Northwestern put forth one of their more competitive efforts of the 2021 season and had a chance to steal a win from the 22nd-ranked Iowa Hawkeyes on the games final possession.

But the Wildcats couldn't come through and fell, 17-12.

Here are our takeaways:

The Northwestern defense that struggled through the first five games of the season was nowhere to be found under the lights in Evanston on Saturday.

The Wildcat defense played its heart out, and holding a team to 17 points should be more than enough to win. Iowa totaled 361 yards of offense, but yards don't win games, points do.

"I thought the defense did a really solid job. Not a perfect job, but (we) played a good game overall," said defensive tackle Joe Spivak.

Northwestern was led up front by Adetomiwa Adebawore, who had a sack and a quarterback hurry, and was a nuisance for the Hawkeyes all night. Linebackers Chris Bergin and Bryce Gallagher combined for 19 tackles. Safety Brandon Joseph played downhill all night and helped in the run game, racking up nine tackles.

It has to wear on a defense to do everything you can and still come up short because of things out of your control. Defensive coordinator Jim O'Neil's unit never gave in though. They fought until there was no time left on the clock, getting a three-and-out to give the Cats a chance to win it on their final drive of the game.

It's hard to find positives in a season like this but the development of guys like Coco Azema and Gallagher, and the defense's turnaround, have been bright spots.

Andrew Marty made his second career start on Saturday night and it did not go as planned.

"Obviously, today did not go the way that I wanted it to," said the fifth-year senior. "I hold responsibility for a lot of the mistakes that happened."

Marty had sparked the offense in his previous two appearances this season, against Duke and Minnesota, but Northwestern was as anemic as ever against Iowa. The Hawkeyes boast an elite defense and that certainly played a factor in some of NU's struggles, but Marty did not put the offense in a position to succeed.

His throws were consistently high all night, making it tough for receivers to make plays. In the second quarter, after a Raymond Niro III blocked punt, Marty had tight end Marshall Lang running free in the end zone, but he missed his target and ended up sailing the ball off the crossbar.

He also ended the night with three interceptions, the latter two being particularly egregious. Both times he had pressure coming in his face and threw the ball up for grabs. It cost Northwestern a promising drive the first time and was the final nail in NU's coffin the final time.

Some of Marty's throws were reminiscent of what got Hunter Johnson benched earlier in the season. Especially behind an offensive line like Northwestern's, the ability to handle pressure is paramount to a quarterback's success.

NU has started three different quarterbacks this season. While Marty had been the best of the bunch in his two previous appearances, his extended playing time against Iowa showed the inconsistency that has kept him a backup throughout his career.

Head coach Pat Fitzgerald really hurt his team on Saturday and it wasn't because of a play call or decision.

Northwestern was facing a 17-3 deficit in the third quarter and managed to drive all the way from their own 3-yard line down to the Iowa 6, where they had a first-and-goal. Marty looked for Lang over the middle, but Lang appeared to be taken down by an Iowa defender in the end zone. The Ryan Field crowd wanted a flag for pass interference, which would have given the Wildcats a first down at the 1-yard line. The flag never came.

Instead, the flag came for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on Fitzgerald, apparently for going onto the field.

The officiating crew was already at odds with Northwestern over what placed the Cats at the three-yard line to start the drive. NU had JJ Jefferson and Niro III back to return the kick following an Iowa field goal. Jefferson signaled for fair catch, but the ball was angled towards Niro III, who caught it and attempted to return it. The officials ruled that since Jefferson signaled fair catch, but Niro III was the one to catch ball, NU would not get the ball at the 25-yard line, but rather at the 3, where it was caught.

Fitzgerald was livid on the sideline after that call and appeared exasperated after the takedown of Lang was ruled incidental contact. Whether or not he deserved to be called for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty is up for debate, but the 16-year veteran coach took responsibility and apologized to the team after the game.

"I have to be more disciplined, I can't step on the field," he said.

Emotions run high in a tightly-contested game, so Fitzgerald's frustration was understandable. But drawing a penalty is inexcusable with an offense that's struggling as much as Northwestern's.

The Wildcats shoot themselves in the foot enough as is is. They don't need their coach doing it, too.

Offensive coordinator Mike Bajakian was hired to resurrect Northwestern's offense after the dead duck that was the Cats' offense in 2019. He, Peyton Ramsey and Ramaud Chiaokhio-Bowman managed to string together enough drives last season to get Northwestern to at least respectable on the offensive side of the ball. The unit's lack of big plays hurt them in the team's two losses, but it was much better than 2019, so it was fine.

Through nine games in 2021, however, does the offense look all that different from the 2019 unit that got previous OC Mick McCall fired?

The offense is so bad that Niro III not being able to score on his blocked punt was devastating. NU started with the ball at the 9-yard line. It seemed like a daunting task for them to even get those 27 feet and find the end zone. The offense did a whole lot of nothing; their best play was getting Iowa to jump offsides, and they ended up just taking a field goal.

Fitzgerald seemed to consider going for it on fourth down but had second thoughts after a timeout. "I felt like we psychologically needed points," he said.

The red zone has been a problem area for Northwestern all year and that continued on Saturday. Northwestern cannot move the ball in any area of the field, but it becomes especially dreadful inside the opponent's 20.

Bajakian called a couple trick plays that were ill-advised and failed. Northwestern can barely execute normal plays, so expecting them to run a trick play seems like a bridge too far.

Whereas NU's defense has gotten better throughout the season, the offense has gotten worse. NU scored 21 points week one against Michigan State but scored more than that just once against a Power Five team (23 in a loss to Duke). They are averaging 11 points during their current three-game losing streak.

A unit not improving as the season goes on is usually a sign of poor coaching; this one is getting worse. A lemon of an offense with untenable quarterback play was enough for the notoriously loyal Fitzgerald to make a change in 2019. While it's doubtful that he'll make similar move after this season, it's clear that something has to change moving forward.

It may seem hard to believe, but Northwestern actually out-gained Iowa in this game, 363-361. It was only by two yards, but NU's offense outgaining anyone is nothing short of a miracle.

The Wildcats couldn't finish drives, though.

"We gave ourselves opportunities to win that game, and that's what hurts the most," Marty said.

Niro III's blocked punt set Northwestern up needing only nine yards to score a touchdown. The drive ended with a field goal. Later, NU's first sustained drive of the day had them six yards away from paydirt. That drive also ended with Charlie Kuhbander trotting onto the field to kick a three-pointer after Fitzgerald's penalty.

Two drives later, the Wildcats had a first-and-10 at the Iowa 25-yard line. Marty had a free rusher coming off his right side and made a poor decision to heave the ball into the end zone, where it was easily intercepted by Jemari Harris. On Northwestern's last gasp drive, Marty did essentially the same thing, floating a pass down that sideline that was picked by Dane Belton. That's four drives that were killed by NU mistakes.

Iowa turned the ball over zero times and committed five fewer penalties for 35 fewer yards. Iowa didn't beat themselves and let Northwestern dig their own grave.

Under Fitzgerald, Northwestern's MO has been playing mistake-free football and winning tight games. He has won more one-score games in his tenure than any other Power Five program.

That hasn't been the case in 2021, and their record shows it.