-262. They ran for 411 yards.
The Wildcats turned to freshman Cam Porter, who had had rushed for 32 yards coming into the game, after Drake Anderson fumbled on NU's first play from scrimmage. That gave the Illini the ball in ideal field position only to end with a missed chip shot field goal.
Porter, from Cincinnati, ran for 142 yards and 2 touchdowns on 24 carries. On a 4th-and-1 play midway through the second quarter, he gained 2 yards out of the Wildcat formation, one of three 4th-down conversions on a 17-play, 64-yard drive that ate up seven minutes and put the Wildcats up 14-3 at halftime. Porter capped the drive with a 2-yard touchdown run.
Northwestern converted 5 of 7 fourth downs.
Porter added an 18-yard touchdown run early in the third quarter. Shortly after, both Porter and quarterback Peyton Ramsey were pulled.
Another NU freshman, Evan Hull, rushed for 149 yards against an Illini defense missing six starters from last week's loss to Iowa.
"The holes were open," Porter said. "This is Big Ten football. You can't be soft in this league."
Meanwhile the Illini (2-5) remained winless against rivals Northwestern and Iowa under coach Lovie Smith, now 0-10, and dropped to 1-15 under Smith against ranked opponents.
That one victory over No. 6 Wisconsin highlighted Smith's best season at 6-7 last year, and it's certainly looking like an outlier rather than a trend.
It's left plenty of Illinois fans, originally excited to get a Super Bowl coach to Champaign, ready for a change. Smith inherited a mess, but after five years hasn't done much to improve it at 17-39 overall and 10-33 in the Big Ten. Take out his 4-1 record vs. Rutgers and he's 6-32.
Smith is starting to show up on several national lists of coaches on the hot seat. Whether he gets a pass for a season played during a pandemic is possible, but frustration is growing.
Recruiting hasn't improved, and the on-field product is hard to watch. The Illini's best player Saturday might have been Blake Hayes, Mel Kiper Jr.'s top-ranked punter in the country. Hayes pinned the Wildcats at their 2-yard line early, and he also executed a fake punt...which was quickly followed by a three-and-out and Smith trying a 53-yard field in awful weather conditions that didn't come close.
Other than the fake punt there weren't many highlights. Senior quarterback Brandon Peters (3 for 14, 21 yards) couldn't get anything going. Freshman QB Isaiah Williams threw a 46-yard touchdown to Brian Hightower in the fourth quarter.
"It's tough when you can't stop the run," Smith said. "We're banged up pretty good. Guys playing hard but they were a lot better football team than us today."