The Wildcats are the annoying little brother of Big Ten football. They tend to find themselves in close games, but when it comes to crunch time they can rarely get it done. This past season was different, though. The Wildcats sported a 10-3 record with a 7-2 record in conference. Skeptics say their conference record was padded in part that they play in the weak Big Ten West division.

This is true to an extent, but wins against Iowa and Michigan State, both in overtime, say otherwise. Those two wins were just part of an eight game winning streak to close out the 2017 season (one being their bowl win over Kentucky). To win three games in a row in the Big Ten is hard to do, to get seven is a true testament of a team with consistency. Their two conference losses were to Penn State and Wisconsin, both of which finished in the College Football Playoff rankings in the top 10.

Despite big losses to Penn State and Duke, their third and final loss of the season was a dog fight with Wisconsin. They went into Camp Randall and gave the Badgers and their undefeated record a real scare. After jumping out to a 10-7 lead at half, quarterback Clayton Thorson was sacked for a safety with less than two minutes to seal the win for the Badgers. The most notable thing in this game was holding Jonathan Taylor, a man averaging 150 yards, to only 80 yards in rushing. The Wildcat defense took him entirely out of the equation.

Northwestern has one of the smartest teams in the Big Ten. To get into the school one must have an ACT score of at least 27 and a minimum GPA of 3.5. The school board does not allow exceptions for athletes (even though the NCAA allows schools to accept up to five players a recruit class who do not meet the requirements). This may have to do with Northwestern’s fundamentally sound football team. They take their work ethic in the classroom and transfer it to the field. What they lack in talent, they make up for in fundamentals and discipline.

Players to look for in 2018

Paddy Fisher is a force on defense and will be going into his sophomore season in 2018. He finished with 111 total tackles, 65 of them being solo. This linebacker will be the guy Northwestern revolves their defense around for the next three seasons.

Clayton Thorson was the man under center in 2017. He tore his ACL in the bowl win over Kentucky, so this may cause him to sit out the 2018 season. He has a gunslinger mentality, and it shows with his 12 interceptions to only 15 touchdowns in 2017. If he can limit the mistakes he’ll tear up the defenses of the Big Ten as he showed in the 2016 season, throwing 22 touchdowns to 9 interceptions in 2016.

If he does not return for 2018, TJ Green will be the next man up. Green has not seen significant playing time in his time at Northwestern. He’ll need to find out how to win in the Big Ten early if the Wildcats want to compete with Wisconsin for the West division title.

Jeremy Larkin was the second string running back in 2017. He ran for over 500 yards on just 84 carries. He will be a force on offense in 2018. With Northwestern’s spread-option type offense they focus a lot on the running game. Larkin will be the Wildcats’ workhorse and receive a majority of carries next season. He has big shoes to fill, considering Justin Jackson’s graduation. Jackson finished 10th all time for FBS career rushing yards. Larkin will have to mimic his style of running to keep the Wildcats on pace to compete for the Big Ten West title.

What to look forward to

Northwestern shows a lot of signs of the Wisconsin teams in the Bret Bielema era. They take two and three star recruits who love to play the game and turn them into standouts on the field. The Wildcats are a young team at the specialty positions, but have had a solid offensive line for the past five seasons. They are one or two big wins away from challenging teams like Wisconsin and Iowa for the Big Ten West title. Look for them to be in the Championship game in the coming years. After all, little brothers outgrow their older brothers eventually, right?