EVANSTON, Ill. (AP) - B-Dawg realizes that, this being a user-controlled dynasty, he will one day dominate his conference.

That's just the way it is, because it's a rare dynasty guru who will willingly endure years and years of losing without seeing any progress. The talent will get better through recruiting or maybe ... just maybe ... the sliders will get a favorable tweak or three.

B-Dawg's stated goal wasn't to dominate the Mid-American Conference throughout the course of this dynasty, but to one day get an invitation to the Big Ten Conference where he can butt heads with the big boys on a regular basis.

Northwestern showed the Hurons on Oct. 20, 2007 just how far they have to go before they can even dream of competing with the Big Ten schools.

While it's one thing to get stomped by powerful Michigan, it's sobering to lose 27-10 to a Northwestern team which annually ranks among the bottom feeders in the Big Ten.

"From what I saw, they're better than anyone we've seen in the MAC so far," B-Dawg said. "We're 2-1 in the MAC with a close loss to Ohio. We could win the MAC this year, but we're not ready for Big Ten teams on a regular basis.

"Come to think of it, EA better not have left conference changes out of the next-gen version of the game or I could be waiting forever to get a Big Ten bid."

Tyler Jones must have had an out-of-body experience early in the game, because he actually looked like an effective quarterback in moving the Hurons (3-5) 63 yards in eight plays for a touchdown on the first drive. Jones was 4-for-4 for 48 yards, capping the drive with a 13-yard touchdown pass to former quarterback Dontayo Gage with 4:49 left in the first quarter.

Jones entered the game completing 52.3 percent of his passes, with four touchdowns and 12 picks for a 90.2 quarterback rating. He started this game 6-for-6 for 64 yards and a touchdown before water found its own level.

"It was a beautiful drive," B-Dawg said. "It showed glimpses of what is possible once we get more talent. Unfortunately, we played like we always play the rest of the game ... like crap."

That was the only touchdown the Hurons would get on this day. The Wildcats scored the next 13 points to go ahead 13-7. EMU got within 13-10 on a 44-yard field goal by Sean Dutcher with 5:36 left in the game, but couldn't hold off the Wildcats (5-3).

Defensive end Christopher Downer gave Northwestern a major helping hand, jumping offsides on a field goal attempt to give the Wildcats a first down. On the next play, quarterback C.J. Bacher kept the ball and ran up the middle for a 5-yard touchdown run to gave Northwestern a comfortable 20-10 lead with 2:21 remaining.

"Christopher won't be playing next week," B-Dawg said. "That's inexcusable to jump offsides on a field goal attempt. You're not going to block it, so why bother? This isn't NCAA '07. EA didn't tout blocked kicks as a major feature this year, then overblow it in the game so there's no mistaking it's in da game."

Another Huron who might be seeing some time on the pines is halfback Terrence Blevins, who dropped passes on third-and-two and fourth-and-two from Northwestern's 43-yard line. The Wildcats took over from there and Tyrell Sutton ran over Eastern cornerback Lyle Garrison for a 35-yard touchdown run with 1:15 remaining that had people wondering if Lil' Geezy's stick skillz were chanelling through his body.

B-Dawg brought in third-string quarterback Andy Schmitt late in the game just to get him off that horrid -200 quarterback rating he's been stuck with after throwing a pick on his only pass of the season. Schmitt was 2-for-7 for 24 yards, bumping his rating into positive numbers at a robust 25.2

"I couldn't saddle the kid with a negative rating for the season," B-Dawg said. "I didn't even know you could get a rating worse than zero."

A boost in quarterback and receiver sliders for the CPU and the lowering of defensive sliders for the user may have contributed to Bacher's surgical 20-for-25 performance for 220 yards. The Hurons dropped four passes that were right in their mitts.

"I can't have our team get bailed out by an unrealistically high number of picks," B-Dawg said. "If this means we go without any interceptions the rest of the season, so be it. We have to correct the excess from the first half of the season."

Middle linebacker Daniel Holtzclaw showed up for the game sporting a new impact star, the one that used to belong to receiver Travis Lewis. Holtzclaw had seven tackles, bumping his team lead to 63. Lewis had two catches for 33 yards, giving him 18 catches for 297 yards and a touchdown.

"I'm surprised Corey Everson didn't get the star, but Daniel is our highest-rated defensive player and has been productive, so I have no problem with it," B-Dawg said.