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We're taking a page from our friends at the ACC blog and starting a series that examines whether certain Big Ten teams will be contenders or pretenders in the 2013 season. The series won't include Ohio State, Michigan or Nebraska, three teams that, in our view, have earned the "contender" label entering the fall. For each team, we'll make a case for why they're contenders and pretenders and provide our final verdict (a final verdict in late April, mind you). We invite you to vote on whether a team is a contender or a pretender or send us your thoughts for mailbags here and here.

First up, the Northwestern Wildcats.

Why they're contenders: Not only did Northwestern win 10 games last season, including its first bowl in 64 years, but the Wildcats return the core pieces from the 2012 squad on both sides of the ball. Fifteen starters return, including the dynamic offensive backfield of quarterback Kain Colter and Venric Mark, an All-Big Ten running back and an All-America all-purpose player. Quarterback Trevor Siemian, who shared time with Colter and improved as the season progressed, also comes back. The key receivers are back and could see enhanced roles in a more balanced offense, and tight end Dan Vitale, a weapon down the stretch last season, is just a true sophomore. Northwestern's speed-based recruiting efforts on defense are starting to pay off, especially in the secondary, where the team returns standouts Ibraheim Campbell and Nick VanHoose and boasts good depth at both cornerback and safety. Defensive end Tyler Scott, the Big Ten's leading returning sacks leader, is back, along with several exciting young edge rushers. Special teams once again should be a strength with Mark and Jeff Budzien, the 2012 Big Ten co-kicker of the year, back in the fold.

Why they're pretenders: It all starts up front, and Northwestern has question marks on both of its lines entering the fall. The Wildcats must replace three starting offensive linemen, including All-Big Ten guard Brian Mulroe. Several potential starters sat out spring practice, and while that gave young players increased reps, the first-team line will have limited time to bond before the season kicks off. Northwestern also is a little thin at defensive tackle after losing Brian Arnfelt. The biggest potential drawback is a schedule that definitely gets tougher and could be significantly more challenging than the 2012 slate. Northwestern faces Ohio State for the first time since 2008, and Wisconsin returns to the slate as well after a two-year break. The Wildcats open Big Ten play with the Buckeyes (home) and the Badgers (road). And while Northwestern has established itself as a solid Big Ten program under Pat Fitzgerald, it hasn't handled high expectations well, like in 2001 (preseason Big Ten favorites) and 2011.

Final verdict: The schedule is definitely a factor, but if Northwestern can split its first two Big Ten contests, it should be right in the mix for the Legends Division title. The Wildcats host the Michigan schools, and although they visit Nebraska, they won in Lincoln with an inferior team in 2011. Some still don't take Northwestern seriously because they can't shed the perception created in the program's dark days. Those days are over, the talent is much better and most of it returns. Northwestern is a contender.

Every Legends Division head coach, along with a player from each of the six teams, participated in a Big Ten spring teleconference with the media on Wednesday.

Here are some notes and updates from those teams:

IOWA

• After six practices, the Hawkeyes' three-man quarterback race between Jake Rudock, Cody Sokol and C.J. Beathard is "about where we expected," head coach Kirk Ferentz said. All three are receiving equal reps, and all are working with the first-, second- and third-team offenses. "At this point, it's a jump ball for all three guys," Ferentz said.
• Accountability is a big theme this spring at Iowa after the team endured its worst season (4-8) in more than a decade. Ferentz said he can't bury his head in the sand after a season like last year's. "We have to do a better job in all areas and that starts with me," he said. Linebacker James Morris was candid about the legacy he'd like to leave at Iowa. "The mark we've left so far, if we're being completely honest, isn't a particularly good one," Morris said. "I'm not happy about it, but I'm excited we have one more opportunity to change things."
• Ferentz said Sunday's open practice in West Des Moines gives Iowa a chance to say thanks to its fans in the central and western parts of the state. Hawkeyes players enjoy the chance to perform in front of their fans. "It's something to break the monotony of spring ball," Morris said. "This will be something different."
• Morris wants to see Iowa's defense translate its red-zone effectiveness -- the Hawkeyes allowed only 15 touchdowns on 48 red-zone chances in 2012 and held opponents scoreless 10 times -- to the rest of the field. Better communication also is a focal point for the defense this spring.

