Disruptive defensive end Corey Wotton was awarded Monday night for his breakout season.

The junior from Rutherford, N.J. totaled nine sacks, 15 tackles for loss, one blocked kick and a forced fumble on the season to earn first-team All-Big Ten honors, as chosen by the conference’s coaches. Continue reading »

Coach Pat Fitzgerald walked into the Nicolet Football Center after Saturday’s 27-10 win over Illinois holding the Sweet Sioux Tomahawk trophy.

The 63-year old trophy will stay in Evanston for good. Northwestern’s senior class made sure of it.

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A season ago, C.J. Bachér and the Northwestern offense put up 97 points in back-to-back wins against Michigan State and Minnesota on the way to a standout season. The Wildcats have spent most of this year struggling to recapture that spark.

Led by a quartet of seniors, the offense finally clicked against Illinois.

Bachér and wide receivers Eric Peterman, Ross Lane, and Rasheed Ward led a rejuvenated NU attack that dictated the tempo of the game from start to finish, powering the Cats to an easy 27-10 victory.

The offense put up its second-highest point total of the year in a Big Ten game in its final regular-season contest. Afterwards, Lane said the unit was gelling at the best possible time.

“People always say you want to play your best football at the end of the season,” he said. “Tonight we played a really good game.”

From the outset, NU (9-3, 5-3 Big Ten) wore down the Illini defense with a patient game plan and a slow but steady passing attack. Bachér led the offense deep into Illinois territory on its first three drives, coming away with two touchdowns and staking the Cats to a 13-0 lead.

The key to NU’s success was its willingness to stick with what Bachér called a “dinking and dunking” philosophy. While the senior signal-caller passed for 162 yards in the first half, he completed just one pass for more than 20 yards, a 22-yard strike off his back foot to Peterman. The rest of Bachér’s completions were underneath the Illinois secondary, as the Cats moved steadily up the field a few yards at a time.

Bachér credited offensive coordinator Mick McCall’s scheme for the early scores.

“We had a great game plan going in,” Bachér said. “I know that the offense really bought into it, and we stuck to it the entire game.”

While running back Stephen Simmons had his most productive game of the season (68 yards rushing and a touchdown), the Cats did most of their damage through the air. Bachér finished with 220 yards passing, 14 of which came on the offense’s biggest play.

Midway through the second quarter, the Cats faced a third-and-seven at the 14-yard line of the Illini (5-7, 3-5). Bachér was flushed from the pocket and scrambled to his right. Weeks ago, Fitzgerald commented on a different Bachér interception: “I’ve been playing football since the second grade, and you don’t throw across your body.” On Saturday, the senior quarterback ignored his coach’s words, lobbing a throw across his body to a wide-open Lane in the back of the end zone.

The ball got to Lane a split second before the Illini defenders did, and the senior receiver hung on to the ball as he was tackled into the goal post.

“After Ross caught that touchdown, he goes: ‘That was fun,’” Fitzgerald said. “And that’s Ross Lane. He’s a very gregarious young man.”

After failing to score in the third quarter, the offense capitalized on junior Brendan Smith’s 52-yard punt return, which gave NU the ball at the Illinois 20. Two plays later, Peterman broke free on a corner post, and Bachér hit him at the goal line for a game-clinching 18-yard touchdown.

The senior gunslinger had ample time to complete his two touchdown passes, as NU’s offensive line kept the Illinois front four away from Bachér all day. The performance of the “Big Uglies” was a fitting end to a stellar regular season for the linemen.

“It’s been a recurring theme in all of our wins this season,” Bachér said. “Our O-line has just been great, and that’s the reason, in my mind, that we have nine wins.”

Bachér used his time in the pocket to find his three senior receivers. Lane, Peterman, and Ward combined for 19 catches, 212 yards, and two touchdowns in their final regular-season game, as they walked off Ryan Field victorious.

“It looked like Ross and Rasheed and Eric probably played their best game collectively of the season,” Fitzgerald said.

james-simpson@northwestern.edu

After Saturday’s victory at Michigan, Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald was asked about the character of his senior class

“I couldn’t be more proud of the seniors,” he said. “We’re where we’re at right now because of them.”

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ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Heading into halftime, Northwestern looked like a team in trouble.

Michigan had pushed the Wildcats around on both sides of the ball and held a 14-7 lead. The Big House, where NU had not won since 1995, was rocking. And the weather was miserable, a frigid mix of rain, snow, and wind.

Coach Pat Fitzgerald preached a simple message to his reeling team: Respond.

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ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The first half of play for Northwestern on Saturday mirrored the weather conditions: ugly.

C.J. Bachér made sure the second half was a different story.

The senior quarterback led the Wildcats on two scoring drives on NU’s first two possessions of the second half, turning a 14-7 halftime deficit into a 21-14 lead, which held up.

