At tuesday’s practice, defensive tackle John Gill put stopping Juice Williams into these terms.

“You can’t stop him,” Gill said. “You can only hope to contain him.”

In the third quarter, NU struggled to contain the Illini quarterback. After an erratic first half, Williams completed all three passes he threw in the third quarter, for 44 yards. He also ran 10 times for 85 yards.

With their quarterback clicking, the rest of the Illini followed. With NU facing first and goal from the Illinois 10, the defense made three big stops to force a 21-yard field goal by Amado Villarreal. That kept the game at a one-possession differential.

In NU’s dominant first half, it was clear that the Wildcats had more emotion to come out and attack the Illini as well as they did. But in the third quarter, Illinois’ desperation began to surface. With fifteen minutes left, which of those two factors will win out?

Of note: NU is 18-4 in its last 22 games decided by seven points or less.

In 30 minutes of first half football, the Illini had 86 yards of total offense.

That all changed on their first drive out of the locker room.

The force behind that change? Juice Williams setting the tone for his team. Williams spent most of the first half running ragged from the NU defense. He had nine carries for four yards and was sacked four times.

The Illini came out weakly on special teams, with A.J. Jenkins stumbling in the end zone for a touchback. Williams took matters into his own hands, rushing for five yards up the gut. He then found tight end Michael Hoomanawanui for 10 yards and a first down.

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After a vicious hit on Mike Kafka, Northwestern goes conservative on third and long again. Stephen Simmons rushes forward for a decent gain, but no where near the first down.

For the second straight week, coach Pat Fitzgerald is choosing to run on third and long rather than pass it and give his team a shot at picking up the first down. It is a strategy that would work if the Wildcats were tied or winning, but they are not either right now.

Down 14, Fitzgerald has to be thinking points. The only way to get points is to move the chains and pick up first downs. When facing long yards on third down, that means passing it. Right now, NU is not giving itself a chance to pick these up by handing the ball off up the middle. The Cats will continue trailing if the play calling does not get more aggressive on offense.

Ohio State is playing aggressive. On third and eight, Terrelle Pryor escapes the blitz and rolls out to find Brian Hartline for a 46-yard completion to keep the drive alive. Chrs Wells runs down the sideling for a 16-yard gain inside the 10.

Pryor does it again to cap the drive. he escapes the pressure in the backfield and breaks a tackle. When he loks like he is going to run, he finds Rory Nicol in the back of the end zone for a touchdown. The Buckeyes have all but put this one away with the way the Cats are playing on offense.

Northwestern opens the offense a little after the halftime break. Mike Kafka finds Rasheed Ward over the middle of the field. After a loss on a play, Kafka turns a broken play in to a 17-yard rush.

Despite being listed as probably, there appears to be no sign of C.J. Bacher in this game. Kafka will be the on engineering any comeback the Wildcats might make today. The offense is moving quickinly in Ohio State territory.

The playcalling gets conservative in the redzone again as Kafka runs up the middle for minimal gain. Amado Villareal hits the field goal to make it a two-score deficit.

Kafka clearly has the ability to make big plays with his legs and his arm. The Buckeyes are starting to close down Kafka’s runs. If the Cats are going to erase this 14-point deficit, they must throw the ball. They have to find a way to efficiently and aggressively throw the ball and create a better passing attack.

Chris Wells was banged up a little bit in the first half, but he looks pretty healthy right now. He is starting to bounce off of NU tacklers and picking huge chunks of yards. Wells had 95 yards on 17 carries in the first half, including a 55-yard touchdown run.

The drive stalls at about midfield and NU will take over just inside the 20.

Kafka breaksthrough the line for a gain of 26 yards to about midfield. He is still running the ball pretty effectively and dodging tacklers. Kafka may not be as athletic or as fast as some of the Ohio State defenders, but he has fantastic vision and seems to find a running hole whever there is one.

Down 14 in the middle of the third quarter, coach Pat Fitzgerald is making a good call sticking with his gameplan. The Cats will have to score pretty soon though if Kafka is going to keep running. Kafka has over 100 yards rushing for the second straight week.

MINNEAPOLIS — The rampant first half scoring disappeared for both Minnesota and Northwestern.

The Gophers drove 92 yards down the field, only to see a 20-yard field goal missed by Joel Monroe.

The Cats turned around and drove 50 yards behind Mike Kafka’s legs, only to see Gophers cornerback Traye Simmons earn his second interception of the day.

Entering the fourth quarter, the same question is sitting for both teams. Who wants this game?

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If you can’t pass to him, join him. C.J. Bacher does his best Tyrell Sutton impersonation on first down for a gain of 27 yards to put the Wildcats back in the red zone. He was flushed out of the pocket toward the sideline and he darts through open field for the first down to about the 15.

