Northwestern
7-5 , 5-4
Illinois
5-7 , 3-6
'Cats Reclaim Hat in 45-43 Shootout Thriller over Illinois
11/25/2023 7:52:00 PM | Football
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Six different players scored touchdowns as Northwestern took down Illinois 45-43 on Saturday afternoon at Memorial Stadium to reclaim the Land of Lincoln Trophy in what marked the highest scoring game in Northwestern-Illinois' 117-game history.
The Wildcats improved to 7-5 on the year and 5-4 in Big Ten Conference play to finish tied for second in the standings, while the Fighting Illini fell to 5-7 and 3-6. The win mark's Northwestern's seventh win over Illinois in the last 10 meetings.
Riding a three-game winning streak to close the regular season, Northwestern will now await its bowl game destination. A formal announcement of matchup and location will come this upcoming weekend.
Dan & Susan Jones Family Head Football Coach David Braun's seven wins this season are tied with Coastal Carolina's Tim Beck for the most by a first-year head coach in FBS this season. His five conference wins are the most by a first-year head coach in program history, surpassing John Pont's four wins in 1973.
Ben Bryant led Northwestern's passing attack, going 24-of-32 with 234 yards through the air while tossing two touchdowns. The sixth-year signal caller also added one touchdown on the ground.
Bryant's leading target, Cam Johnson, reeled in seven catches for a career-high 124 yards and one touchdown. Johnson has now hauled in a touchdown in four-consecutive games. He is the third Northwestern player since 2000 to catch a touchdown in 4+ consecutive games, and the first since WR Austin Carr caught a touchdown pass in six straight games from 9/10/2016 to 10/14/2016.
On the ground, Cam Porter totaled 69 yards to lead the Wildcats' rushing attack, picking up 4.3 yards per carry along the way. Anthony Tyus III added 45 rushing yards and one touchdown, averaging 7.5 yards per carry.
The Wildcats won the turnover battle by a 4-2 margin, finishing with a 16-6 advantage in points off turnovers. Garner Wallace scored the first touchdown of his career on special teams, recovering a fumble forced by Braydon Brus. Raymond Niro III added one recovered fumble on a muffed punt, Xander Mueller recorded a fourth-quarter interception for the second-straight week, while Jaheem Joseph had five tackles and one interception in the win.
Northwestern took care of business in the red area, scoring five times on five trips inside Illinois' 20-yard line, with all of those scores being touchdowns.
How It Happened
Northwestern scored first on a 10-yard connection from Bryant to Johnson on third down to jump out to a 7-0 lead with 8:54 left in the first quarter. After Illinois cut the Wildcats' lead to 7-3, Northwestern found the end zone again on a 1-yard touchdown plunge by Tyus–his first touchdown of the season–to extend the lead to 14-3.
The Fighting Illini grabbed a 20-14 lead with 1:09 remaining in the first half, however the Wildcats promptly responded with a seven play, 75 yard drive capped off by a fumble recovery by Dom D'Antonio in the endzone to take a 21-20 lead into the break.
Northwestern opened the second half with a surgical nine play, 89-yard scoring drive that finished with a 5-yard touchdown reception by A.J. Henning to extend the lead to 28-20.
Illinois responded to grab a 31-28 lead early in the fourth quarter, but a special teams fumble recovery by Niro gave the Wildcats a short field, which Bryant capitalized on with an eight-yard rushing touchdown. Just nine seconds later on the ensuing kickoff, the 'Cats' special teams forced another big turnover with a forced fumble by Brus, which Wallace returned for a 17-yard touchdown.
Jack Olsen converted on a 46-yard field goal with 2:56 left to give the Wildcats an eight point advantage. After Illinois found the end zone in the final minute, the defense came up with one final big play on the potential game-tying two point conversion to come away with a two-point victory.
» The 2023 Wildcats have won six more games than last season, the largest win improvement this season in FBS.
» This is the sixth time in the last nine seasons that the Wildcats have reached seven wins.
» WR Cam Johnson set a career-high with 124 yards on seven receptions ... Johnson is the third Northwestern player since 2000 to catch a touchdown in 4+ consecutive games, and the first since WR Austin Carr caught a touchdown pass in six straight games from 9/10/2016 to 10/14/2016.
» Johnson's big day marks the second 100+ yard receiving day by a Wildcat this season, after Bryce Kirtz's 215-yard game against Minnesota. It is the first time since 2018 that two Wildcats posted 100+ yard receiving games in the same season (Flynn Nagel and Cameron Green).
» LB Xander Mueller posted nine tackles and an interception, his third of the season.
» He is the first Wildcat since at least 2000 to post 100+ tackles, 5.0+ sacks and 3+ interceptions in the same season, and just the third player in the Big Ten since 2000.
» 45 points are the Wildcats' most since scoring 45 against UMass on Nov. 16, 2019 ... It is Northwestern's most points in a conference game since scoring 45 against Purdue on Nov. 12, 2016.
» Northwestern scored a touchdown in every quarter of the game, the first time it has done so since Oct. 24, 2020 against Maryland.
» Today's win marked Northwestern's third in a row, the most consecutive wins since its five game win streak in 2020.
» Northwestern's defense tallied two interceptions, bringing its season total to 11, and has recorded eight interceptions in the last six games.
This story created through content automation technology from Data Skrive.
Team Stats
NOR 7, ILL 0
NOR - Johnson,Cam 10 yd pass from Bryant,Ben (Olsen,Jack kick) 5 plays, 26 yards, TOP 02:15
NOR 7, ILL 3
ILL - Griffin,Caleb 42 yd field goal 12 plays, 57 yards, TOP 06:02
NOR 14, ILL 3
NOR - Tyus III,Anthony 1 yd run (Olsen,Jack kick), 9 plays, 73 yards, TOP 03:57
NOR 14, ILL 10
ILL - Washington,Casey 9 yd pass from Paddock,John (Griffin,Caleb kick) 9 plays, 57 yards, TOP 04:23
NOR 14, ILL 13
ILL - Griffin,Caleb 24 yd field goal 9 plays, 41 yards, TOP 04:10
NOR 14, ILL 20
ILL - Scott,Miles 55 yd interception (Griffin,Caleb kick)
NOR 21, ILL 20
NOR - D'Antonio,Dom 0 yd run (Olsen,Jack kick), 7 plays, 75 yards, TOP 01:01
NOR 28, ILL 20
NOR - Henning,A.J. 5 yd pass from Bryant,Ben (Olsen,Jack kick) 9 plays, 89 yards, TOP 04:04
NOR 28, ILL 23
ILL - Griffin,Caleb 40 yd field goal 10 plays, 49 yards, TOP 04:51
NOR 28, ILL 31
ILL - Bryant,Pat 14 yd pass from Williams,Isaiah (Reiman,Tip pass) 7 plays, 73 yards, TOP 02:53
NOR 35, ILL 31
NOR - Bryant,Ben 8 yd run (Olsen,Jack kick), 4 plays, 18 yards, TOP 01:15
NOR 42, ILL 31
NOR - Wallace,Garner 17 yd fumble recovery (Olsen,Jack kick)
NOR 42, ILL 37
ILL - Washington,Casey 1 yd pass from Paddock,John () 7 plays, 81 yards, TOP 02:38
NOR 45, ILL 37
NOR - Olsen,Jack 46 yd field goal 4 plays, -2 yards, TOP 02:04
NOR 45, ILL 43
ILL - Washington,Casey 80 yd pass from Paddock,John () 2 plays, 80 yards, TOP 00:19
