EVANSTON, Ill. (AP) -It seemed Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald was talking about the same player as he analyzed first his own quarterback, Mike Kafka, and then the one the Wildcats must contain Saturday - No. 17 Wisconsin's Scott Tolzien.
``He's very accurate. He puts the ball where it belongs. He doesn't make a lot of bad decisions and he's done a really good job,'' Fitzgerald said of Tolzien, who cut up Michigan with four TD passes last week.
Kafka? He had his fourth 300-yard passing game of the season in a victory over Illinois a week ago. Fitzgerald offered this assessment of his quarterback.
``He makes everyone around him that much better,'' Fitzgerald said. ``He's done a tremendous job taking care of the ball, leading our offense and making the plays he's capable of without doing too much.''
Which QB plays better might decide Saturday's game between the Badgers (8-2, 5-2 Big Ten) and the Wildcats (7-4, 4-3) in the schools' first meeting since 2006.
Then again, it could boil down to Northwestern's defense - led by coordinator Mike Hankwitz, who held the same position at Wisconsin from 2006-07 before he was not retained by coach Bret Bielema - against the Big Ten's best running attack and leading rusher in John Clay.
The Badgers are averaging 208 yards per game rushing and Northwestern's defense, behind linebackers Quentin Davie and Nate Williams, is giving up only 125 yards per game on the ground. Wisconsin's been even stingier against the run, yielding just under 100 yards per game.
``I think in this league, even though the spread (offense) is the pretty thing to do, if you're able to run the football effectively, and if you're able to stop the run, you're going to have a good chance to win football games,'' Bielema said. ``That's what we've been able to do.''
The Badgers, who play Hawaii in the season finale, have put themselves in position for a 10-win season and an attractive bowl bid. And they've done it with a balanced offense featuring Clay, Tolzien and wide receiver Nick Toon, son of former Wisconsin and NFL receiver Al Toon.
Clay is averaging 112 yards rushing per game and gained 151 yards against Michigan last week to go over 1,000 for the season. Bielema said his running back should be in any conversation about the Big Ten's offensive player of the year.
Kafka will be playing his final regular-season game and showed improved mobility after hurting his hamstring and missing the second half of a loss to Penn State two weeks ago.
Since that setback, the Wildcats have won back-to-back road games at Iowa, ruining the Hawkeyes' undefeated season, and Illinois to put themselves in position for a New Year's Day bowl game.
The Wildcats haven't been to consecutive bowls since going to the Rose and Citrus following the 1995 and 1996 seasons with Fitzgerald as their star linebacker.
Kafka is No. 2 in the Big Ten in total offense - he's been a running threat all season when healthy - at 256 yards per game.
The last time the teams met - a 41-9 Wisconsin victory at Camp Randall Stadium in 2006 - the Wildcats' starting quarterback was Andrew Brewer, who has since changed positions. Brewer, at 6-foot-3, 215, is now one of Kafka's top targets and is averaging 16 yards per catch. Former walk-on Zeke Markshausen has 76 catches, second most in the Big Ten.
``Northwestern, even though they're in a spread-it-out league, they like ball control,'' Bielema said. ``They like the underneath passing game.''
