Wildcats roll to third in a row
NORTHWESTERN 20, NO. 17 WISCONSIN 14
EVANSTON, Ill. — Playing in wet and windy conditions, Northwestern was close to perfect. Godwin Igwebuike stepped up on defense, and Justin Jackson gobbled up the yards on the ground.
Igwebuike had three interceptions and Jackson rushed for 162 yards, helping resurgent Northwestern upset Melvin Gordon and No. 17 Wisconsin 20-14 on Saturday.
Trevor Siemian threw for a touchdown and also had a key block on Miles Shuler’s 16-yard touchdown run as the Wildcats (3-2, 2-0) earned their third consecutive victory after opening with losses to California and Northern Illinois.
“I think we’re definitely playing with a lot more passion and a lot more physicality than we did earlier in the year,” Coach Pat Fitzgerald said. “I don’t have any issues with what we did early in the year, except for what we were doing on Saturdays.”
The Wildcats also had a nice day on special teams, with Jack Mitchell kicking two short field goals and punter Chris Gradone handing over poor field position to the Badgers for much of the afternoon.
Gordon had 27 carries for a career-high 259 yards and a touchdown, but Tanner McEvoy and Joel Stave combined for 138 yards on 12-of29 passing. It was Stave’s first appearance of the season after the 19-game starter struggled mentally with throwing issues.
“Obviously being competitors, both of us want to start and play every snap, but right now where the team is at, we can really benefit from both of us playing,” Stave said.
Wisconsin (3-2, 0-1) had scored at least 20 points in 17 consecutive games for the second-longest such streak in school history.
In other games involving Big Ten Conference teams, J.T. Barrett completed 18 of 23 passes for 267 yards and 4 touchdowns and ran 16 times for 71 yards and 1 score for Ohio State (4-1, 1-0) in a 52-24 victory over Maryland (4-2, 1-1) in the Terrapins’ Big Ten home debut. … Indiana’s Nate Sudfeld threw three touchdown passes and D’Angelo Roberts ran for two scores as the Hoosiers (3-2) ran away from North Texas (2-3) 49-24 in Bloomington, Ind. …
Purdue (3-3, 1-1) gashed Illinois (3-3, 0-2) for 349 yards rushing and first-time starting quarterback Austin Appleby threw for a touchdown and ran for two more to lead Purdue to a 38-27 upset at Illinois. Appleby was 15 of 20 for 202 yards. He ran for another 76 yards on seven carries. ... Gary Nova threw for a career-best 404 yards and three touchdowns and Rutgers (5-1, 1-1) added to slumping Michigan’s woes with a 26-24 victory over the Wolverines (2-4, 0-1) in Piscataway, N.J.