MICHIGAN

• Head coach Brady Hoke said the team will explore the possibility of adding a junior-college quarterback or a graduate transfer from an FBS program to address the position. Russell Bellomy, the projected backup, is scheduled for ACL surgery May 1 and could miss the entire season. Walk-on Brian Cleary is working as the No. 2 quarterback this spring behind Devin Gardner, and heralded recruit Shane Morris arrives in the summer. Asked generally about redshirting players, Hoke didn't sound as if he'd hesitate to use a player like Morris. "No matter if they're fifth-year seniors or true freshmen, the best players have to play," he said. "If you don't do your justice on playing the best players, you're going to cheat the kids on this team."
• Both Hoke and left tackle Taylor Lewan praised the young players competing for the three vacant starting spots on the interior offensive line. Hoke has seen "a lot of progress" with players like Ben Braden, Kyle Kalis, Chris Bryant, Blake Bars and Joey Burzynski. Lewan sees more "maulers" along Michigan's line as the unit aims to be more physically dominant this season in a pro-set scheme.
• Lewan said the experience of playing for Michigan and the opportunity to win a Big Ten championship led him to decide to return for his senior season rather than enter the NFL draft, where he likely would have been a first-round pick. He said his decision was his own, and that those who haven't played for Michigan can't truly understand the lure of remaining there. "There's no better decision I could have made than coming back to the University of Michigan," he said.
• Lewan said defensive end Frank Clark could be on the All-Big Ten radar by the end of the season, while Hoke singled out Chris Wormley for having a strong spring with the D-line. Hoke said running back Fitzgerald Toussaint is progressing well as he recovers from leg surgery.

MICHIGAN STATE

• Replacing Le'Veon Bell at running back remains a work in progress. While Nick Hill, Jeremy Langford and Nick Tompkins are working there this spring, head coach Mark Dantonio said players from other positions will "slide in and out" at running back to see how they handle the role. The Spartans are also bringing in three tailbacks this summer. "That's obviously a position of concern for us," Dantonio said. "We've got to find a guy you can give the ball to 250 times. I don't know if we have that yet. But that's part of who we are, and we're going to find him."
• Dantonio said placekicker Kevin Cronin has had an excellent spring and is the No. 1 on the depth chart now. But recruit Michael Geiger will come in this summer and push Cronin for the right to succeed the departed Dan Conroy.
• Spartans fans always seem to be curious about wideout and former Tennessee transfer DeAnthony Arnett. Here's what Dantonio had to say about him today: "He's a guy who runs great routes but needs to catch ball a little more consistently and be more physical at the point of attack. ... He's a guy who I think will play next year and will add to our offense once he starts moving in a more consistent basis. But I think he's taken big steps this spring, and you can see that coming."
• Linebacker Max Bullough said going 7-6 last year after two 11-win seasons "put things in perspective for us. We hadn't lost many games the previous two years. Now we have that knowledge and experience that it could happen to us. ... We use that as motivation to move forward."

MINNESOTA

• Head coach Jerry Kill said injured offensive tackle Ed Olson (ankle) and defensive lineman Roland Johnson (knee) are both progressing well, and he expects both to be ready to go for fall camp.
• Kill had high praise for safety Brock Vereen, saying he could follow his brother, Shane, into the NFL. "He's gotten better and better since we've been here, and he's turned into a great football player in our minds. We look for him to have a very productive year."
• Vereen said the team is practicing with a new sense of confidence. "We're finally comfortable with coach Kill's system. We know what they expect from us. And that just makes it a lot easier to show up every day and do what we need to do."
• Vereen on how far away the Gophers are from contending in the Legends Division: "We are closer than a lot of people think. If you look back to last season, a lot of those games we lost were in the fourth quarter. A loss is a loss, but at the same time, we were in a lot of those games. It's about pushing through, which is something we learned the hard way, but we still learned. ... I think we're going to shock some people this year."

NORTHWESTERN

• The Wildcats won't hold a traditional spring game this year but just a normal practice session. Head coach Pat Fitzgerald said 13 players had surgeries after the season, and the team was limited to eight healthy offensive linemen this spring. "We've had to tweak things, so that's why we've kept the same routine throughout all 15 of our practices," he said.
• Some of the lesser-known Northwestern players who have had good springs, Fitzgerald said, included backup quarterback Zack Oliver, receiver Mike Jensen, superbacks Mark Szott and Jack Schwaba and defensive lineman C.J. Robbins. Fitzgerald said he's been "very, very impressed" by Robbins, who has been injured the past two years.
• A question on offering prospects early prompted this response from Fitzgerald: "I have just a fundamental issue with offering a kid a scholarship that doesn't have a driver's license. Just barely shaving. And because he looks good in shorts doesn't mean he's going to be a great Big Ten football player. The glorification of these kids at a young age is unfair to them. It's putting unfair and unrealistic expectations on them."
• Defensive end Tyler Scott, who Fitzgerald said is "poised to take the next step," said he's worked hard on becoming a more vocal leader this year and on his pass-rushing techniques. "I'm trying to bring more tools to that aspect of the defense," he said.

The Big Ten won only two bowl games this season, but several players stood out around the league.

Let's take a look at ESPN.com's Big Ten All-Bowl squad ...

OFFENSE

QB: Devin Gardner, Michigan -- There weren't many good choices around the league, but Gardner fired three touchdown passes and racked up 214 pass yards. He has accounted for at least two touchdowns in all five of his starts at quarterback for the Wolverines.

