Seniors Nate Hall and Jordan Thompson will miss Northwestern’s matchup with Utah in the Holiday Bowl due to surgery. Both defensive starters revealed they underwent surgery — Hall on his shoulder and Thompson on his knee — in two separate tweets Friday afternoon.

Hall missed last year’s Music City Bowl after tearing his ACL in the lead-up to the bowl game last December. He rehabbed with Clayton Thorson and returned against Purdue, though he missed three games later in the year due to a lower-body injury. On the season, the senior tallied 51 tackles, including 5.5 for a loss. He also snagged three interceptions, tied for the most on the team.

As underrated as any Wildcat, Thompson was one of the Big Ten’s best defensive tackles in 2018, per PFF College. He tallied a career-high six tackles for loss and three sacks. No. 99 also forced two fumbles, one to help NU seal a win over Wisconsin, and the other in the Big Ten Championship game. Thompson played in 51 games in his Northwestern career.

Chris Bergin will likely take over Hall’s role as the SAM linebacker on Dec. 31, while Alex Miller will presumably fill in for Thompson inside.