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Northwestern’s defense did something no other team has done this season

Kevin Cunningham

By Kevin Cunningham

Published:

Northwestern and Wisconsin were set to battle on Saturday in a game featuring two of the top teams in the Big Ten West.

Once the final whistle blew, the Wildcats were the ones on top of the division. Northwestern, thanks to its 31-17 win, is now 5-3 overall and 5-1 in Big Ten play. Sure, the Wildcats put up 31 points.

But the defense keeping Wisconsin to 17 and Jonathan Taylor to just 46 yards all game was the key. As Taylor goes, the Badgers go. And Taylor didn’t go anywhere.

No Wisconsin player ran for over 68 yards in the game. Northwestern’s Isaiah Bowser ran for 117. What makes Northwestern’s win even more impressive is the fact that Taylor — Wisconsin’s star back — hadn’t been held under 100 yards in any game this season.

Even in the losses to BYU and Michigan, Taylor still ran for 117 and 101 yards, respectively. The 46 against Northwestern was by far his lowest of the season.

How did coach Pat Fitzgerald and the Wildcats defense do it?

Here’s Fitzgerald:

Note: The link in the tweet leads to the video

Northwestern gets to face No. 3 Notre Dame next.

Kevin Cunningham

Kevin covers Big Ten football for Saturday Tradition.