Takeaways: Maryland 31, Northwestern 24

Here are our takeaways from Northwestern's 31-24 loss to Maryland in College Park, Md., on Saturday.

Sullivan sparked the offense: Northwestern head coach Pat Fitzgerald said that he made the decision to start Brendan Sullivan at quarterback instead of Ryan Hilinski last week. The decision worked, at least for the first half.

Sullivan led the Wildcats to 17 points in the first 30 minutes, matching its season average per game. Sullivan connected with Malik Washington for a 46-yard pass, and drew a couple pass-interference calls on a couple other long throws. He finished 18-of-24 passing for 143 yards and TD, and added 53 yards and another score on the ground.

“I thought he played gritty and gave us a chance to win the football game,” said Fitzgerald.

But in the second half, Sullivan made a pair of mistakes that helped Maryland rally for the win. He threw an interception in the third quarter that Maryland turned into the game-tying touchdown. He also threw a deep ball that got intercepted on what turned out to be the Wildcats’ last snap of the game.

“I wish I could get that one back, but I can’t,” he said.

Still, Northwestern’s offense scored 24 points, more than they have since Week 3. Sullivan’s ability to make plays with his feet gave the Wildcats a dynamic offensively they’ve missed all season.

Third-quarter mistakes let Maryland take the lead: Northwestern didn’t turn the ball over, converted 5-of-8 third downs and outgained the Terrapins 197-176 to take a 17-10 lead into the locker room at halftime.

But in the third quarter, the Wildcats fell into their pattern of making critical mistakes and allowed Maryland to take the lead.

There was the interception by Sullivan on the first drive that allowed the Terrapins to tie the game. Sullivan said that he just misread the coverage and threw to Thomas Gordon short instead of the post route that was open.

“That’s completely on me,” said Sullivan.

Tight end Marshall Lang was called for holding to wipe out a first-down run, and NU eventually punted. Then, Rod Heard II was called for defensive holding to negate a third-down stop and give Maryland an automatic first down.

That proved costly a few plays later when Billy Edwards Jr. found a wide-open Rakim Jarrett on the sideline for a 30-yard TD.

“It’s not one call, it’s not one player. Unfortunately, it’s been a one-man breakdown here and there,” he said.

Hemby’s 75-yard TD run irked Fitzgerald: Northwestern came back to tie Maryland 24-24 on Andrew Clair’s 9-yard touchdown run with 3:34 left. Suddenly, the Wildcats, who were on the ropes just a few minutes before, were back in the game.

But on Maryland’s first play, Roman Hemby broke a tackle and sprinted 75 yards for the touchdown. That was the backbreaker that turned out to be the game-winner.

“We cannot continue to make critical mistakes down the stretch [that it takes] to win football games,” said Fitzgerald.

On Hemby’s run, Maryland blocked well at the point of attack, a cornerback missed the tackle and then Hemby “outran our entire defense” to the end zone, according to Fitzgerald. The missed tackle was an example of the errors that have cost the Wildcats all season.

“That’s unacceptable from all of us,” he said.

Northwestern has now allowed 11 plays of 40 or more yards this season.

Gallagher's career night wasn't enough: Northwestern middle linebacker Bryce Gallagher was everywhere for the Wildcats against Maryland. He made a career-high 16 tackles, including seven solos, and 2.5 TFL, including 1.5 sacks.

In the process, he became the first Northwestern player to register at least 15 tackles and 2.5 TFL in a game since his position coach, Tim McGarigle, did it back in 2005.

But Gallagher wasn’t interested in saying much about his performance because the Wildcats didn’t win the game.

The defense registered a season-high four sacks and made Maryland punt on its first three drives. But over the next six drives, the Terps scored four touchdowns and a field goal. The only stop the Wildcats got was on Chad Ryland’s missed field goal.

“When it comes down to it, we’ve just got to execute and do our job,” said Gallagher. “At times, we played great defense.” But other times, they didn’t – like on Hemby’s 75-yard touchdown run.

“Our coaches always tell us, ‘When the moment gets the biggest, you just have to focus on fundamentals and what you have to do,’” he said.

In the end, the result was the same: There were some things to be excited about on Saturday.

Under Sullivan, the offense looked better than it has since the season-opener. Early in the game, the defense was flying around and making plays. It brought back memories of, if not the 2020 team that finished 10th in the nation, then maybe one of the Wildcat squads that made four straight bowls from 2015-18.

But then, the Wildcats seemed to revert back to their 2022 selves in the second half, when they made the mistakes that ultimately cost them the game.

That’s the bottom line. Northwestern lost its sixth straight game on Saturday. Dating to last season, they’ve won just one of their last 13 games overall, and are 2-11 in the Big Ten.

Yet Fitzgerald was resolute that the same old tactics would get the Wildcats out of their death spiral.

“Just keep coaching the guys, just keep influxing competition to get the guys to play consistent and get the guys to play the game,” he said. “That’s all I know how to do, bud.”