NU, Illinois to tangle for Sweet Sioux trophy
The Sweet Sioux Tomahawk trophy rests peacefully and permanently in Northwestern's football office.
The Land of Lincoln Trophy, the new prize designed by Naperville's Dick Locher (the same cartoonist who brings Dick Tracy to life), will be unveiled Tuesday.
That takes care of the inanimate stakes, past and present, in the Illinois-Northwestern rivalry.
As for some of the animate objects who'll help decide the winner of Saturday's game at Memorial Stadium (11 a.m., ESPN Classic), it's too soon to draw conclusions.
Illinois coach Ron Zook says senior quarterback Juice Williams, who sat out the final three quarters of last week's win at Minnesota, is questionable with a sprained left ankle.
That means redshirt freshman Jacob Charest, who has approximately five quarters of experience under his belt, could make his first start on Saturday.
"There's obviously a difference from the standpoint of experience (between Williams and Charest), but I was really impressed by Jacob," Fitzgerald said. "Not only watching him in the Minnesota game, but then when I went back and watched him play against Purdue.
"He's got a lot of poise. Executes their offense very well. I really saw Jacob grow up last week."
Speaking of growing up on Saturday, Fitzgerald says sophomore quarterback Dan Persa, author of the eventual game-winning touchdown pass in the Wildcats' 17-10 win at No. 4 Iowa, didn't break his hand on linebacker Pat Angerer's helmet on Saturday.
"The X-rays and everything that came back from Danny were clean," Fitzgerald said. "So I feel optimistic about him. Right now, list him day-to-day."
Better yet for the Wildcats (6-4, 3-3), who can clinch a bowl berth with a win, senior quarterback Mike Kafka's left hamstring continues to improve.
Kafka didn't feel comfortable running or scrambling at Iowa, but it sounds like that will be less of an sticking point at Illinois.
"Mike's good to go," Fitzgerald said. "He came out of it feeling better than he did on Friday, so that's a positive after playing as much as he did."
Northwestern needs a mobile quarterback against Illinois' improving defense. After managing just 7 sacks in their first 7 games, the Illini (3-6, 2-5) stacked up 11 sacks in their wins over Michigan and Minnesota.
Throw in the fact Illinois owns 73 points in its last two games and there's a reason the Las Vegas oddsmakers have installed the Illini as 4.5-point favorites.
(Note: Illinois, despite owning three fewer wins than NU, entered last year's game as a 2.5-point favorite only to lose 27-10 at Ryan Field).
"We're going to need to prepare for probably the most athletic team we've played all season," Fitzgerald said.
*SWEET SIOUX TRIVIA: For the first time since 1998, the Northwestern-Illinois game doesn't serve as the regular-season finale for both teams.
The Wildcats host Wisconsin on Nov. 21 while the Illini have dates with unbeaten Cincinnati (Nov. 27) and Fresno State (Dec. 5).
The team with the superior record on game day has won the last 10 Illinois-NU contests and 15 of the last 16.
The exception? The 1998 game at Ryan Field when freshman quarterback Kurt Kittner directed Illinois to a 13-10 win.
The last four ILL-NU games have been decided by an average of 16.0 points.