After a close, heartbreaking defeat at the hands of the Michigan Wolverines a week ago, the Northwestern Wildcats wanted to prove that they belonged near the top of the Big Ten Conference.

After a thrashing of Iowa, they showed that and a whole lot more.

The Wildcats offense, which had been suspect behind the arm of CJ Bacher, finally performed impressively, as Bacher threw 4 Touchdowns, each to a different receiver, while only throwing 2 Interceptions.

And he wasn't even the player of the game for the Wildcats. That honor went to Tyrell Sutton, who had almost 300 total yards of offense and 3 Touchdowns on the day.

Chris Jeske, who stepped in for the injured Mike Dinard, who won't be able to return until the Wildcats' bowl game, had a huge game with 13 tackles, including 1 tackle for loss. Eric Peterman chipped in with 4 tackles of his own, in addition to an Interception, which set the school record for interceptions in a season, with 8.

The Wildcats welcome the Fighting Illini of the University of Illinois for their yearly rivalry game next week. A win for the Wildcats will all but insure them a January Bowl Game.