EVANSTON-Northwestern flipped the script at Ryan Field, entering as double-digit underdogs and leaving with a 33-27 win over the reeling Terrapins.
After a nine-point effort against Nebraska, the offense came out like gangbusters. They produced the first 14-point first-quarter since September of 2021 against Ohio. Quarterback Brendan Sullivan silenced doubters with a masterful performance through the air, finishing 16-for-23 for a career-high 265 yards and two touchdowns.
Maryland's star quarterback, Taulia Tagovailoa, more than doubled Sullivan's attempts. His last one went right into the arms of Coco Azema, who snared the interception before it could hit the Ryan Field turf to clinch the win.
With just 1:25 on the clock and Maryland out of timeouts, the Wildcats ran out the clock and secured their fourth victory.
Here are our takeaways from Northwestern's upset win over the Terps:
Best game of Sullivan's career: Quarterback Brendan Sullivan has been much-maligned (and I would know having done some of the maligning), but he unimpeachably delivered today.
Tying his career high in touchdowns and exceeding his previous high in yards by 89, his stellar play was the key to Northwestern's upset win.
Sullivan's accuracy and arm strength were the best we've seen in his career. He threaded the needle on a 23-yard touchdown pass to Bryce Kirtz in the first quarter and finished with six different completions for 20 or more yards.
On top of that, Sullivan proved that the added weight to take on more hits hadn't detracted from his mobility as a dual threat. He finished with 14 carries for a game-high 56 yards, though he could maybe use some lessons on sliding or going out of bounds to avoid unnecessary hits.
"I promise we don't coach that," interim head coach David Braun said ruefully after the game.
Braun was effusive in praise for Sullivan, calling him "a warrior."
Sullivan said Braun's support meant a lot coming from "a man I respect and a man I love."
He did stand by his choices in the open field, though.
"If it means getting a couple extra yards, I'm going to take the hit," he said.
Defense delivered after whirlwind change in style: Last weekend, Nebraska's Heinrich Haarberg threw the ball 17 times against Northwestern. Tagovailoa nearly tripled that for Maryland on Saturday. But Northwestern's defense responded with a vintage bend-don't-break performance, allowing 391 yards and 27 points, but coming up with two crucial turnovers and twice keeping the Terps out of the end zone when they were within five yards of the goal line.
"I've got to be honest with you, there was a point in the first quarter where I asked our defensive staff, 'Have they tried to actually run a traditional run play yet?'" Braun said with faux-bewilderment. "[They responded] 'I think twice so far.'
"Our guys did a great job of adjusting. Sometimes against teams like that, you have to be careful about being so, 'We want to stop the run and make an opponent one-dimensional.' You can become so committed that you can expose yourself in the passing game. Our staff did an incredible job, and our guys were great at adjusting in-week but also in-game."
One of the biggest adjustments was the pass rush, where junior Aidan Hubbard, who came into the game with two sacks, sacked Tagovailoa three times.
"It was being in the right place, and dedication every week," Hubbard said about his breakthrough. "Put in the work every day and it's a group effort. The D-line was getting after the quarterback and it allows for other guys to make plays."
Linebackers Bryce Gallagher and Xander Mueller chipped in a sack a piece, and so did grad transfer Reggie Pearson, the nose tackle who marauded through the offensive line to envelop Tagovailoa on a crucial third-and-14 at the start of the fourth to force a punt.
Special teams make for a special team: Kicker Jack Olsen continues to star this season. After several seasons with inconsistent or borderline non-existent kicking, Olsen went 4-for-4 against the Terrapins, drilling kicks from 19, 29, 33 and a career-high 47 yards against the Terrapins.
Olsen's four field goals represented the last 12 points of the game for the Wildcats. He has made seven of eight attempts over the last two weeks, with only a 54-yard miss.
Olsen has become an invaluable weapon for an offense that, while explosive early, can still be suitably classified as inconsistent. Thanks to his kicks, the Wildcats converted on all six of their red-zone trips against Maryland, in one way or another.
"It's complementary football," Sullivan said about his team's kicker. "Having the special teams set us up with great field positions or convert [in the red zone], that gives the offense confidence."
All of Northwestern's goals are ahead of them: You thought you could escape the team's beloved catchphrase after a loss to Nebraska? Not so fast!
Wide receiver AJ Henning donned a 1996 Rose Bowl hat for the postgame press conference, and while a return trip for the purple to Pasadena (the Rose Bowl is a CFP Semifinal location this season) may be off the board, a bowl game is assuredly not.
After falling to 3-4 with last week's loss to Nebraska, and facing three teams with winning records in Maryland, Iowa and Wisconsin, a bowl game seemed like a pipe dream for Northwestern. But the Wildcats clawed back and pulled off yet another double-digit upset at home to return to 4-4. Now, they need just two more wins in their final four games to earn eligibility.
"I would just say, watch out!" Henning said. "This team has everything we want ahead of us. We're going to be consistent in our preparation and keep putting it all out on the field every week.
"Look forward to [seeing] this team continue to play hard, continue to fight for one another and battle until the very end."
Out of deference to Henning, it's also worth noting that if the Wildcats win out and Nebraska loses two more games, then Northwestern will represent the West in Indianapolis. (Seriously.)
Braun getting used to the power of the podium: Sitting in the press conference, it was hard to believe that Bran who addressed the media was the same one who tried to run out the clock with a filibuster at Big Ten Media Days to avoid questions from reporters.
On Saturday, he delivered several different motivational messages that could make their way onto the walls of Northwestern's locker room.
When asked about the second win as double-digit underdogs, his voice filled with emotion.
"You know what? Those oddsmakers aren't sitting in our building," he said. "They're not in our position rooms. They don't know the heart that exists in that [locker] room. They don't know the purpose that drives these guys. We'll let guys make our odds and we'll just go back to work."
As mentioned earlier, Braun described Sullivan as "a warrior" and then took that one step further, intimating that his quarterback is playing for his teammates, and not NIL money.
"We talk about, frequently, the difference between warriors and mercenaries," he said. "Warriors are purpose-driven. They know their purpose, they know why they're playing.
"I don't use that word lightly. Sully knows what he's playing for. He knows his purpose. Mercenaries are...we all know there's pay for play, they fight for pay. Here, we have a bunch of warriors in that room, and Sully embodies that."
Even with one of the sparsest Ryan Field crowds of the season, Braun's team sung the fight song to a small group of students after the game. (The attendance was officially 19,286 but in reality may have been half of that.) Braun thanked those fans who showed up and threw in a wink to one of his and his operations staff's changes, coming back to the team's old locker room on game day.
"There's a rich tradition, lot of history here," he said. "A fan base that is extremely passionate. To have our fanbase waiting for us off the bus, to have our band playing for us, the student section showing up in black out... Our guys sense that and feed off of it.
"It's been a great transition this year getting back into the old locker room, getting over here and getting our pregame warm ups. You can just tell that our guys have a sense of pride for not only what they're doing but what has come before them."
You certainly can't argue with the results: the Wildcats are now 4-1 on their home turf, compared to 0-3 on the road.
Braun wrapped up by evoking the Northwestern program's apex; the 1995 Big Ten champions.
"When you walk in the facility, you see the Rose Bowl emblem," he said. "There's so many things about this place that make it special."
Any anxiety or nerves Braun may have had with the media at the beginning of the year are now gone. Now he's learning how to use the podium to build his program. And if he keeps this up, it might end up being just that: his program.