RB: Le'Veon Bell, Michigan State -- The nation's ultimate workhorse running back did his thing in his final game as a Spartan. Bell had 32 carries for 145 yards and a touchdown, recording his eighth 100-yard rushing performance of the season. He also threw a 29-yard pass on a pivotal third-down play.

RB: Rex Burkhead, Nebraska -- Another back who stood out in his final collegiate game, Burkhead racked up 140 rush yards and a touchdown on 24 carries, and added four receptions for 39 yards. It's really too bad we didn't get to see what Burkhead could have done all season when healthy.

WR: Jeremy Gallon, Michigan -- Gallon recorded career highs in receptions (9) and receiving yards (145), and scored two touchdowns against a strong South Carolina defense in the Outback Bowl. It was his third 100-yard receiving performance of the season.

WR: Derrick Engel, Minnesota -- Along with quarterback Philip Nelson, Engel provided some hope for Minnesota's future on offense with 108 receiving yards on four receptions in the Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas. His 42-yard reception marked the third longest of Minnesota's season.

TE: Dan Vitale, Northwestern -- The freshman provided offensive balance Northwestern needed against a Mississippi State team that focused on taking away Venric Mark and the run game. Vitale recorded team highs in both receptions (7) and receiving yards (82) as Northwestern ended the nation's longest bowl losing streak in the TaxSlayer.com Gator Bowl.

OL: Taylor Lewan, Michigan -- Everyone remembers Jadeveon Clowney's near decapitation of Michigan's Vincent Smith in the Outback Bowl -- which resulted from a miscommunication between Lewan and tight end Mike Kwiatkowski -- but the Wolverines' left tackle did a good job overall against college football's most dominant defensive lineman. Lewan anchored a line that helped Michigan put up decent numbers against an elite defense.

OL: Zac Epping, Minnesota -- Minnesota's offensive line showed flashes of the dominance it displayed for much of the Glen Mason era against Texas Tech. The Gophers racked up 222 rush yards and two touchdowns on 54 carries, as Epping and his linemates opened up holes for Donnell Kirkwood, Rodrick Williams and MarQueis Gray.

OL: Brian Mulroe, Northwestern -- Mulroe made his 40th career start and helped Northwestern finally get over the hump in a bowl game. The Wildcats had a balanced offensive attack, avoided the penalty flag and didn't allow a sack against Mississippi State.

OL: Cole Pensick, Nebraska -- Stepping in for the injured Justin Jackson at center, Pensick helped the Huskers find success running the ball against Georgia, especially up the middle. Nebraska had 239 rushing yards in the Capital One Bowl.

OL: Travis Frederick, Wisconsin: The Badgers rushed for 218 yards against Stanford, which came into the Rose Bowl with the nation's No. 3 rush defense. They also gave up only one sack to a defense which led the FBS in that category. Frederick played very well at center and announced he would skip his junior year to enter the NFL draft a few days later.

DEFENSE

DL: Quentin Williams, Northwestern -- Williams set the tone for Northwestern's win with an interception returned for a touchdown on the third play from scrimmage. He also recorded two tackles for loss, including a sack, in the victory.

DL: William Gholston, Michigan State -- Another player who stood out in his final collegiate game, Gholston tied for the team lead with nine tackles, including a sack, and had a pass breakup in the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl win against TCU. The freakishly athletic defensive end stepped up in a bowl game for the second straight season.

DL: Tyler Scott, Northwestern -- Scott and his fellow linemates made life tough for turnover-prone Mississippi State quarterback Tyler Russell in the Gator Bowl. The Wildcats junior defensive end recorded three tackles for loss, including two sacks, and added a quarterback hurry in the win.

DL: Ra'Shede Hageman, Minnesota -- The big man in the center of Minnesota's defensive line stood out against Texas Tech, recording six tackles, including a sack, and a pass breakup. Gophers fans should be fired up to have Hageman back in the fold for the 2013 season.

LB: Max Bullough, Michigan State -- Bullough once again triggered a strong defensive performance by Michigan State, which held TCU to just three points in the final two and a half quarters of the Wings bowl. The junior middle linebacker tied with Gholston for the team tackles lead (9) and assisted on a tackle for loss.

LB: Chris Borland, Wisconsin -- The Badgers' defense clamped down against Stanford after a slow start, and Borland once again stood out with his play at middle linebacker. The standout junior led Wisconsin with nine tackles as the defense kept the Badgers within striking distance in Pasadena.

LB: Jake Ryan, Michigan -- Ryan capped a breakout season with another strong performance in the bowl game, recording 1.5 tackles for loss, a fumble recovery and half a sack. He'll enter 2013 as a top candidate for Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year honors.

CB: Michael Carter, Minnesota -- Carter finished off a strong senior year with two interceptions, a pass breakup and seven tackles in the 34-31 loss to Texas Tech.

