CHICAGO,- Northwestern had seen this game before, and they didn't like the ending.

A 38-28 to No. 23 Illinois on Saturday at Wrigley Field capped off a stretch of five losses in six games for the Wildcats, who finished 4-8 and relinquished The Hat to the Illini.

"We're all frustrated," head coach David Braun said about the team's record. "You want to be honest at the beginning of the season, but you never want to limit yourself... Results were far from what we're looking for. There were spurts of really good football, but very few examples in the last five weeks of us putting four quarters together."

The Wildcats looked harried and hectic on offense, switching erratically between 10-game starter Jack Lausch and true freshman Ryan Boe, who saw the first action of his college career. Neither made much of a dent in the Illini. Lausch finished 25-for-48 for 287 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. Boe's debut was uninspiring with 4-for-13 passing for 42 yards, an interception and a fumble after being sacked.

"It was turnovers on offense and [allowing] explosive plays on defense," Braun said. "That took us out of position to win this football game. Honored to have a chance to coach this group of seniors."

You can add frustrating game management and red-zone inefficiency to that list. The Wildcats, trailing 14-10 late in the second quarter, went from a second-and-5 at the Illinois 13 to fourth-and-18 and a missed 44-yard field goal attempt after taking a delay of game with two timeouts left and an 8-yard sack on third down.

"Operationally there is no excuse," Braun said. "It can't happen and I wish I had that one back. I thought we were going to get the ball off but it's inexcusable... I have to call that timeout."

On top of four turnovers from the two quarterbacks, the Wildcats were futile on drive after drive into Illinois territory. They scored just two touchdowns and two field goals in six trips inside the 20, with both touchdowns coming after the Illini had built a 28-10 lead.

Here are our takeaways from Northwestern's 2024 season finale.

Northwestern cycles through quarterbacks in 2024 but found no answer: Braun protested there was a pattern to the swaps between Lausch and Boe, one that would be kept confidential. But that pattern was enigmatic in the eyes of fans and pundits alike.

Northwestern changed quarterbacks with all the precision of a game show contestant spinning a wheel. A select few of the more puzzling sequences: Lausch completed a pass for 25 yards and was replaced on the next play by Boe. Lausch completed a pass for 12 yards and again checked out for Boe, who handed the ball off to Cam Porter for 16 yards, then came out for Lausch.

Lausch had a five-play, 32-yard drive brewing, featuring three completions for 21 yards. He was subbed out for Boe, who fired incomplete, then reinserted. Out of rhythm, Lausch fired an incompletion of his own, right tackle Ben Wrather was called for a false start and the drive was dead. The list goes on and on.

Braun's method at quarterback has mostly been one of trust, allowing a signal caller to find a rhythm and flow in the game. Even though Northwestern threw the ball an obscene 61 times against the Illini, neither Lausch nor Boe was given room to build any kind of momentum until the game was well in Illinois' hands.

"We felt like Ryan brought quality in terms of some of his access throws, when teams are playing off or in soft coverage, where we could be advantaged, and the picture was clean with RPO and to push the ball on the perimeter," Braun said. "[When there's] a cloudy picture, hand the ball off for efficient plays and move the pocket for him to push the ball downfield... His package was very limited and we wanted him to be able to focus on that. There was a pattern [to the substitutions], but I won't go into detail on that."

Northwestern started two quarterbacks this season, Lausch and grad transfer Mike Wright, who was benched in favor of Lausch after two games. They used sixth-year senior Ryan Hilinski as the primary backup for most of the season. They finally got some reps for Boe, but not until the 12th game of the season. They left with no clear answer for who would be their starter next season.

The decision to go from Wright to Lausch was bold, but the right call. Wright may have been a steadier hand, but he probably wouldn't have swung any games this season, and time has been fond to his 1-1 start with zero passing touchdowns and three turnovers.

What was egregious was the decision to utilize Hilinski as the garbage-time backup this season instead of Boe. The staff's talking points about wanting to see a pocket passer make little-to-no sense in light of the fact that Hilinski is out of eligibility. His three late-season appearances all could have gone to Boe while keeping his redshirt intact.

At the end of the season, the future at quarterback is still cloudy. Lausch has shown flashes in Northwestern's two Big Ten wins. That doesn't sound like very many, but he joins Peyton Ramsey and Ben Bryant as the only quarterbacks to reach that mark in the same season since 2018. Still, he's still maddeningly inconsistent -- both of his interceptions on Saturday were poor decisions -- and he hasn't proven worthy of the job across a healthy, 10-game sample size.

