Northwestern beat Nebraska 21-13 on Saturday at Ryan Field to improve to 3-0.
Here are our five takeaways:
Ramsey hung in there: It was a rough first half for quarterback Peyton Ramsey, who was just 5 of 12 for 51 yards. The senior only completed one of his final seven passes and underthrew two passes that led to interceptions.
The second half, however, was different from the start. He ran for 16 yards to convert a crucial third down on the 'Cats' opening drive. Two plays later, he connected with John Raine for a two-yard score.
In the fourth quarter, Ramsey calmly engineered a strong drive and hit Riley Lees for a 10-yard touchdown to extend Northwestern's lead.
Ramsey hung in the pocket and took numerous big hits while trying to make a play downfield. He was sacked just once but was hurried nine times and had to be helped off the field once after landing awkwardly on his ankle. One of his most impressive throws of the day came on a 20-yard strike to Bryce Kirtz as he got hit after rolling left.
One of the keys to being a successful quarterback is having a short memory, and Ramsey put a rocky first half behind him to lead his team to the win. However, the Wildcats need to protect their senior leader better if they want to continue winning.
First-half turnovers costly again: After opening the game with an 80-yard touchdown drive, Northwestern really struggled to get out of its own way during the first 30 minutes for the second time in as many weeks.
Last week it was two fumbles that led to a 17-0 deficit after a quarter at Iowa. This week, it was a pair of interceptions as the Wildcats fell behind 13-7 at the half.
Ramsey underthrew a pair of passes that were both picked off by Husker safety Myles Farmer, who started because starter Deontai Williams was sidelined for a half due to a targeting call in Week 1. Nebraska turned those gifts into 10 points.
Northwestern was able to overcome the slow start by forcing turnovers of their own in the second half and Ramsey bouncing back, but the Wildcats can't put themselves into holes every week or it will start to cost them.
Defense bends but doesn't break: Northwestern's defense has shown flashes of dominance early on in this season, but they struggled to find that form on Saturday.
The Cornhuskers racked up 442 yards of total offense, even if they managed just 13 points. The Wildcats' continued strong red-zone defense, and a pair of interceptions inside the NU 2-yard line, held Nebraska at bay.
The first pick was a great play by Brandon Joseph, who read Adrian Martinez's eyes and made a leaping grab in the end zone. The second pick came after pass-interference calls against Greg Newsome and JR Pace inside the NU 5-yard line that many, including head coach Pat Fitzgerald, took issue with. Luke McCaffrey's pass bounced up into the air off of a Nebraska lineman's helmet, and Chris Bergin was right there to pluck the ball out the air and end a serious Nebraska threat.
Nebraska's only touchdown came when the Cornhuskers started at the NU 3-yard line after a Ramsey interception. Otherwise, the defense held serve in the red zone and either forced a field-goal attempt or a turnover.
As Bergin put it after the game, "Three (points) ain't going to beat us."
Signal-callers run wild: Nebraska has used two quarterbacks this year, and both of them are very mobile. Martinez and McCaffrey combined to run for 151 yards on 21 carries, three more than Northwestern's entire team, and averaged a little more than 7 yards per carry.
The rest of the Husker ballcarriers ran for just 73 yards and an average of 3.2 yards per carry.
Granted, Martinez and McCaffrey are among the most athletic quarterbacks in the Big Ten, but getting gashed on the ground by quarterbacks was one of the main reasons Northwestern's defense allowed so many yards between the 20s to the Huskers. One one play, Martinez ran for 19 yards on a quarterback draw on third-and-11 from his own 7-yard line.
Fitzgerald and Bergin both mentioned the need to be better containing QBs after the game, so this is something defensive coordinator Mike Hankwitz and his staff will work to correct
Special teams shine: Outside of Venric Mark and Solomon Vault, Northwestern hasn't found much success in the kick return game in the last decade. At least for one game, Kyric McGowan and Riley Lees changed that.
McGowan took the opening kickoff of the second half 36 yards, setting Northwestern up at their own 39. Northwestern would later cash in this field position with the go-ahead touchdown.
Lees also split a pair of defenders for a 36-yard punt return. That set Northwestern up at the Nebraska 44, and Lees would soon find the end zone himself, on a 10-yard pass, to extend Northwestern's lead.
Not to be outdone by the returners, punter Derek Adams punted six times, pinning Nebraska inside their own 20 on four of them. His long was a 58-yard bomb that completely changed field position late in the third quarter.
Other than Charlie Kuhbander costing Northwestern points with a missed field goal, Jeff Genyk's units were among the main reasons Northwestern was able to pull out another come-from-behind victory.
