The Mike Bajakian Era got off to an explosive start in Week 1 against Maryland.

The Wildcats’ offense put up 537 yards and 43 points in a stunning 40-point demolition of the Terrapins. With new offensive coordinator Bajakian calling plays and new grad transfer quarterback Peyton Ramsey at the controls, the Wildcats produced more points than they had scored in a Big Ten game since 2016.

Since that sizzling start, however, Northwestern’s offense hasn’t generated nearly as much heat. They started with a bang but have been reduced to a whimper.

Over the last two weeks the offense has averaged a pedestrian 295 yards and 21 points per game against Iowa and Nebraska. The Wildcats were outgained by their opponents in both contests and would rank dead-last in total offense in the conference based only on those two games.

Of course, as head coach Pat Fitzgerald pointed out during Monday’s press conference, the newly minted, No. 23 Wildcats won both games, which is why they are sitting atop the Big Ten West this week at 3-0.

“That’s all that matters,” he said.

Fitzgerald went on to say that two things were responsible for the offense’s relative regression. First and foremost is the defenses they faced.

“Nebraska and Iowa both are much improved defensively,” he said.

Iowa has the No. 3 defense in the Big Ten and Nebraska is ranked eighth despite playing Ohio State in Week 1. Maryland is still ranked 12th, even though the Terrapins have posted consecutive wins after they were taken to the woodshed by Northwestern in the opener.

The other thing is that the Wildcats are making mistakes, and plenty of them. Even in that impressive performance in the opener, Fitzgerald saw plenty of flaws.

Fitzgerald rattled off a litany of improvements his offense has to make. Pad level on the offensive line. Sustaining blocks, particularly along the perimeter. What he called errors in “pitching and catching” – open throws that weren’t made, mistimed routes.

He also cited penalties and turnovers. Northwestern was flagged an uncharacteristic eight times for 64 yards against the Huskers. And while the Wildcats’ defense has gotten a lot of attention for their takeaways this season – their eight interceptions lead the Big Ten – over the last two weeks, NU’s turnover margin is 0, as they have lost as many turnovers as they’ve gained (five).

Ramsey, who went 23 of 30 (76.7%) for 212 yards and one touchdown passing against Maryland, has seen his numbers fall across the board, going a combined 27 of 45 (60%) for an average of 150 yards per game, with a total of two TDs and three interceptions. Likewise, the running game that ripped off 325 yards against the Terps has averaged 179.5 yards per game against Iowa and Nebraska.

The offense’s saving grace has been its performance on third- and fourth-down. The Wildcats have converted 25 of 51 third downs, an average of 49.0% that ranks fourth in the Big Ten. They are also a perfect 6-for-6 on fourth downs, the most conversions in the conference.

Fitzgerald summed it up by saying, “We’ve got to get a lot better. Even in the opener – maybe we had a lot of yards and we had a lot of points – but I still don’t feel like we’ve played cleanly.”

They’ll get an opportunity to do that at 2-0 Purdue on Saturday night in a game that could put the winner in the early driver’s seat in the Big Ten West – though the specter of idle Wisconsin, which has played just one game due to a COVID-19 outbreak, still looms over the division.

The Boilers boast the No. 1 passer (Aidan O’Connell), No. 1 receiver (David Bell) and No. 2 rusher (Zander Horvath) in the Big Ten, so they could score some points against the stingy Wildcat defense that is allowing just 12.0 points per game and has carried the team through the first three weeks.

But the good news for Northwestern’s offense is that Purdue’s defense is allowing 466 yards per game and is ranked 11th in the league.

This would be a good time to make the improvements Fitzgerald identified.