He even added on two key first downs on QB sneaks

This knowledge directly led to one of the defining plays of the season, for Northwestern, Iowa, and the conference. Wootton went directly after Stanzi, who was in the end zone, and made a solid, clean hit on him that forced a fumble and caused him to catch and sprain his ankle. NU's Marshall Thomas recovered the ball for a touchdown and Stanzi would not return to the game due to his injury. The Wildcats would then respond by driving in for a touchdown capped off by a Dan Persa touchdown pass to Iowa native WR Drake Dunsmore, giving the Wildcats a 14-10 lead. Iowa would end a fourth consecutive drive in a turnover with a controversial Brandon Wegher fumble on the ensuing possession. NU's Persa would throw an interception on the next drive, but the Wildcat defense would hold Iowa to a three-and-out as the 'Cats watched the clock tick down to zeros with NU holding a four point halftime lead. The Northwestern defense finally lived up to its preseason billing, holding Iowa to just 132 total yards after Stanzi's injury and allowed the Hawkeyes to enter NU territory just one time (which led to a missed 46 yard field goal in the third quarter). Despite facing a team that prides itself on running the football and had done a good job of that on many occasions this season, NU held Iowa to just 65 net rushing yards (2.4 yards per carry) on the day. This forced Iowa to try and pass the ball, something Vandenberg did not do very well, completing just one third of his 27 pass attempts.

Another wrinkle in the game came when Dan Persa injured his hand on a hit right after he made a throw in the second half. Persa had been taking most of the snaps since Mike Kafka was playing through a hamstring injury and was obviously limited (Kafka had no QB runs outside of sacks and short QB sneaks). This forced Kafka to come back in and either throw or hand off, taking a major piece of NU's attack (the QB run) away as NU looked to milk its lead. But the 'Cats would put together one last scoring drive from the end of the third quarter into the early fourth, capped off by a 47 yard Stefan Demos field goal that put NU up by a more comfortable margin of seven. The rest of the way, NU managed just two first downs, but that proved to be just enough to hold the lead until the clock struck zeros. It might not have been pretty, but Coach Fitzgerald likely wouldn't have it any other way, as the defense held Iowa scoreless for three quarters and Northwestern secured its biggest win under Coach Fitz, one that also made NU bowl eligible in 2009. The 'Cats have now won three straight in Iowa City and Fitz seemingly has Iowa's number: He is now 3-1 against the Hawkeyes. Player of the Game: NU DE Corey Wootton (3 tackles, 1 sack and forced fumble) Wootton finally made his presence known in the 2009 season, providing the game-changing play of the day, knocking the ball loose in the end zone and knocking Stanzi out of the game. Thomas would recover the fumbled ball for an NU touchdown, and Iowa would not be able to muster up much of an offensive attack after the big play.

Northwestern Honorable Mentions: QB Dan Persa (5-of-9 passing for 37 yards with 1 INT and 1 TD, 17 carries for 67 yards) Persa's running allowed NU to move the ball well in the first half, with Kafka effectively prevented from running thanks to his hamstring injury. Persa also had the touchdown pass that gave NU the lead in the second quarter, a lead that the Wildcats would not surrender. QB Mike Kafka (10-of-18 passing for 72 yards, 2 carries for 4 yards) Despite being immobilized with the aforementioned leg injury, Kafka did what it took for NU to pull off a win, finishing out the game at quarterback after Persa was sidelined with an injury to his throwing hand. He even added on two key first downs on QB sneaks. Defense: The entire defense deserves a nod for shutting down the Iowa running game and then making sure that Iowa's backup quarterback never got the passing game going. Mabin and Davie had interceptions, Wootton had the key sack, Thomas had two fumble recovery, and Brad Phillips led NU with 10 tackles and added a forced fumble of his own (the second straight year Phillips forced a fumble from an Iowa running back). What to Work on: Health: They key to NU's continued success will be the healing of Kafka's hamstring and/or Persa's hand. There are also some lingering injuries on defense that have affected the 'Cats' efforts, like Brendan Smith's and Brian Peters' hands and Ben Johnson's hamstring. If NU can get healthy, NU can vastly improve its bowl positioning efforts down the stretch. Continuity: Too many times 'Cats fans have seen NU win a huge game just to drop the next. Northwestern must keep the momentum going next week against a suddenly resurgent Illinois team if they want to gain more respect. Penalties: A key penalty was a holding call that negated a potential Iowa TD run. The fact is that both sides had penalties called on them, and, in fact, NU had one more penalty and 15 more penalty yards in the game. Also, NU had a very questionable personal foul called on Sherrick McManis as the ballcarrier lowered his head into McManis' helmet. There were also some potentially questionable "no calls" as well. Penalties are part of the game, and it's funny how calls only become "questionable" when a big play is called back. Also, there is plenty of incidental contact in the game of football, and people get even angrier when pass interference flags get thrown all over the place. If a team puts itself in a position where one penalty makes that big of a difference, that means they haven't taken care of their own business somewhere else.