CB: Nick VanHoose, Northwestern: The redshirt freshman picked off a Mississippi State pass and returned it 39 yard to set up the game-clinching touchdown in the fourth quarter.

S: Jared Carpenter, Northwestern: The senior was named MVP of the Gator Bowl win with a game-high 10 tackles and a near interception late in the game.

S: Ibraheim Campbell, Northwestern: The Wildcats dominate our all-bowl team secondary for good reason. Campbell had an interception and a pass breakup against the Bulldogs.

Specialists

P: Mike Sadler, Michigan State -- The punters took center stage in Tempe as both offenses struggled, and Sadler provided MSU with a huge lift in the field-position game. He set Spartans bowl records for punts (11) and punting yards (481), averaging 43.7 yards per punt with three inside the 20-yard line. His booming punt inside the TCU 5 helped lead to a game-turning fumble by the Horned Frogs' Skye Dawson.

K: Brendan Gibbons and Matt Wile, Michigan -- Both kickers share the honors after combining to go 3-for-3 on field-goal attempts in the Outback Bowl. Gibbons, the hero of last year's Sugar Bowl, connected from 39 yards and 40 yards in the first half. Wile hit a career-long 52-yard attempt in the third quarter, setting an Outback Bowl record.

Returner: Troy Stoudermire, Minnesota -- It took a bit longer than expected, but Stoudermire finally set the NCAA record for career kick return yards with a 26-yard runback on the opening kickoff against Texas Tech. The senior cornerback finished the game with 111 return yards, including a 37-yard runback, on four attempts.

The streak is over and the monkey is gone. Northwestern finally can celebrate a bowl win.

The Wildcats claimed their first postseason victory in 64 years after downing Mississippi State in the TaxSlayer.com Gator Bowl. Although the game didn't go as planned for either squad, Northwestern rode opportunistic defense (17 points off turnovers) and a big third quarter from Trevor Siemian to its first bowl win since the 1949 Rose. Surprisingly, there was little drama as Northwestern's defense clamped down.

Let's take a look at how it went down:

It was over when: Mississippi State quarterback Tyler Russell threw his fourth interception, a wounded duck on third-and-10, and Northwestern's Nick VanHoose returned the ball inside the red zone with 9:54 to play. Northwestern led by only seven at the time but scored three plays later to take a 14-point lead with 8:10 left. To truly seal the win, Wildcats defensive lineman Deonte Gibson dropped Russell on fourth-and-20 with 1:42 left.

Game ball goes to: Northwestern defensive ends Quentin Williams and Tyler Scott. Both of the Wildcats' top edge rushers stepped up in the bowl win. Williams set the tone for the game with an interception returned for a touchdown on the third play from scrimmage. He also had a sack and two tackles for loss, while Scott dropped Russell twice in the win.

Stat of the game: Both teams entered the game among the nation's best at taking care of the ball, but things changed in Jacksonville. The Wildcats and Bulldogs combined for seven turnovers, including three first-half interceptions by Mississippi State's Russell, who threw four picks after throwing just six in the regular season. Northwestern came in with just 12 giveaways, tied for sixth-fewest nationally, while Mississippi State had 13 giveaways (tied for ninth). Both teams ranked in the top 10 in turnover margin but looked sloppy with the ball.

Stat of the game II: Third-down efficiency played a huge part in the game, and Northwestern had a significant edge there. The Wildcats moved the chains 10 times on 19 third-down opportunities. The biggest conversion came with the game tied in the third quarter, when Siemian made a tough throw on the run to Rashad Lawrence to convert a third-and-10 in Wildcats territory. Northwestern scored the go-ahead touchdown three plays later. Mississippi State, meanwhile, was a mess on third down, converting just 1 of 11 chances.

Unsung hero: Northwestern freshman superback (tight end) Dan Vitale. Mississippi State's defense did a good job taking away Venric Mark and Kain Colter, but Vitale, a freshman, gashed the Bulldogs for seven receptions and 82 yards. He provided the receiving threat Northwestern needed against a good Bulldogs secondary.

What Northwestern learned: It can win a bowl game, for starters. After several near misses (2008 Alamo, 2010 Outback), Northwestern finally got over the hump in the postseason. Pat Fitzgerald and his staff did a masterful job coaching a young team not predicted to do much to just the school's third 10-win season. After blowing three fourth-quarter leads in Big Ten play, Northwestern made enough plays on both sides of the ball to hold off the mistake-prone Bulldogs. Northwestern needed this win to legitimize its program and should be right in the Legends division mix next fall, as most key players return.

What Mississippi State learned: Russell can be rattled. The junior turned in a record-setting season for the Bulldogs but had a miserable performance in the bowl, completing only 12 of 28 passes for 106 yards with two touchdowns and the four picks. Mississippi State wins with discipline and Russell didn't have enough of it with the football. The Bulldogs played without star cornerback Johnthan Banks for most of the second half, and his absence showed. After a 7-0 start, Mississippi State had an extremely disappointing finish and lacked any decent wins on its résumé.

EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern defensive end Tyler Scott seems like the last player a coach would need to challenge.

Whether he's in the weight room (where Scott made his mark as a young player), the film room (where Scott spends practically all his time) or the field (where he has excelled this fall), the Wildcats junior has taken the same thorough approach. It's all about the process for him.

"He's as low-maintenance of a guy as there is in the country," Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald said. "He just works. He doesn't know anything other than work. He doesn't want a sticker on his helmet, he doesn't want a special T-shirt, he doesn't want a steak dinner.

"He just wants to work."

And that's precisely why Wildcats defensive line coach Marty Long challenged Scott in September. See, Long believes every player should be challenged, even ones like Scott who seem so easy to coach.

"He was playing well, but we needed him to play great," Long told ESPN.com. "I made a statement that we had one D-end that was playing at a Big Ten level, and that was Quentin Williams. Ever since that point in time, I think he's been playing Big Ten-level football."

More like All-Big Ten-level football. The 6-foot-4, 265-pound Scott leads the Big Ten in sacks (7) and is tied for the league lead in forced fumbles (3).

Scott has recorded four sacks and two forced fumbles in his last four games. He has recorded at least one tackle for loss in seven of nine games for No. 24 Northwestern. And he has played most of the season with a club on his left hand, the result of a broken finger.

"I didn't take it in a negative way, more of a motivational way," Scott said of Long's challenge. "I'm always going to give the most effort I can, but for him to say that, that's kind of taking a shot at my pride because I do work so hard."

Scott is hardly an overnight sensation at Northwestern. He had to redshirt the 2009 season because of a shoulder injury that required surgery. After a strong offseason, he worked his way onto the field as a reserve, appearing in all 13 games in 2010.

He moved into a part-time starting role last season and seemed to be turning a corner before a shoulder stinger shut him down for two weeks. During a five-game losing streak, Scott lost his grandfather and admits he "lost his edge a bit."

It was a season of what-ifs for Scott, who came close on a lot of sacks but recorded just one on the season for one of the nation's least effective defensive lines. He often got too far up-field on his rushes, and he spent much of the offseason working on becoming more active with his hands.

"I don't know exactly what it is," Long said, "He's making a lot of plays, but he's upset about the ones he doesn't make. I'm happy with his play right now. He'll look at me and say, 'I'm not happy.' That's the type of guy that you want to coach."

True to form, when asked about his spike in sacks, Scott barely acknowledges the ones he has recorded this season. Instead, he brings up a scramble by Iowa quarterback James Vandenberg that resulted in a Iowa first down in Northwestern's last game.

"I didn't get to the up-field shoulder," Scott said. "I definitely came through and totally missed, swung around and he escaped the pocket and got a first down, which kind of reminded me of last year."

Long says Scott embraces Kaizen, the Japanese philosophy of constant, continuous improvement, which Fitzgerald introduced at Northwestern several years ago. That may be true, but Scott links his approach a little closer to home -- to his parents, Bette and Rodney, both of whom played sports in high school.

"A big family value is to be humble," Scott said. "My mom always tells me it's not about you as a person, it's about how the team does. The goal is winning that week. If you played well, it's because your teammates helped you get there."

Northwestern has played better team defense this fall, making sizable jumps in categories like rushing defense, scoring defense and sacks from the 2011 season. But Scott has stood out up front, putting himself within striking distance of Northwestern's single-season sacks record of 12 set by Casey Dailey in 1997.

Long likens Scott to Joe Tafoya, part of the famed "Desert Swarm" defense at Arizona, where Long coached defensive line and outside linebackers from 1996-2003. Tafoya went on to a seven-year NFL career.

"I would say he's a better football player than Joe Tafoya," Long said.

Informed of Long's claim, Scott smiles, shakes his head and mumbles some cliché about just trying to improve and help the team win. Any praise for his play is going to come from others, like Fitzgerald, who this spring proclaimed Scott is, "on the cusp of being a breakout guy nationally."

His words have proven prophetic.

"A lot of times you look at guys and you go, 'If he just worked a little harder and his work ethic matched his talent, he'd be a great player," Fitzgerald said. "Tyler's that guy who does that. He's got outstanding talent, and he matches it with a terrific attitude and a terrific work ethic."

NORTHWESTERN

Record: 6-1, 2-1 Big Ten

At the halfway mark of the season, only one team in the Big Ten has guaranteed itself bowl eligibility. And in fact, Northwestern is one bad fourth quarter at Penn State away from possibly being undefeated.

Are the Wildcats for real? Well, good teams almost always do two things: run the ball, and stop the run. Pat Fitzgerald's club ranks No. 2 in the Big Ten in rushing defense, allowing just 109.9 yards per game. That's about 70 yards fewer than Northwestern allowed last season, when it finished No. 10 in the league, so the defensive improvement up front has been impressive.

