Michigan Football: 5 Things to know about Northwestern

Michigan football hosts Northwestern on Saturday and here are five things to know about the Wildcats. 

Michigan football is coming off its bye week with a tough schedule remaining with big games against Big Ten East foes Michigan State, Penn State, and Ohio State.

However, first, the Wolverines must tackle a Northwestern squad that will be coming in with confidence after picking up its first Big Ten win last week.

Here are five things to know about the Wildcats.

1. Northwestern may have found its answer at quarterback

In through its first five games, Northwestern rotated Hunter Johnson, Andrew Marty, and Ryan Hilinski at quarterback. Johnson, the former five-star and Michigan football target, got the first opportunity and was replaced after struggling against Indiana State and Duke. For the past three games, it has been Hilinski under center.

Hilinski was a highly touted recruit himself as a consensus top-100 recruit out of high school. He originally committed to South Carolina and transferred to Northwestern this year.

Last week against Rutgers, Hilinski had his best game of the season. He threw for 267 yards, two touchdowns, zero interceptions, and posted a 70.6 QBR.

Michigan football’s defense will be a much tougher challenge for Hilinski than Rutgers, however with him under center, Northwestern’s passing stats are not as bad as they indicate. For the season, Northwestern is 116th in passing success rate.