EVANSTON-Head coach David Braun cut right to the chase in his weekly press conference opening statement after a 23-3 home loss to Wisconsin.

"It was a frustrating performance on Saturday," he said. "We did not play our brand of football."

The Wildcats were disappointing in two of the three phases of the game. The defense got a pass after holding Wisconsin to less than half of what they averaged in their two previous games. The Wildcats struggled on special teams with a missed 52-yard field goal and a blocked 27-yard field goal. But the offense leads the pack far and away with what has to improve. The Wildcats were just 2-of-14 on third down and were held under 10 points for the second time in four Big Ten games.

"I think it comes down to first-down efficiency," Braun said on his team's anemic third-down conversion rate. "Our first-down efficiency right now correlates almost identically to what we're experiencing on third down. Some of those are [from] things that can be more consistent in our quick game, our RPO game, our run game, and way too many of those issues are penalty-related."

The Wildcats were flagged six times for 45 yards, with almost every one at a critical point in the game.

"We're challenging [our team] to fix this," he said. "We need to fix this [as a] coaching staff, we need to be solutions-based and figure this out, as well as putting our guys in advantageous situations."

Braun echoed that point when asked about his message to offensive coordinator Zach Lujan, whose offense fell under 20 points per game after last week's loss.

"It's being solutions-based and continuing to trust himself," Braun said. "You can't play in a state of living in the past or frustrated from the past. I think we've put together some really good plans together offensively. But with the [offensive] line situation this year, the amount of guys that we've played up front, it's not always conducive to consistent play.

"But the thing I'll say boldly: there will be no excuses here... We have to find a way to get it done. I fully trust we'll be able to do that. This team has shown they can bounce back after tough performances."

Braun continued to stand by his decision to make a change at offensive coordinator after last season, even as the low scoring has persisted. The Wildcats are scoring three points fewer per game this season than they did in 2023 under previous coordinator Mike Bajakian.

"We absolutely have the right people in the room," he said. "Are we seeing the production consistently out of that group that we'd like to? No. Everyone knows that...

"I've been on a lot of staffs that will sit in a postgame meeting and all they'll talk about is 'This guy didn't do this, or this guy didn't do that.' That's just a bunch of finger pointing.

"Our group comes comes back to work and says 'What do we need to do to put these guys in better situations?' And when you have a group of people like that, to me, that's a recipe for sustained success and a lot to look forward to."

Braun explains personnel decisions at left guard: One of the most surprising decisions of the Wisconsin game was the debut of true freshman Ezomo Oratokhai at left guard, in for grad transfer Cooper Lovelace, who had started since Week 2. Braun said there was no injury concern for Lovelace and that Oratokhai earned the snaps with his play in practice.

"We're letting those guys compete," he said. "[Ezomo] has shown some really good things in practice, especially in the run game. We saw how the flow of the game was going, how they were playing, and we went with the hot hand."

Braun's comments on the Monday before made it seem like Nick Herzog, the Week 1 starter, would be available again. But, although Herzog was in uniform and off the injury list, he still wasn't ready to go.

"Nick was able to practice last week but as the week progressed, some of the issues he's been dealing with continue to be nagging and lingering," Braun said. "We felt like between Mo and Cooper at left guard, that was going to be in the best interest up front."

Just a week after saying Herzog appeared "to be back in health and feeling himself", Braun cast doubts on Herzog's status heading into Iowa -- and for the rest of the year.

"We'll see how it plays out the remainder of the season," he said. "First and foremost we have to look out for his health, and not just his short-term health but his long-term health. That's something we'll evaluate in the next couple days and the coming weeks."

Northwestern has now started four different versions of its offensive line due to injury through its first seven games. Against Wisconsin, the Wildcats started different players than their Week 1 starters at left guard, center and right guard.

One bright spot: right guard Josh Thompson, who didn't play against the Badgers, is expected to return at Iowa.

Lausch is still learning: Having more experience up front will be huge for quarterback Jack Lausch, who had his second game with fewer than 10 completions since taking over the starting job.

Braun said that there are several ways the team can help Lausch find his footing and find come consistency.

"An established run game always helps, staying ahead of the chains, not creating first-and-15 or second-and-15 situations with procedural penalties," he said. "I thought he did some great things with his feet to create first downs, but part of it is trust in the pocket when the pocket is there for him...

"Jack knows that the performance he put on tape on Saturday wasn't his best, and he'll be the first one to tell you that he's hungry to get back to practice and improve...It's not always linear. I have full faith in Jack and everyone around him to bounce back."

Lausch has shown flashes and threw for more than 200 yards in three of his five starts, two of them wins. But his floor is still extremely low, with games against Wisconsin and Washington featuring fewer than 10 completions and 100 yards passing, no touchdowns and three combined turnovers.

Injury updates: The Wildcats have had several key injuries crop up in recent weeks, and while Braun has proved exceptionally cryptic or vague about their return timeliness, he gave some insight into who could be coming back.

Safety Devin Turner missed the bulk of the Maryland game, and all of Saturday's contest, but Braun is "very optimistic" that he will return at Iowa. Redshirt freshman Damon Walters has stepped up to fill the role and played admirably, so Braun signaled that even when Turner is back in the lineup, they'll find a way to get Walters on the field.

Wide receiver AJ Henning and linebacker Xander Mueller both went down with what looked like serious injuries during the Wisconsin game. Henning was eventually carted back to the locker room, and although Mueller stayed in uniform on the sidelines, reentering the game was never on the table.

Braun said that, in the moment, there was concern that both of their seasons could be over. But that worst-case scenario has been avoided.

"Really encouraging news coming out of Saturday in terms of long-term health for both," Braun said. "That was our concern first and foremost in scary situations was the potential of their long-term health.

"For their return to play [timeline], we'll know more [Monday] afternoon and [Tuesday], but both came out with a pathway to return, which is huge not only for this season but their futures beyond college football. That was good news after a long day."

With Braun's disclosure policies, it's hard to know if that means next week or the last week of the season, but it's good to hear that both players still may get back on the field in their final seasons.