The Wildcats are also one of the league's top rushing teams, averaging nearly 230 yards per game on the ground (up by nearly 65 yards per game over last season). Tailback Venric Mark has been one of the biggest stars of the first half, and he and versatile quarterback Kain Colter form a dangerous duo, especially on the zone read.

Fitzgerald's use of Colter and fellow quarterback Trevor Siemian has been the team's most interesting storyline of the first half. Siemian finished the opener at Syracuse by leading a game-winning drive, and split some reps with Colter for the first few games. When Big Ten play arrived, Northwestern started using Colter as a receiver and almost exclusively a running quarterback. That formula worked great against Indiana, but Colter didn't get enough touches at Penn State. The Wildcats will have to find the right balance going forward.

Northwestern has also benefited from a schedule that hasn't been as difficult as it looked on paper. According to NCAA stats, the Wildcats have played the easiest schedule in the Big Ten through seven weeks. The competition level is about to rise considerably, with Nebraska coming to Evanston this week, followed by games against Iowa, Michigan and Michigan State. That will tell us for sure whether this team's 6-1 start is for real.

Offensive MVP: Mark. Colter has been extremely valuable, too, with all the different things he can do. But Mark has given the offense a dependable, big-play threat it has lacked for years. Despite his small size, Mark has already run for 792 yards and eight touchdowns this season, and should become the Wildcats' first 1,000-yard back since 2006. He's also a spark plug on special teams, with two punt returns for touchdowns this season.

Defensive MVP: Linebacker Chi Chi Ariguzo. The sophomore announced he was going to play a big role, when he had an interception and a fumble return for a touchdown in the opener against Syracuse. He's second on the team in tackles with 59, including 6.5 for loss. Defensive lineman Tyler Scott also deserves notice for his six sacks and 7.5 TFLs.

For the second consecutive week, Northwestern's defense looked to be on the ropes in the fourth quarter, trying to protect a lead on the road.

This time, the Wildcats stood their ground.

In a sloppy game where Northwestern's offense started fast on Saturday and then disappeared, the defense stepped up in the clutch and prevented Minnesota from scoring the potential game-tying touchdown. Northwestern survived 21-13 to improve to 6-1, becoming bowl-eligible for the sixth consecutive season. Minnesota (4-2, 0-2 Big Ten) dropped its second straight Legends Division game and remains two wins away from bowl eligibility.

Northwestern had no pass rush to speak of last week at Penn State, but the front four stepped up in the fourth quarter. Defensive end Tyler Scott had a pair of sacks, including a forced fumble on the game's final play, and fellow end Quentin Williams also stepped up with a pass deflection that led to an interception. Northwestern gave up more yards (327-275) and first downs (21-13) but not points.

It could have been a different ending had Minnesota quarterback MarQueis Gray remained healthy. Gray returned from a high-ankle sprain that had kept him out two games and performed well in the first half, but he re-injured his left knee on a third-quarter run and didn't return. Max Shortell never really got in a rhythm, starting the game but exiting quickly for Gray before re-entering in the second half. He missed several open receivers, including Isaac Fruechte in the end zone, and held the ball way too long in crunch time.

The game looked like a shootout early, as Northwestern scored on the first play from scrimmage on a Venric Mark touchdown run after Minnesota fumbled the opening kickoff. Mark was masterful once again, racking up 151 rush yards and two touchdowns on 11 carries in the first half. Northwestern scored 21 points in the first 18 minutes but then began stumbling, committing a host of penalties and curious play calls. The quarterback rotation that worked well earlier in the season seemed to fizzle Saturday, as Northwestern couldn't convert third downs (1-for-9), its former trademark, and offensive coordinator Mick McCall didn't trust Kain Colter on any downfield throws. Colter certainly looked like the better option Saturday, going 10-for-10 on pass attempts and adding 26 rush yards and a touchdown.

Mark finished with 182 rush yards on 20 carries.

Northwestern definitely went conservative at the end, taking a delay of game penalty on third down, clearly concerned about the weather. While the approach paid off against a Minnesota team that made too many mistakes, it likely will cost the Wildcats down the line.

It rained for most of the game, and the outcome came down to key mistakes. Minnesota had two first-half turnovers that Northwestern converted for touchdowns. The Wildcats, while committing an uncharacteristic 11 penalties, didn't have a turnover.

Northwestern remains very much alive in the Legends Division race and returns home for two division contests (Nebraska and Iowa). The Wildcats need to be a lot better than they were Saturday but can take some positives with Mark and the defense.

Minnesota is a different team with Gray on the field and hopes the senior can return for next week's rivalry game at Wisconsin.

Some quick notes and nuggets after Northwestern rallied to defeat Vanderbilt 23-13 on Saturday night at rainy Ryan Field ...

