Northwestern didn’t choke away another game Saturday.

Yes, the Wildcats were up at halftime and it looked like they had a chance to win the game, but they didn’t. It didn’t matter what NU did – when Michigan quarterback Chad Henne was in the game and the Michigan defense actually played defense, the Cats didn’t have a chance.

“They didn’t do anything differently than what we had practiced. We were just kind of making mistakes,” Michigan senior linebacker Shawn Crable said. “In the second half, the interceptions and things like that were just people being where they were supposed to be.”

This doesn’t mean NU didn’t try. For the first time this season, the offensive play-calling made some sense. The defense played well. NU kicker Amado Villarreal was perfect in three field goal attempts.

But NU just doesn’t stack up to the Maize and Blue.

The Cats had a fairly comfortable halftime lead, but Henne only played one series up to that point – the only series in which Michigan scored in the first half. NU was still up 16-14 going into the fourth quarter, but a loss was already imminent.

NU quarterback C.J. Bach