2008 Week 17

The Northwestern Wildcats were finally ranked. After defeating Illinois on a last-second Touchdown pass from CJ Bacher, the Wildcats climbed to #25 in the week's BCS Standings, to be ranked for the first time under Coach Taylor's reign.

And what a long-lasting celebration it was.

The Wildcats received a bid to the Captial One Bowl to play the #9 ranked Florida Gators. Taylor felt pretty good about their chances going into the game;

"We've got a fantastic Senior running back in [Tyrell] Sutton, and a great Senior wide Receiver in [Ross] Lane. CJ has played decently this year, and as long as we don't turn the ball over too often, it should be a dogfight."

Unfortunately, CJ Bacher threw 4 interceptions against the vicious Gator defense, 2 of which were returned for 6. It didn't help that Tyrell Sutton went down with a strained back on the first play of the second half, after rushing for 5 yards/carry during the first.

It seemed that fundamentals were thrown out the window for the Wildcats, as the quick Gator offense had a combined 23 broken tackles.