The Northwestern Wildcats are heading to the Big Ten Championship game vs Ohio State. What can we expect based on their game vs the Iowa football team?
If there is a more improbable Big Ten West winner than Northwestern in the last decade, I would be all ears because this is a team that has consistently defied expectations throughout the season. They went winless in non-conference play and have not won or loss a game by more than 14 points, including their four point victory over the Iowa football team.
Against a 1-11 Rutgers team, Northwestern won by three points. Against third ranked Notre Dame, Northwestern only lost by ten points and versus 10-2 Michigan, they only lost by three points. This team is confusing, but if there is one takeaway I have about this team from watching them play the Iowa football team it’s that this is a team of destiny (in a very Northwestern way).
This isn’t an 8-4 talented roster. In fact, I would say this is one of Pat Fitzgerald’s weakest teams he has had had in the last few years.
The Iowa football team played terrible against the Wildcats and were still just a few plays from winning, but what stands out is the fact that Iowa running backs fumbled not once but twice on the final two drives with the Hawkeyes looking to lead a game-winning drive. Moreover, they lost both of these fumbles, the first two lost fumbles of the season for Iowa football running backs.
It wasn’t just that they lost these fumbles, but how they lost these fumbles. It wasn’t jarring hits, rather lightly touched and appropriately placed hands hitting the football. These fumbles shouldn’t have happened but the ball seemed to roll in Northwestern’s favor consistently when it matted this season.
When the Wildcats take on the Ohio State Buckeyes, I expect a battle in this game as well. Northwestern plays up to its opponents talent level and the Buckeyes are clearly more talented.
Offensively, Northwestern struggled for much of the season both passing and rushing. Freshman running back Isaiah Bowser has emerged in the latter half of the season providing a work horse option at running back that the Wildcats were missing after Jeremy Larkin abruptly retired.
Since assuming the full-time starters role, Bowser has had games of 166 yards, 108 yards, and 117 yards. Additionally, he hasn’t had less than 24 carries in the last five games. In that same period, the ball has essentially been taken out of Clayton Thorson’s hands. After passing for 300 yards or more three times in the first seven games, Thorson has only topped 200 yards once in the last five (the five games in which Bowser has started).
Defensively, the Wildcats can be exploited in their secondary, which the Iowa football team struggled to do, but remain stout in rush defense ranking in the top-35 in the nation in rushing yards allowed per game. Ohio State likes to establish the run to set up the pass so this could work in Northwestern’s favor.
Regardless, Ohio State is too talented to let Northwestern steal a victory especially with a possible College Football Playoff birth on the line.