Saturday, November 26
Ryan Field
11 a.m.
Northwestern
6-6 , 4-4
42
vs
21
Illinois
3-9 , 2-6
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
F
Illinois
0
14
7
0
21
Northwestern
14
7
14
7
42
#B1GCats Are Bowl Eligible With Land of Lincoln Win Over Illinois
11/26/2016 2:13:00 PM | Football
STORIFY SOCIAL MEDIA RECAP
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern built a quick 21-0 lead Saturday in the battle for the Land of Lincoln Trophy against Illinois at Ryan Field before holding off the Illini, 42-21, to earn bowl eligibility. The hat has remained in Evanston four of the last five years.
The Wildcats ran for a season high 278 yards and five touchdowns to finish the regular season 6-6 (5-4). Illinois concludes its season with a 3-9 record, 2-7 in the conference.
Northwestern will officially find out its bowl destination on Sunday, Dec. 4. Stay tuned to NUsports.com and @NU_Sports on Twitter for the latest, and register with the Northwestern Alumni Association to receive latest bowl travel information!
In the meantime, plan to catch Northwestern men's basketball at 8 p.m. CT Monday, Nov. 28, against Wake Forest at Welsh-Ryan Arena. TICKETS AVAILABLE HERE!
Both Justin Jackson and John Moten IV rushed for over 100 yards in Saturday's game, the second time this season that has happened. Jackson scored three times in the annual trophy game for the Land of Lincoln hat, while Moten added two scores of his own.
Northwestern's defense forced four turnovers, including three fumbles, and limited Illinois to just 57 yards on the ground, while sacking Illini quarterback Wes Lunt three times.
The Wildcats got on the board first midway through the opening quarter on a nine-yard run by Moten, the first touchdown of the redshirt freshman's career. Moten followed that on the next drive with his second touchdown on a career-long 43-yard run to put Northwestern up 14-0.
Jackson put the 'Cats up 21-0 with his 10th rushing touchdown of the season, which tied his career high set in 2014. He then scampered 54 yards for his second touchdown of the day and career high 11th of the season to put Northwestern up 28-14. He tied Noah Herron for sixth on the career rushing touchdowns list with 26.
Jackson also moved up two spots on Northwestern's all-time rushing yards list. He passed Darnell Autry for third place with a three-yard run in the second quarter. Jackson came into the day needing 62 to catch Autry at 3,793. He finished the day in second after a five-yard run put him past Tyrell Sutton at 3,886. Jackson finished the day with 173 yards and 3,905 for his career. Damien Anderson is first with 4,485.
Moten IV and Jackson are the first Wildcat teammates to each rush for a pair of touchdowns in a game since Arby Fields and Scott Concannon did it against Towson on Sept. 5, 2009.
Northwestern ran the ball 24 times for 144 yards in the first half.
The Wildcats got Biletnikoff Award finalist Austin Carr going in the third quarter, and Carr continued his climb up the single-season charts at Northwestern. He passed D'Wayne Bates for second on the receptions list and tied Bates for second on the yards list, finishing the day with 84 catches and 1,196 yards for the season.
Illinois scored late in the third quarter to make it 28-21 and looked to have some momentum with the Wildcats punting on their next possession. Offensive lineman J.B. Butler made the tackle and forced a fumble on the return that was recovered by the 'Cats.
The Northwestern offense marched down the field, and Thorson found superback Garrett Dickerson on a nine-yard flip throw to put Chicago's Big Ten Team up, 35-21.
The 'Cats broke the game wide open with Jackson's third rushing touchdown of the day to make it 42-21 after a 60-yard interception return by sophomore cornerback Montre Hartage put the ball at the five-yard line.
Anthony Walker, Jr. finished the day with a game-high nine tackles, two of them for loss. He moved into fourth place on the Northwestern all-time TFL list with 39.5 for his career, passing Corey Wootton. Matt Rice is up next at 42 career TFLs.
Quarterback Clayton Thorson played an efficient game, completing 65 percent of his passes. His 13 completions went to six different receivers for 121 yards and a touchdown.
••••••
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Team Stats
ILL
NU
Total Yards
434
399
Pass Yards
377
121
Rushing Yards
57
278
Penalty Yards
60
50
1st Downs
25
22
3rd Downs
4
6
4th Downs
2
0
TOP
30:28
29:32
1st Quarter
ILL 0, NU 7
NU - Moten IV, John 9 yd run (Mitchell, Jack kick), 8 plays, 59 yards, TOP 3:16
ILL 0, NU 14
NU - Moten IV, John 43 yd run (Mitchell, Jack kick), 6 plays, 92 yards, TOP 2:28
2nd Quarter
ILL 0, NU 21
NU - Jackson, Justin 3 yd run (Mitchell, Jack kick), 3 plays, 45 yards, TOP 0:47
ILL 7, NU 21
ILL - Turner,Malik 19 yd pass from Lunt,Wes (McLaughlin,C. kick) 11 plays, 78 yards, TOP 5:11
ILL 14, NU 21
ILL - Corbin,Reggie 8 yd run (McLaughlin,C. kick), 10 plays, 83 yards, TOP 3:14
3rd Quarter
ILL 14, NU 28
NU - Jackson, Justin 54 yd run (Mitchell, Jack kick), 3 plays, 84 yards, TOP 0:52
ILL 21, NU 28
ILL - Turner,Malik 9 yd pass from Lunt,Wes (McLaughlin,C. kick) 4 plays, 24 yards, TOP 1:26
ILL 21, NU 35
NU - Dickerson, G. 9 yd pass from Thorson, C. (Mitchell, Jack kick) 5 plays, 49 yards, TOP 1:28
4th Quarter
ILL 21, NU 42
NU - Jackson, Justin 4 yd run (Mitchell, Jack kick), 3 plays, 5 yards, TOP 1:25
Game Leaders
Passing Leaders
CMP
13
TD
1
YDS
121
INT
0
Players Mentioned
OL
/ Football
WR
/ Football
SB
/ Football
CB
/ Football
RB
/ Football
RB
/ FootballQB
/ Football
LB
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