After Saturday’s 24-21 victory over visiting Ohio, the Northern Illinois University Huskies sit on top of the MAC West Division with a 4-0 record.
It was Homecoming and things looked bleak with Ohio ahead, 21-9, at the start of the fourth quarter.
Northern Illinois, 4-3 and 4-0 in the MAC West, will have a bye week before playing at Brigham Young University October 27.
About the time Ohio took the field Saturday Nebraska was falling, 34-31, in overtime to Northwestern. It was the 10th consecutive defeat for Nebraska.
It was only a couple of weeks ago that Northwestern was 1-3 and the program was hurting, or, so it seemed. A victory over Michigan State and Saturday’s comeback victory against Nebraska suddenly made the picture brighter in Evanston.
Michigan, Nebraska, Wisconsin, and Notre Dame are at Northwestern this season. That fills Ryan Field in Evanston. A crowd of 47,330 was at Ryan Field Saturday with plenty of Nebraska Red in attendance.
It’s likely the one Big Ten team not to draw well this season at Ryan Field will be Illinois. The November 24 regular-season finale for both squads likely will hold little appeal at the moment, although Northwestern might need a victory over the Illini to lock up a bowl game berth.
All too often in recent years, Illinois has scored first and then collapsed.
Such was the case Saturday in Champaign. Leading 7-0 over Purdue midpoint of the first quarter, the Fighting Illini ended up being trounced, 46-7.
Illinois, 3-3 overall and 1-2 in the Big Ten, calls on Wisconsin at 11 a.m. Saturday.