Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
5-7 , 3-5
Illinois
6-6 , 3-5
Team Stats
ILL 7, NU 0
ILL - Turner, Malik 10 yd pass from O'Toole, Reilly (Reisner, David kick) 11 plays, 56 yards, TOP 4:39
ILL 13, NU 0
ILL - Ferguson, Josh 1 yd run (Reisner, David kickfailed), 3 plays, 49 yards, TOP 0:37
ILL 16, NU 0
ILL - Reisner, David 33 yd field goal 5 plays, 33 yards, TOP 1:59
ILL 19, NU 0
ILL - Zalewski, T. 33 yd field goal 4 plays, 4 yards, TOP 1:57
ILL 19, NU 7
NU - Vault, Solomon 89 yd kickoff return (Mitchell, Jack kick)
ILL 26, NU 7
ILL - Dudek, Mike 14 yd pass from O'Toole, Reilly (Zalewski, T. kick) 7 plays, 82 yards, TOP 2:07
ILL 26, NU 10
NU - Mitchell, Jack 34 yd field goal 9 plays, 24 yards, TOP 2:29
ILL 33, NU 10
ILL - Barr, Martize 9 yd pass from O'Toole, Reilly (Zalewski, T. kick) 11 plays, 75 yards, TOP 5:00
ILL 33, NU 17
NU - Jackson, Justin 5 yd run (Mitchell, Jack kick), 10 plays, 75 yards, TOP 3:28
ILL 33, NU 25
NU - Jackson, Justin 35 yd run (Dickerson, C. pass), 10 plays, 83 yards, TOP 2:47
ILL 40, NU 25
ILL - Ferguson, Josh 46 yd run (Zalewski, T. kick), 3 plays, 56 yards, TOP 1:26
ILL 47, NU 25
ILL - Monheim, Mason 49 yd interception (Zalewski, T. kick)
ILL 47, NU 33
NU - Green, Treyvon 4 yd pass from Oliver, Zack (Jones, Tony pass) 16 plays, 75 yards, TOP 3:30
Game Leaders
Players Mentioned
Wildcats Fall to Fighting Illini on Senior Day
11/29/2014 12:00:00 AM | Football
EVANSTON, Ill. -- The 108th all-time meeting between rivals Northwestern and Illinois was played out on a perfect November day at Ryan Field Saturday, but the Wildcats fell to the visiting Illini, 47-33, in the regular-season finale.
Playing without senior starting quarterback Trevor Siemian and a host of other injured starters on defense, the Wildcats fell behind 26-7 in the first half before rallying to make it a one-score game, 33-25, early in the fourth quarter. But Illinois countered with a 46-yard scoring run by Josh Ferguson and a late 49-yard INT return for a touchdown to put the game out of reach and reclaim the Land of Lincoln Trophy after two straight wins in the series for Northwestern.
Freshman tailback Justin Jackson had another outstanding outing, capping his rookie year by averaging 5.4 yards per attempt and totaling 130 rushing yards and two touchdowns against the Illini. He also added three catches for 46 yards on the afternoon. It was the sixth 100-yard rushing effort of the year for Jackson, who completes the season with 1,187 rushing yards -- the 11th-best single-season total in Northwestern Football history.
In Siemian's place at quarterback was first-time starter Zack Oliver, who finished 22-of-38 passing for 221 yards and a fourth-quarter touchdown.
After a slow start offensively for both teams, Illinois struck first when it assembled an 11-play scoring drive late in the opening quarter, scoring on a 10-yard pass by Reilly O'Toole to Malik Turner in the corner of the end zone.
Following a Northwestern interception on the ensuing play from scrimmage, the Illini needed only three plays to cover the 49 yards to their second touchdown, gaining 42 on a first-down catch-and-run by Josh Ferguson. Ferguson finished the series with a 1-yard touchdown rush, and following a missed extra point the Wildcats found themselves trailing, 13-0.
Northwestern's next three offensive series ended in turnovers, with two lost fumbles sandwiched around an interception off a deflected pass, but the Wildcats defense surrendered only six points on two field goals on the possessions following those field goals.
Vault's 89-yard kickoff return and an ensuing three-and-out forced by the Northwestern defense put a charge into the Wildcats sideline, but NU could not generate any offense on the next series. Illinois received back-to-back read-option runs by Reilly O'Toole that went for 24 and 14 yards, respectively, putting the Illini in position for a Mike Dudek touchdown reception that extended Illinois' lead to 19, 26-7.
On the other side of halftime, sophomore CB Matthew Harris started the third quarter on a positive note when he intercepted O'Toole with a diving catch on the west boundary. The Wildcats advanced the ball into field goal range to set up a successful 34-yard Jack Mitchell kick that cut the NU deficit to two scores at 26-10.
The Illini responded, however, with another 11-play touchdown drive, this time capping it off with a 9-yard pass by O'Toole to Martize Barr at the front-right pylon.
Northwestern found rhythm offensively late in the third quarter, with Oliver connecting with senior Tony Jones for a pair of long gains, helping set up a 5-yard Jackson touchdown rush.
On NU's next series, Oliver hit on a 19-yard pass to Mike McHugh to advance Northwestern into Illinois territory and, three plays later, Jackson broke open a fourth-and-1 rushing attempt to spring 35 yards to paydirt for his 10th rushing touchdown of the season. The Wildcats made it a one-score game, 33-25, when Oliver hit Cameron Dickerson in the back of the end zone for a successful two-point conversion.
Illinois answered with Ferguson's long touchdown to restore a two-touchdown lead and iced the win with a 49-yard interception return for touchdown by Mason Monheim with 4:58 remaining.
The 'Cats made one last charge with a 16-play scoring drive that took 3:30 off the clock. The sequence culminated with a four-yard touchdown pass from Oliver to Treyvon Green. Jones then caught Oliver's short pass to convert for two points, but NU still trailed by two scores with less than 90 seconds left to play.
Prior to the game, NU celebrated Senior Day by saying goodbye to 22 Wildcats playing their final games at Ryan Field.
With injuries to several key starters in recent weeks, Northwestern saw several Wildcats make their first career start in Saturday's game. The list included: Oliver, CB Kyle Queiro, CB Jarrell Williams and WR Mike McHugh. Adam DePietro also made his first start of the year (second of his career) while senior Jimmy Hall started for the first time at safety, moving from his usual spot at linebacker.
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