On Saturday, Northwestern football could finally celebrate. The Wildcats were 2-9 overall and the two wins they had gotten this season weren’t notable. They weren’t going to make Northwestern fans go crazy.

Winning the Big Ten is exciting. And, while Northwestern won the Big Ten West a season ago, injuries certainly helped damper the 2019 season for the team. Going into this past weekend, the Wildcats were 0-8 in Big Ten play.

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But then, they beat in-state rival Illinois. A 3-9 record certainly isn’t great, but beating your rival can always be celebrated. How did Northwestern pull the upset?

Just look at quarterback Andrew Marty. Marty, by the way, was the fourth-string QB coming into the season. But, he started and absolutely balled out against Illinois.

Marty only went 6-of-10 through the air, but he did throw a touchdown pass in the 29-10 win. More impressively, he carried the ball 30 times for 111 yards and two more scores. Yes, the QB ran the ball 30 times.

To give some perspective, this stat says it all when looking back at how unique and impressive Marty’s performance was:

Kerryon Johnson, who is now a very productive running back for the Detroit Lions, had a game like Marty had back in 2017. The last QB to do it, though?

Lamar Jackson at Louisville back in 2016. And, better yet, Jackson did it against Deshaun Watson’s Clemson Tigers.

Kerryon Johnson. Lamar Jackson. Deshaun Watson.

Add Andrew Marty’s name to the list.

Not exactly bad company to be involved with.