Wildcats Earn Seventh-Straight Win, Keep Land of Lincoln Trophy

11/25/2017 7:22:00 PM | Football

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CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- The Land of Lincoln Trophy is coming home with Northwestern for the third straight season after No. 22-ranked Wildcats scored 42-unanswered points to go on to beat Illinois, 42-7, at Memorial Stadium Saturday afternoon.

The victory was Northwestern's seventh straight and capped the Wildcats' regular season at 9-3 overall and 7-2 in Big Ten play. This is the Wildcats' longest winning streak since a seven-game stretch in 1996. The

Northwestern put up 466 yards of total offense, while limiting Illinois to just 239, including only 100 yards rushing. The Wildcats used a balanced attack Saturday afternoon with five different offensive players finding the end zone.

Senior Justin Jackson 18 times for 144 yards and a touchdown, moving past Montee Ball (5,140; Wisconsin) for fourth in Big Ten history with 5,283 career rushing yards. Clayton Thorson threw his 44th career touchdown pass with an 11-yard strike to senior Garrett Dickerson in the second quarter, tying Brett Basanez (2002-05) and Len Williams (1990-93) for the most in program history. The Wildcats' quarterback finished with 13 completions for 140 yards.

Redshirt first year Paddy Fisher carried the flag for the defense again, collecting a team-high 10 tackles, including 1.5 tackles for loss, to go along with his first career interception and a pass break up. Linebacker Nate Hall finished five tackles, including 1.5 sacks – marking the first time in Hall's career he has recorded a sack in back-to-back games.

On the afternoon, Northwestern's defense accounted for 9.0 tackles for loss.

Illinois went 69 yards on 12 plays during its opening drive with Cam Thomas capping the march on a 23-yard quarterback keeper for the Illini's lone score of the day. Illinois held the 7-0 lead for the remainder of the first quarter.

Thorson tapped Garrett Dickerson on the Wildcats' second drive of the second quarter, finding the senior superback for three completions and 32 yards on the drive, including an 11-yard touchdown pass to get the Wildcats on the board. It was Dickerson's third touchdown in the last two weeks.

Northwestern's defense answered the bell on the ensuing drive when Jordan Thompson and Kyle Queiro came up with a fourth-down stop on NU's own 43-yard line to give the Wildcats the ball back.

It didn't take long for Northwestern to take its first lead following the turnover on downs as Thorson threw a 53-yard pass to Bennett Skrowronek on the first play of the drive to put the Wildcats at the Illini's five-yard line. A jet-sweep handoff to Jelani Roberts on the ensuing play went for six and put Northwestern in front, 14-7. It was the second touchdown of Roberts' career.

The Wildcats took the 14-7 advantage into the locker room at halftime.

With just over 11 minutes to play in the third quarter, Hunter Niswander sent a booming punt that pinned the Illini on their own 10-yard line. Defensive end Joe Gaziano came off the edge on 3^rd and 11 and sacked Cam Thomas, while knocking the ball loose in the process. First year Samdup Miller scooped the loose ball near the goal line and took it to pay dirt for his first-career touchdown and extended Northwestern's lead to 21-7.

The sack was Gaziano's eighth of the season and 12.5 of his career. His 12.5 career sacks moved him into ninth place all-time at Northwestern.

Illinois went three-and-out on its next drive and the Illini's punt sailed into the end zone for a touchback that set the Wildcats up on their own 20. Thorson handed the ball off to Jackson on the first play from scrimmage, and Jackson proceeded to bust a 79-yard run down the right sideline only to be pushed out of bounds at the pylon. The run was the longest of his career and NU's longest play from scrimmage this season.

Jackson crossed the goal line on the next play for a one-yard score, extending the lead to 28-7 with 8:40 remaining in the third quarter.

Jeremy Larkin got in on the scoring action in the fourth quarter when he crossed into the end zone on a four-yard scamper to put Northwestern in front by a 35-7 margin. Larkin has scored in back-to-back games for the first time in his career and the touchdown was his fifth of the season. He finished with a career-high 71 yards rushing.

First-year running back Jesse Brown put a stamp on the win with an 18-yard touchdown run with 6:01 remaining in the contest to give NU a 42-7 lead. The scamper was Brown's longest of his career and the score was his second of his career.

Sophomore Trae Williams intercepted his first pass of the season and second of his career to seal the victory for Northwestern.

Northwestern will learn its bowl game on Sunday, Dec. 3.