You can guarantee that Northwestern fans, including the wad of students who will be headed to Indianapolis next week, are really hoping this is coming out of an abundance of caution.
On its official injury report Friday, Northwestern announced that Flynn Nagel will not play in Saturday’s game against Illinois. The standout wide receiver suffered an unspecified leg injury during last Saturday’s win over Minnesota.
In the grand scheme of things, the Fighting Illini game has almost no meaning except to the Wildcats’ final record. NU has already clinched the Big Ten West title and a spot in the conference championship at Lucas Oil Stadium next Saturday night regardless of what happens later on today.
After Week 13, Northwestern will go on to play the winner of this afternoon’s Michigan-Ohio State game on Dec. 1.
As for Nagel, the senior leads the Wildcats in receptions (64) and receiving yards (746). The next closest in both categories are Cameron Green‘s 45 catches and Bennett Skowronek‘s 506 yards.