Now the question is whether the Wildcats will go after a quarterback in the transfer portal. Braun was non-committal, saying that he has to look at all aspects of the team, not just the signal caller.

"Am I excited about Jack's progression? Absolutely..." Braun said. "Are we excited about Ryan Boe? Yeah, his time will come... But what we owe this football team and our next crop of seniors is to evaluate everything."

GAME RECAP: Cats lose The Hat to Illinois at frigid Wrigley to cap a frustrating year

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Wildcats say goodbye to graduating seniors: It was an unfortunate mixed bag for Northwestern's graduating class in this game. Wide receiver Bryce Kirtz and safety Coco Azema both left the game with injuries after battling so hard throughout their careers to be on the field for the Wildcats. Neither player was able to finish out their final games as captains.

AJ Henning capped his two-year run in purple in style, with 10 catches for 119 yards and a touchdown. The former Michigan Wolverine may be the most talented transfer that Northwestern has brought in in the portal era and served as a security blanket as the Wildcats tested out a series of quarterbacks this season.

"To finish my career here with this group... I feel like we went out swinging," Henning said. "I played every down like it was my last."

Braun was most impressed by Henning's consistency.

"He only missed one practice [this season], that is remarkable for a wide receiver," Braun said. "Coming from Michigan he could easily have an attitude of entitlement, but he missed one practice... We all saw the hit he took against Wisconsin, he was back that Tuesday. He took a couple hits today and guess what? Right back on his feet...

"His production was great today and this season, but who he is as a competitor is something our team should aspire towards."

Linebacker Xander Mueller capped off his career with five tackles, including 1.5 tackles for loss, while his protege, Mac Uihlein, led the team with 12 tackles.

Braun took a moment at the end of his press conference to reflect on what the class has meant to him and his family.

"These guys are my boys' heroes," Braun said. "And the way that they carry themselves, as a dad, you're like...man, there's no one else that I would want my boys looking up to."

Braun set to flip Northwestern on its head: A record of 4-8 is a frustrating result for a program that had set its sights on repeating a run to a bowl game after a Cinderella season resulted in eight wins in 2023.

Some of the Wildcats' struggles were out of their control. A year more of tape on Braun's defensive system at this level, an unsettled quarterback position, a harder schedule, two home venues -- the list goes on and on.

There are a litany of stats that Braun could use to explain what everyone agrees was a disappointing season. Yet his 12-13 record at the helm still marks the most wins by a Northwestern head coach in their first two seasons since Walter McCornack in 1903-04.

After losing the Hat to Illinois by a combined score of 88-17 in 2021 and 2022, the Wildcats were outscored 81-71 in 2023 and 2024, and split those games. The five-win Big Ten season in 2023 followed by a two-win 2024 campaign mark the first back-to-back seasons with mutliple wins in conference since 2017 and 2018.

Despite some puzzling game management and erratic quarterback play, Braun has raised the team's floor from the dismal seasons of 2019, 2021 and 2022. But his post-game remarks make it clear he's hungry to get back to pushing its ceiling.

"How do we evaluate [this offseason] to compete while aligning with Northwestern values, that's true to who we are but also true to the goals and aspirations that we have?" Braun asked. "It's challenging, daunting at times, confusing, frustrating, but we have a chance to really reimagine the way we do things at Northwestern for the last 10 years, five years, three years, three months. It's all going to be flipped on its head."

Part of the implied changes will be a healthy expansion of the team's NIL coffers, and a streamlined admissions process that will lead to a more active December transfer window, per WildcatReport's reporting earlier this week.

Braun's goals are clear: compete for conference championships and the postseason. He pointed out that just five seasons ago the Wildcats were ranked 10th in the nation and, in the current era, would have probably earned a College Football Playoff spot. And he's showcased an unabashed dedication to the pursuit of returning to those heights: he parted ways with five different coaches after the 2023 season and benched the grad transfer quarterback he recruited after two games.

Braun lost more games this season than he had since he was defensive line coach for a 3-8 UC Davis team in 2016.

"This is an opportunity to evaluate it all, reimagine it, ensure it aligns with Northwestern..." Braun said. "But also make sure it aligns with winning Big Ten championships. And I know [that will shock] some poeple, and I'm glad that's their reaction. I'm excited to embark on that challenge with this group."