In the Big Ten, teams that play outstanding defense, execute well on special teams and get timely offense win a lot of football games. They challenge double-digit wins. They often have a say in who earns the conference title.
One of those teams, thus far, is the Northwestern Wildcats.
After a 27-0 romp over Minnesota, the No. 16 Wildcats, who are almost guaranteed to jump into the top fifteen on tomorrow's polls, proved they are here to stay, and the'll be playing games that could determine the Big Ten West championship as conference play rolls on.
The win over Stanford in Week 1 was an eye-opener.