Pat Fitzgerald despite his many successes as head coach of his alma mater, has yet to take his team to the title game, as no team has been from the West except Iowa and Wisconsin.
The Wildcats are coming off a good win against Maryland to avoid a three game losing streak, and get their first Big Ten win. Northwestern was beaten by two top ten teams in Penn State and Wisconsin previously.
The Wildcats are led by quarterback Clayton Thorson and running back Justin Jackson who became NU’s all time leading rusher passing Damien Anderson’s mark.