It was over when: Northwestern quarterback Kain Colter reversed field on third-and-long and raced in for a 29-yard touchdown with 1:24 remaining. Moments earlier, Wildcats defensive end Tyler Scott sacked Vanderbilt's Jordan Rodgers with 2 minutes remaining, forcing a fumble that the Wildcats recovered at the Vanderbilt 21-yard line with 1:47 left..

Gameball goes to: Northwestern running back Venric Mark. He's almost always the smallest player on the field, but Saturday night he was the best and the toughest. The junior had 23 rushes for 128 yards and a touchdown, recording his first career 100-yard rushing performance. He added a 14-yard reception. Mark is the biggest reason why Northwestern is 2-0, coming out of nowhere to claim the team's top running back spot in the preseason.

Stat of the game: Northwestern had just 85 yards and converted only 2 of 6 third-down chances in the first half. The Wildcats racked up 228 and converted 5 of 10 third-down chances, while Vanderbilt went just 4-of-15 on third downs.

What Vanderbilt learned: You have to put your foot on a team's throat when you can. Vanderbilt thoroughly dominated the first half, outgaining Northwestern 232-85 and running 12 more plays than the Wildcats. But the Commodores led by only seven points after a Rodgers fumble in the red zone. Vanderbilt let Northwestern's defense gain confidence, and the 'Dores didn't do enough in the second half, especially with their offensive play-calling. The offensive play-calling was baffling at times, as Vanderbilt didn't capitalize on an obvious advantage with wideout Jordan Matthews.

What Northwestern learned: The defense has some fight in it. Despite losing top cornerback Nick VanHoose on the second play, the Wildcats dug in and held Vanderbilt in check for most of the game. The much-maligned unit bought a stagnant offense enough time to get rolling, and Northwestern once again came up big in the fourth quarter behind quarterback Trevor Siemian. Although Colter once again got the start at quarterback and scored the final touchdown, Siemian looks like the better trigger man for the offense.

What it means: Northwestern remains an extremely dangerous team in close games, especially when you don't put the Wildcats away when you can. The defensive performance raises the ceiling for the Wildcats' season, and a very favorable schedule awaits Pat Fitzgerald's squad with three more home games before trips to Penn State and Minnesota. Vanderbilt continued to struggle in close games and faded in the fourth quarter. The 'Dores will point to another highly questionable call, one that prolonged Northwestern's go-ahead drive. But they didn't do nearly enough on offense to win this one.

One of the great gifts football provides is seeing really big men do things their bodies aren't meant to do.

The Fat Guy Touchdown, for instance. Or the Almost Fat Guy Touchdown, courtesy of the New England Patriots' Dan Connolly.

Northwestern added a new layer to the hilarity at the end of a recent spring practice. The Wildcats had their offensive and defensive linemen participate in a JUGS machine challenge, which required them to catch the ball like punt and kickoff returners.

Warning: Don't watch the following video if eating, drinking or handling sharp objects.

One of the first clips shows starting center Brandon Vitabile, who checks in at 6-foot-3 and 300 pounds, stumbling badly in an attempt. Defensive linemen like C.J. Robbins (6-5, 275) didn't fare much better.

The competition comes down to defensive end Tyler Scott (6-4, 265) and guard Brian Mulroe (6-4, 295), who actually made catches in the prelims. After a prolonged sudden-death period that features some catches and flops, Scott, who displays decent form, emerges as the victor when he beats Mulroe for a jump ball.

Venric Mark, the team's top return man, shouldn't have to worry about losing his job.

The quarterback hurry is one of the more misleading statistics in football. It seems to be subjectively recorded and varies widely from team to team.

But Northwestern can take something away from the category known as QBH. According to statistics recorded by each Big Ten team, Northwestern finished third in the league (behind Michigan State and Nebraska) with 24 hurries in 2011. According to the official Big Ten statistics, the Wildcats ranked dead last in sacks with 17.

Translation: pressuring the quarterback isn't horseshoes.

"We left a lot of sacks out there last year," Northwestern defensive coordinator Mike Hankwitz told ESPN.com. "We had a lot of missed tackles. And we got hurt on some quarterback scrambles where we got pressure and he was able to find a crease."

Tyler Scott takes Hankwitz's words to heart. Scott, a junior defensive end, showed snippets of promise last fall, displaying good speed and recording 31 tackles, an interception, two pass breakups, a team-high three fumbles recovered and, yes, two quarterback hurries.

But he only recorded one sack, two shy of the team lead. Only two Big Ten teams, Northwestern and Minnesota, didn't have a player ranked among the Big Ten's top 20 in either sacks or tackles for loss in 2011.

Not surprisingly, spring practice has been all about the pass rush for the 6-foot-4, 265-pound Scott.

