Northwestern kept its foot on the pedal until the end, crushing in-state rival Illinois 50-14 on Saturday.
The Wildcats were once again led by the tandem of junior quarterback Kain Colter and junior running back Venric Mark. NU racked up more than 300 yards on the ground, led by Mark’s 127 and Colter’s 88. Both players had rushing touchdowns and eight different players scored points for the Wildcats.
Colter threw for a career-high three touchdowns and completed 9-of-11 passes. Illinois got off to a fast start by scoring a touchdown on its opening possession, but NU responded by holding the Fighting Illini to less than 200 yards of offense after the first drive. The Cats defense also forcing four turnovers from the Fighting Illini.
The game got so out of hand that NU used four different players at quarterback and seven different players got a rushing attempt. The 50 points were the most by NU since the team put up 59 on Indiana last year.
— Josh Walfish
