Nobody was expecting much as the beleaguered Northwestern Wildcats, fresh off a record-setting 35-point home collapse against Michigan State, headed to Ann Arbor to take on the #2 team in the nation.

Northwestern actually stayed with the heavily-favored Wolverines through the first half and into the third quarter, their defense stifling a the high-powered Michigan attack.

NU was trailing 10-3 when quarterback CJ Bacher had a pass picked off by Michigan corner Leon Hall, who got his team their best field position of the day at the Wildcat 36 yard line.

A couple minutes later, the game was decided when running back Mike Hart plunged into the endzone with 4:05 left in the third to put Michigan up 17-3.

Michigan controlled the lines throughout, holding NU sophomore Tyrell Sutton to a mere 6 yards on 7 carries. The Wildcats rushed for -13 yards as a team, and turned the ball over 5 times. The offense line also pushed NU around as Mike Hart ran for 95 yards despite limited playing time.

Michigan was without big-play receiver Mario Manningham, who is recovering from a knee injury, hopefully in time to return for the epic matchup against Ohio State on November 18th.

The Wildcats were hoping to catch Michigan looking ahead, but unsettled at quarterback, using their third QB this season, the offense struggled to complete passes and move the chains. Northwestern gets no rest, heading to Iowa next week to take on another of the Big Ten's top teams.