Error processing SSI fileWildcats look to keep streak going
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Suddenly, Northwestern coach Randy Walker is a popular man on campus.
His team has won three straight, is in the Top 25 for the first time since 2001 and is contending for the Big Ten championship.
"People are stopping me on the street," Walker said. "Most people would drive by me the last few years and give me the obscene gesture. Now they're saying, 'Hey coach, great win.'"
No. 21 Northwestern will try to stay on that roll Saturday, when it hosts No. 25 Michigan.
The Wildcats moved into the rankings after beating then-No. 22 Michigan State 49-14 last week for their third straight victory. One of four Big Ten teams with one loss in the conference, they finish the season with a home game against Iowa and trips to Ohio State and Illinois.
"We knew the season could go either way," quarterback Brett Basanez said. "We could be really good. At the same time, we wouldn't have been so good if we (hadn't) had some young guys step up. They're playing like veterans now."
Early on, the Wildcats (5-2, 3-1) were leaning more toward mediocrity than contention.
They beat Northern Illinois 38-37 in the second week, then allowed 773 yards in a 52-21 loss at Arizona State on Sept. 17. The following week, Penn State scored a touchdown in the final minute, and the Wildcats fell to 2-2 overall.
They were looking like the teams that won six games each of the previous two seasons.
Victories over Wisconsin, Purdue and Michigan State vaulted Northwestern into the Big Ten race.
"Three weeks ago, nobody liked us," Walker said. "We won a couple games and everyone is patting us on the back, and that is nice. I said to them, 'Let's not forget who sat here a month ago and really believed in you. All you really have is each other.'
"It is nice when everyone is patting you on the back and you need to hang on to that and keep lifting each other up. As soon as it comes, it goes."
Michigan (5-3, 3-2 Big Ten) is following that pattern.
The Wolverines, who have been in and out of the poll this season, are back in the rankings after consecutive last-play victories over Penn State and Iowa -- their first back-to-back wins of the season.
Chad Henne passed for 207 yards and two touchdowns, and Jerome Jackson's 1-yard dive in overtime lifted the Wolverines over the Hawkeyes 23-20 last week.
A defense that is allowing 19.5 points per game and ranks second in the Big Ten against the pass figures to be challenged by a Northwestern team that is scoring an average of 37.1 points.
Basanez and freshman Tyrell Sutton are two big reasons for that.
Sutton has 970 yards rushing and 14 touchdowns.
Basanez, who played part of his freshman year with a broken leg and struggled with a shoulder injury last year, is healthy and producing.
He has completed 179-of-265 passes for a league-high 2,181 yards, with 12 touchdowns and just one interception.
"It's going to be hard to rattle that guy because he knows exactly what he's doing," Michigan safety Jamar Adams said. "He has seen all the blitzes. He has seen all the zone coverages. ... I think he is one of the best in the Big Ten and with this team, he executes very well."
Basanez suffered through criticism and losses. Now, there's praise -- for him and the program -- but to Michigan coach Lloyd Carr there were indications all along that this was coming from Basanez.
"He's grown up," Carr said. "He's mature. But he was tough. He could take a punch and get back up. Even four years ago, it was obvious he was going to be an outstanding quarterback."
He called Basanez an All-American and said Northwestern's offense is the best Michigan will face.
"It's nice to see hard work pay off," said Basanez, who passed for 331 yards and two touchdowns and ran for two more against Michigan State. "We put in so much work in the offseason. It's nice to see success come from that."
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