Bachér had a rough first half, completing 6-of-11 passes for 40 yards and an interception. He responded with a strong second half, going 11-of-18 for 158 yards and two touchdowns. After sitting out the last two games with a hamstring injury, Bachér returned to form and played arguably his best half of football this season.

“It’s been a little frustrating,” Bachér said of the injury. “It took me long enough to get going, but in the second half… it was just pitching and catching, throwing darts.”

On third-and-goal from the Michigan 17-yard line, Bachér stood in the pocket as the Wolverines brought pressure. The gunslinger stepped up in the pocket to avoid the rush and threaded the needle in between two defenders to senior wide receiver Ross Lane, tying the score at 14.

After the defense forced a three-and-out, Bachér went 3-of-3 on the Wildcats’ next drive. His third pass of the drive was a 53-yard strike to senior wide receiver Eric Peterman. Bachér made a read at the line, noticed a mismatch, and capitalized by hitting Peterman on a skinny post behind safety Charles Brown.

Coach Pat Fitzgerald said he was proud of the way Bachér responded in the second half because of the way he stayed within himself.

“When he does that he’s as good a quarterback as there is in the Big Ten,” Fitzgerald said. “He wants to win. And when you have that attitude as a senior captain, I couldn’t ask for more.”

GETTING OFF THE FIELD
If one thing hampered NU’s defense against Ohio State last Saturday, it was its inability to get off the field.

Quarterback Terrelle Pryor shredded the unit, especially on third downs, converting 7-of-9 when needing eight or more yards.

On Saturday, the Cats allowed Michigan to convert just 5-of-20 third down opportunities.
Fitzgerald said the improvement came in several defensive areas.

“I thought it was real important,” he said. “I thought we had pretty good rush all day. I thought we had good underneath coverage and I thought we tackled really well on the perimeter.”

Of Michigan’s five drives in the third quarter, four were three-and-outs. That helped NU maintain the momentum from its 14-point scoring outburst.

“We just stayed the course, didn’t try to reinvent the wheel and did what we do,” Fitzgerald said.

STRONG SECOND HALF
For the fourth time this season, NU shut out its opponent in the second half.

Despite being on the field for 18 minutes, the Cats’ defense allowed just 102 yards of total offense in the third and fourth quarters combined.

“I don’t know why, but we just bring something extra in the second half,” senior defensive tackle John Gill said.

Gill said defensive coordinator Mike Hankwitz and his staff make halftime adjustments that allow the defense to lock down in the final 30 minutes.

The defense allowed just 27 passing yards in the second half. More importantly, when Michigan held the ball inside NU territory on its last two posessions, the defense forced quarterback Nick Sheridan to complete just 1-of-9 passes.

QUICK HITS
With 183 yards of total offense in the game, Bachér surpassed 7,000 career yards to move into fourth place all-time in school history… NU has won eight games 10 times in school history, five of which have come in the last 103 years… The win was NU’s sixth all-time at the Big House… For the first time since 2003, the

Cats have won four games on the road, compiling a 4-1 record away from Ryan Field.

matthewforman2007@u.northwestern.edu

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — When coach Pat Fitzgerald woke up Saturday, he was sure of one thing. The weather conditions would be terrible. After all, it had been that way every time he came to the Big House as a player or coach.

Treacherous might have been a better assessment. Temperatures fluctuated around 32 degrees, with rain turning to sleet and snow. Winds were gusting at up to 25 miles per hour.

Given the conditions, Fitzgerald said the team had to fight through it. Outside of a punt that Michigan blocked and returned for a touchdown, his special teams unit did.

“We went into the game thinking it would be a field position game, special teams game with the weather,” Fitzgerald said. “I think we executed the plan pretty well.”

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Three weeks ago against Purdue, offensive coordinator Mick McCall sent in his play call to senior quarterback C.J. Bachér. Bachér got behind center and recited the play at the line of scrimmage.

He made his pre-snap reads and knew right away. This play could be dangerous.

Moments later, redshirt freshman wide receiver Sidney Stewart streaked across the middle of the field and caught a spiral behind the Boilermakers’ secondary for a touchdown.

But Bachér wasn’t on the other end of the pass. Senior wide receiver Eric Peterman was on a double wide receiver reverse pass.

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Every team has a talented wide receiver. Most have multiple weapons in the passing game, and it is not uncommon for a team to have four or five scoring threats.

How about eight?

That is how many players have scored at least one touchdown for Northwestern through just seven games this season — and that does not include quarterback C.J. Bachér.

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Northwestern’s offense had its biggest game of the season — and didn’t score in the first quarter.
Wideout Eric Peterman had a passing touchdown and a receiving touchdown in less than four minutes. Quarterback C.J. Bachér had so many carries, he began to look like the second coming of Vince Young.

This game was full of surprises. And the biggest surprise was the beating NU and its offense put on Purdue.
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