After two embarrassing defeats, Northwestern has the perfect opportunity to get back on track this week at Purdue. The Boilermakers are coming in off a bye week but are still reeling on a six-game losing streak.

Purdue parted ways with offensive coordinator Graham Harrell after a 1-3 start and replaced him with Jason Simmons. The Boilers have the 118th-best scoring offense in the country, but the Cats can't throw stones from their 123rd-ranked glass house.

Purdue has played heavyweights like Oregon and Notre Dame, as well as a ranked Illinois team, but are still allowing an astronomical 38.4 points per game, nearly double Northwestern's 22.1 mark. So even though the Wildcats haven't scored a touchdown on offense in two weeks, they enter this game as 1.5-point favorites.

Can Wildcat head coach David Braun snap the Wildcats' own skid and resurrect the offense on the road? Or will Purdue head man Ryan Walters right the ship out of the bye week and win his first Big Ten, not to mention first FBS game, of the season?

Our staff weighs in with their picks.

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After another misguided upset pick last week, I'm looking to get back on track right with the Wildcats. Quarterback Jack Lausch has thrown for 200+ yards and under 100 yards three times apiece through six starts, and has an even TD:INT ratio at 4:4 through his six starts. I think Northwestern's offensive line gets Josh Thompson back at right guard this week, gives Lausch some more time to operate and the Wildcats' offense gets back on the scoreboard a few times.

Running back Cam Porter has been getting healthier but hasn't rushed for more than 50 yards since Eastern Illinois. Against a Boiler defense allowing 215 yards on the ground per game, he'll be able to put his imprint on this game.

On the defensive side of the ball, the Wildcats have an opportunity to set the line of scrimmage and dictate, and this time they should actually get some support from the other side of the ball.

Fearless Forecast: Northwestern 20, Purdue 14

This one is pretty simple to me.

Both Northwestern and Purdue are struggling offensively. As bad as Northwestern has been, the Boilermakers are scoring an average of just two points per game more than the Wildcats are on the season. More importantly, Northwestern has a way, way WAY better defense, and if you had to pick one side of the ball to better better on, it would be the D.

Purdue has a decent running game, but the Wildcats will bottle up Devin Mockobee and try to make the Boilers one-dimensional. You have to figure that the return of Hudson Card at quarterback will give Purdue a boost, but they didn't exactly light it up when he was in the lineup earlier thus season, either. Plus, their plan to rotate both he and Ryan Browne could become a problem.

As for Jack Lausch and the beleaguered Northwestern offense, they just need to take care of the football and take what the defense gives them. And the Boilers' defense has been giving up a lot all season.

I say the offense finds a little bit of a groove, the defense dictates the terms of the game and the Wildcats get a much needed W.

Fearless Forecast: Northwestern 23, Purdue 14