Bielem It! The Bret Bielema Motivational System

EVANSTON-- Throughout the game, the scoreboard flashed ominous warnings about how anyone who entered the field of play would be captured and thrown into an oubilette, but when the clock hit zero, Northwestern fans were on Ryan Field celebrating a victory over three-win Purdue, a possible Quick Lane Bowl berth, and the imminent destruction of their own stadium. It was the greatest moment in a populated Ryan Field in five years.

The actual game itself was a festival of Big Ten West football. Northwestern missed an extra point. Purdue ran the ball at will until they got close to the endzone and then immediately turned the ball over; Purdue also kept going for it on fourth down and failing…