A quick start and a quick finish to the first half have allowed Northwestern to go into halftime tied with Michigan at 14-14.

Things started off promising for the Wildcats, which entered Saturday at 4-1 in Big Ten play, and in need of a win to stay alive in the conference championship race. Northwestern got on the board early in the first quarter, thanks to a Venric Mark touchdown run. It capped a 10-play drive, that spanned 78 yards.

Maybe more impressive though was Northwestern's touchdown before the half to tie things up at 14. It came on a six-play, 56-yard drive, which spanned just 1:28. The drive ended with a beautiful Kain Culter touchdown pass to Trevor Siemian.

Meanwhile, Michigan has had little trouble moving the ball on Northwestern as well. The Wolverines scored in the first quarter on an 8-yard touchdown run by Devin Gardner and followed it up with a 1-yard run by Thomas Rawls for their second score of the game.

Gardner, who is starting the second straight game for the injured Denard Robinson has been impressive, with 76 yards and another 48 rushing.