DESTINATION: NOT DETROIT

Road victory against Illini all but assures Wildcats of better than Pizza Bowl

CHAMPAIGN -- Few would argue that Northwestern might have been the happiest 7-4 team in the Football Bowl Subdivision on Saturday. But please don't use the words ''lucky,'' ''charmed'' or ''soft schedule.''

With Illinois coach Ron Zook and his staff putting on yet another public tutorial about how to let a winnable game get away, the Wildcats strung together enough money plays to down the confounding Illini 21-16 in front of 60,523 at Memorial Stadium.

NU (7-4, 4-3 Big Ten) led 7-3 at the half and 21-3 early in the fourth quarter. But it took a steel-gripped interception by tumbling cornerback Sherrick McManis at the Illinois 35 with 32 seconds left to seal the smiles.

''We need to prepare better mentally to come into a game,'' Wildcats coach Pat Fitzgerald said. ''But to our young men's credit [and] our staff's credit, we kept on battling and found a way to get the win.''

The victory was NU's sixth of the season against a sub-.500 team and essentially assured Fitzgerald and his happy travelers of a bowl game somewhere up-oven from the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl in Detroit.

The loss closed any hope Zook and his confused corps have of reaching bowl eligibility this season. For purposes of optimizing the future hopes of the program, that might prove to be a blessing.

''I told our team that we didn't play well enough to win,'' Zook said. ''We don't need to go around blaming people. There's no use blaming people; that's what we've been doing all year. If you want somebody to blame, then blame me.''

Fair enough.

With the Illini (3-7, 2-6) clinging to the ball and a 3-0 lead 1:07 before halftime, Zook elected to have redshirt freshman Jacob Charest, who was making his first career start, throw the ball from his own 43.

Wildcats middle linebacker Nate Williams intercepted the pass, and quarterback Mike Kafka redeemed the airy gift with a 28-yard scoring pass to Zeke Markshausen five plays later.

''It felt really good going into the half knowing that we had some momentum built up,'' said Markshausen, who led NU with six catches for 104 yards.

''That drive was very important,'' said Kafka, who gutted through an afternoon on a less-than-perfect hamstring to finish 23-for-37 for 305 yards.

The resilient fifth-year senior kept Illinois on the ropes in the third quarter when he engineered a 99-yard scoring march that featured a 52-yard strike to Andrew Brewer. Kafka finished the drive with a one-yard sneak to make it 14-3.

Zook kept his team off-kilter by pulling Charest, who had started in place of injured Juice Williams, at the beginning of the second half in favor of rocket-shoed Eddie McGee.

With McGee determined to run to daylight, the Illini flailed through a third quarter in which they failed to gain any yards passing.

Zook's tinker-toying allowed the Wildcats to push to their 21-3 lead when an 80-yard march crossed over into the fourth quarter and ended with a one-yard touchdown blast by Arby Fields.

That hole induced Zook to bring Charest back, and Illinois finally gained some offensive push. The young quarterback alternated short passes with determined runs by Jason Ford to move 80 yards in 11 plays.

Charest, who finished 14-for-27 for 145 yards, scrambled from 10 yards out for a touchdown, but the ensuing two-point try failed. Then the Illini tried a hard onside kick that NU specialist Hunter Bates snared.

After Stefan Demos missed his third field goal of the day, Illinois capitalized, scooting 80 yards in eight plays. Charest tagged Chris Duvalt with a 32-yard pass to make it 21-16 with 4:06 left.

The Wildcats managed three first downs on their next possession before stalling, and a punt put the Illini in risky business at their own 21 with 1:14 left.

The orange and aahs peaked when Charest just missed a wide-open Duvalt long down a seam on first down. After an incompletion, a nine-yard toss to McGee set up the denouement. Charest looked left and threw right, and McManis pulled the ball off prone Illinois receiver Jarred Fayson for his game-clinching pick.

The officials reviewed the play, but the decision on the field stood.

''The man ran a route; I executed and made a play,'' the soft-spoken McManis said. ''The refs made the call, and it was the right call. I got the ball, and we won the game.''

And visions of Christmas in Detroit drifted away from the happiest 7-4 team in the FBS.

NU 21, ILLINOIS 16

9/12 Illinois State W, 45-17

9/26 at Ohio State L, 30-0

10/3 Penn State L, 35-17

10/10 Michigan State L, 24-14

10/17 at Indiana L, 27-14

10/24 at Purdue L, 24-14

10/31 Michigan W, 38-13

11/7 at Minnesota W, 35-32

11/14 Northwestern L, 21-16

11/27 at Cincinnati 11/6 TBA

12/5 Fresno State 11:30 a.m.

9/5 Towson W, 47-14

9/12 E. Michigan W, 27-24

9/19 at Syracuse L, 37-34

9/26 Minnesota L, 35-24

10/3 at Purdue W, 27-21

10/10 Miami (Ohio) W, 16-6

10/17 at Mich. State L, 24-14

10/24 Indiana W, 29-28

10/31 Penn State L, 34-13

11/7 at Iowa W, 17-10

11/14 at Illinois W, 21-16

11/21 Wisconsin TBA

NORTHWESTERN (7-4)

ILLINOIS (3-7)