"Many times I was not getting to the quarterback or not squeezing the pocket," he said. "I've started to make some improvements in that. My problem was I was going up the field too much and not attacking the man. So I'm trying to focus on attacking a spot every time and being more active with my hands."

Run defense became the peak priority for Northwestern after the 2010 season, when it surrendered 185 rush yards per game and 5.1 yards per carry. While the defense made slight improvements there -- 177.3 ypg, 4.5 ypc -- the pass rush suffered for the second consecutive year.

After recording 30 sacks in 2009, the Wildcats have just 33 combined in the past two seasons. Twenty teams had more than 33 sacks in 2011 alone. The lack of pressure particularly hurt Northwestern on third down, as opponents converted exactly half of their attempts (90 of 180) against the Wildcats, the highest percentage in the Big Ten and the seventh-highest percentage nationally.

Northwestern had been decent to good on third down in Hankwitz's first three years as coordinator -- ranking 28th, 23rd and 42nd nationally -- but the bottom fell out last fall.

"We were aware of it, but we didn't have that mentality to say, 'Yeah, we're getting off the field,'" Scott said. "It was just another down."

The mentality should change during the offseason, and Hankwitz is evaluating what he can do schematically, including whether he rushed only three linemen too often on third down. But the easiest solution is to have an effective pass-rusher or two emerge.

Scott seems to be the obvious choice.

"Tyler Scott to me is on the cusp of being a breakout guy nationally," coach Pat Fitzgerald said following last Saturday's scrimmage. "He's got some special qualities."

Scott wants one of those qualities to be putting quarterbacks on the ground this fall.

Spring football is under way at Northwestern, which returned to the practice field Saturday. The Wildcats say goodbye to a decorated senior class, which included quarterback Dan Persa, and must fill several key spots on both sides of the ball. Head coach Pat Fitzgerald has an emphasis on learning and fostering new chemistry on the team, as the Wildcats' leadership features several new faces. The 2012 season will be crucial for Northwestern, which has reached four consecutive bowl games but also seen its wins total drop every year since 2008.

ESPN.com recently caught up with Fitzgerald. Here are his thoughts:

What have been some of your emphasis points from the end of the bowl game and your objectives in spring ball?

Pat Fitzgerald: Every year you look for ways you can improve and build upon your past, but it's always a new team. Obviously, we've got a lot of young men that graduated who were very dynamic for us over the last four years, multiyear starters who laid a tremendous foundation of success for our program. Now you have to come together with this team and number one, we want to build better chemistry with this team. Eight of our 12 leadership council members, it's their first year, so it's kind of indicative of trying to forge the chemistry, player to player.

Is it a better chemistry or a new chemistry?

PF: Every time you get to the offseason, you fall into that trap, is it better or worse? More importantly, it's always new. It's new guys jelling, guys assuming new roles and the natural progression. The guys have done a tremendous job. I look forward to watching to see how we do when somebody punches you back in football.

Were you surprised at how last season turned out? Some guys were talking about contending for a Big Ten title and you end up at 6-7.

PF: Well, we had a tough five-game stretch. That overshadows anything else that we did. What we look at it is we stayed the course and fought through it. You can point back to multiple plays and calls on our end and what we did schematically as coaches, you vet through all that stuff and you look at how close we were. It's easy to point blame and point fingers. It's more important to create some solutions and through that, you always start with the way you're teaching and coaching, and what you're asking guys to do schematically. Are we playing to their strengths? Because of maybe a little youth and inexperience, are we asking them to try to do too much? And I thought we adjusted. Obviously, you don't want to go through what we went through, and it was our fault. You look back and say, we adjusted, but did we adjust fast enough? Hindsight's always 20-20, but you learn from it, you grow and then you educate the guys on why it happened and how we're going to be stronger moving forward. What did we win, four of our last six games? So we finished strong. Obviously, you'd love to have back the last one here at home. And in the bowl game, we played two really good quarters and two quarters that beat ourselves, so we've got a lot to learn from. I wouldn't say I was surprised. No matter what you predict, you never know how it's going to go.

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Northwestern's defense has shown up for the second consecutive week, and after a while, the offense made an appearance as well.

The Wildcats, who contained Nebraska well last week in Lincoln, held a Rice team that scored 75 points in its previous two games to no points in the opening half. The Owls struggled to get much going on offense and have given punter Kyle Martens quite the workout (5 punts, 215 yards).

Northwestern defensive end Tyler Scott recorded an interception late in the half, setting up a touchdown, and others have contributed for the Wildcats' D, which had held Rice to 116 yards.

The Northwestern offense has relied on the big play so far, and receiver Jeremy Ebert is having a huge day with five receptions for 173 yards and two touchdowns, including a 90-yarder that marked the second-longest play in team history. Demetrius Fields also had a 50-yard reception on third-and-long to set up an Ebert touchdown.

Quarterback Dan Persa returned from his left shoulder injury and has looked good, completing 10 of 14 pass attempts for 223 yards.