Jared Thomas, a former Northwestern All-Big Ten center and captain, analyzes Wildcat football for WildcatReport.

Saturday night's loss to Iowa was the ninth game of the season for Northwestern, and former Wildcat center and captain Jared Thomas still sees a team that's searching for its identify on offense.

That's not a good situation to be in, according to Thomas.

"I feel like everyone is fishing for answers," he said. "They're just trying to put anything together that will stick."

Not much has stuck. The Wildcats have scored 33 total points during their current three-game losing streak. They have scored more than 14 points just once in their last five Big Ten games, against Rutgers.

Against Iowa, the Wildcats failed to score a touchdown on two trips inside the Hawkeye 10-yard line and had to settle for field goals. That's what ultimately decided the game.

Both teams scored three times: Iowa tallied two touchdowns and a field goal for 17 points, while Northwestern managed two field goals and a touchdown for 12 (a two-point conversion failed).

As Thomas stressed all season, a team should establish its identity in training camp, not in the second half of the season.

"At this point, the narratives should be about the quest for the (Big Ten) West (division), not deciding on the best way to put points on the board," he said.

Andrew Marty made his first start of the season at quarterback against the Hawkeyes and had an up-and-down performance. He threw for 270 yards -- the second-highest total for an NU QB this season -- and a touchdown, but he also threw three interceptions after making bad decisions with the football.

Thomas says that fits with Marty's boom-or-bust style of play.

"Marty is going to take some chances, that's who he is," said Thomas. "So when you ride with him, you're going to give up some turnovers sometimes."

In addition to the ill-advised picks, Marty missed a wide-open Marshall Lang in the end zone on the Wildcats' first drive into the red zone in the second quarter. Instead of cutting Iowa's lead to 14-7, they had to kick a field goal and it remained a two-score game at 14-3.

Thomas thinks that play was probably a casualty of the musical chairs Northwestern has been playing at the most-important position.

"If Marty had played all year, he probably makes that play," he said. "He hasn't played much this year (mostly because of a shoulder injury). You squeeze the ball a little too hard and the ball sails on you."

It looks like head coach Pat Fitzgerald is going to stick with Marty as the starter against Wisconsin on Saturday. On the depth chart the program released on Monday, Marty was listed as the No. 1, without even an "or" this time.

Just like in 2019, when Northwestern struggled through a 3-9 season, Thomas thinks that the quarterback position has been the primary problem for an unproductive offense.

"A lot of the lack of consistency we're seeing offensively goes back to who's back there (at quarterback)," said Thomas. "It trickles down everywhere else."

Fitzgerald inserted himself into the game on Saturday night, and not in a good way.

Northwestern's coach was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct when he went onto the field to argue that a pass-interference penalty should have been called on a Marty throw to Stephen Robinson Jr. into the end zone.

The infraction cost Northwestern 15 yards, and the ball was moved from the Iowa 6-yard line to the 21. The Wildcats couldn't overcome the loss of yardage and wound up setting for another chip-shot field goal to make the score 17-6, when it could have been 17-10.

A contrite Fitzgerald took full responsibility for his transgression after the game.

Thomas knows how much those 15 yards hurt a Wildcat offense that has struggled this season in the red zone -- and everywhere else, for that matter. But he can empathize with the coach's reaction.

"I understands Fitz's frustration," he said. "At a time like this, I'll take a head coach who's still fighting for his players and not giving up and quitting on the season."

While Northwestern's offense struggled, the defense "stepped up," said Thomas.

Iowa scored its two touchdowns on back-to-back drives in the first half, after inserting backup quarterback Alex Padilla into the game. But Iowa scored on just one of its remaining nine drives as the Wildcat defense allowed just three points in the second half to keep the game within reach.

What's more, after Northwestern scored a touchdown to pull to within 17-12, the defense forced a three-and-out and gave the offense the ball back with 1:51 left.

Unfortunately, the offense wasn't up to the challenge as Marty threw an interception on the first play of the possession to end the game.

"The defense did a solid job," said Thomas. "Iowa had to work for what they go, and that's all you can ask from your defense."

Northwestern's special teams, too, had a strong game. Ray Niro III blocked a punt and Charlie Kuhbander went 2-for-2 on field goals. Even if the kicks were very short, they were his first makes since the Ohio game in week four.

The fact that the Wildcats had an opportunity late in the game to steal a victory is a positive to take out of what was otherwise a disappointing loss, said Thomas.

"After everything that happened" -- the three interceptions, the questionable calls, the missed opportunities for scores -- "they still had a chance to win the game.

"You fight all game to have that last chance," he said. "It's what you run extra sprints for, that's what you spend an extra hour in the film room for, to put yourself in a position to have a chance."

Jared Thomas started 30 games for Northwestern from 2016-20, including the last 26 in a row at center. He was a member of the 2018 Big Ten West championship team and an All-Big Ten honorable mention selection and team captain in 2019. He now plays for the Massachusetts Pirates, who just won the 2021 Indoor Football League championship.