EVANSTON - After a tough, controversial loss to Western Michigan last week, Northwestern desperately needed a bounce-back performance against FCS opponent Illinois State. They didn’t exactly get that in the 9-7 loss.
In a game that started slowly for both offenses, Northwestern couldn’t get anything going against the Redbirds. After putting up 50 points last week, it was the Illinois State defense that shut down Northwestern, keeping the Wildcats off the scoreboard the entire first half. Northwestern didn’t score until the 4th quarter, a 10-1yard touchdown reception by Austin Carr. That score proved to be too little.