The red zone issues continue. Bacher goes back… and back… and back… and back 31 yards before throwing it away. At least he did not throw it back across the field for an interception.

He was pushed back to the 40-yard line by the Indiana rush until he finally throws it in the general direction of Ross Lane. Amado Villareal makes a field goal to pull Northwestern within two.

Marcus Thigpen returns the ensuing kickoff past the 50. It is another case of mistakes compounding for the Cats. It seems this year that good plays and bad plays are coming in bunches - at least until the offense gets inside the 20.

NU’s defense is struggling to contain the trick play. Wide Receiver Mitchell Evans throws for 30 yards to Tandon Doss, who is turning in a big game, for the touchdown and the nine-point lead.

It is almost as if the Hoosiers are using the Cats’ aggressive defensive style against them. They are biting on playaction and reverses and it has shown as all three touchdowns have been relatively easy for Indiana to finish.

NU’s offense is finding its rhythm between the 20s though. Bacher runs for a big gain as he gets away from the rush for 15 yards. Tack on another personal foul for the Hoosiers and it is a big 30-yard gain.

Despite the strong running from Sutton and Bacher, the passing game looks out of sync. Bacher has struggled to find receivers in the second. He is 3-for-8 in the third quarter and is not moving the ball nearly as efficiently.

Bacher brings the Cats into the redzone with a third-and-10 pass to Jeremy Ebert to the seven yard line for 15 yards.

NU finally punches in a red zone touchdown. Bacher runs a naked bootleg, ducks his head and bowls his way into the endzone for a touchdown. The Cats pull back within two.

The Hoosiers commit another personal foul, canceling out a solid run by Marcus Thigpen. NU is taking full advantage of Indiana’s mistakes. The team has committed eight penalties for 109 yards. The Hoosiers hold the lead, but they are giving the Cats the chance to hang around.

The teams will head to the fourth quarter.

If NU is to win, the team has to get more pressure in the backfield. Wootton has gotten into the backfield a couple of times, but Ben Chappell has had plenty of time to throw otherwise. The Hoosiers are shooting themselves in the foot. NU must cash in with touchdowns. That has not happened so far this game.

Tyrell Sutton carried the ball 21 times in the first half, three off his season high. Northwestern is going to him often to start the third quarter. Sutton has been the Wildcats’ biggest playmaker this season - and really since he broke onto the scene as a freshman. He has not gotten the ball as consistently since his big freshman year. He had 67 yards at halftime.

The defense makes the big plays after giving up a first down. Corey Wootton picks up his second sack of the day and Brad Phillips nearly gets an interception. The defense has done its job so far. It has gotten the Hoosiers off the field pretty quickly and consistently all day. Two bad plays have led to scores though.

It almost seems like the defense is going for big hits all the time. There have been a couple of big misses that have gone for big gains for the Hoosiers. The defense has been a bright spot overall. They have done well with what they have been given.

Stefan Demos is making a case for punter of the year award. He continues his great, yet unconventional, punting. Demos punts it 63 yards and the ball is downed at the one. Should give NU ’s defense the chance to really contribute to the cause.

Defense gets off the field with a solid three and out deep in Indiana territory. NU is winning the field position battle and will start at the Indiana 40.

NU needs to get a little more creative on offense. Sutton has gotten the ball a lot this quarter and Bacher looks out of sync.

NU is used to playing tight fourth quarter games. But how will the Cats deal with holding this lead? The current 15-point margin marks the largest lead for the Cats in a Big Ten conference game since 2006 against Michigan State. In that affair, NU was on the wrong end of the largest comeback in FBS history.

That is unlikely to happen today. With the offense moving at will into Purdue territory, NU is clearly the better team. Pounding runs by Tyrell Sutton and Omar Conteh are not only juicing the clock, but juicing the energy of Purdue’s defense.

And with the experience of big seniors leading the way today (Peterman, Bachér), this is a model performance on how to win a Big Ten game — in a big way.

Halfway through the third quarter, Curtis Painter has yet to find his rhythm. Brad Phillips and Sherrick McManis have shined in the secondary this afternoon, with Phillips laying several hits on Kory Sheets, and McManis playing tight pass coverage on Greg Orton.

NU has allowed only 10 points in six fourth quarters this season, so if the Boilermakers are to mount any comeback, now would be the time.

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After an incomplete pass and a 4-yard rush by Ringer, Mitch King makes a huge play on 3rd and 6, sacking Hoyer for an 11-yard loss.

Aaron Bates is forced to punt from his own 21, and Iowa has its best field position of the day at the 50-yard line.

Of note: Spartans wideout Mark Dell hobbles off the field one drive after strong safety Otis Wiley left with some bumps and bruises.