Takeaways: Purdue 32, Northwestern 14

Here are our takeaways from Northwestern's 32-14 loss to Purdue at Wrigley Field on Saturday:

The Northwestern defense was dealt a rough hand at Wrigley, and came away with mixed results. Purdue had six trips to the red zone and the Cats held them to a touchdown and five field-goal attempts.

The Boilermakers made four out of five three-pointers, but Northwestern was consistently able to staunch the bleeding once Purdue got inside the 20. The Cats were holding strong and forcing field goals, but the statistic still stands that the Boilermakers scored on seven straight drives from 2:29 in the first quarter until the game ending kneel-out drive with 2:09 in the fourth quarter.

The problem was Purdue didn't always need to get to the red zone to be dangerous. The Cats were gashed all day by Purdue's passing game and wide receiver Milton Wright. Quarterback Aidan O'Connell finished 29-39 for 423 yards and three touchdowns, two of those were 45+ yard completions to Wright.

David Bell is normally Purdue's star, but Wright outshone him to the tune of eight catches for 213 yards and three touchdowns. It was a rough day for the Sky Team as Wright was able to consistently use his size, speed and route-running ability to take the top off the Northwestern defense for long touchdowns.

Bell still made his presence known with 12 catches for 101 yards, but when his running mate breaks 200 yards, he gets second billing.

After the Iowa and Wisconsin defenses stifled Northwestern to the tune of 93 and 114 rushing yards, respectively, Evan Hull, Andrew Marty and Andrew Clair broke free against Purdue. On the Northwestern touchdown drive in the third quarter, the Cats ran the ball 13 out of 14 plays in a dominant 65-yard trip to the end zone.

It was the most that Northwestern has run Marty by design all season. Excluding sacks, he finished with nine carries for 32 yards. Hull was a workhorse, carrying the ball 25 times for 96 yards and a touchdown.

They made these great strides behind a new offensive line configuration. Center Sam Gerak and guard Josh Priebe were ruled inactive before the game, so the Wildcats had to cobble together a new lineup. The Cats held Peter Skoronski and Ethan Weiderkehr constant at the tackles, moved guard Charlie Schmidt over to center and plugged in Dom D'Antonio and Ben Wrather at the guard positions.

The new combination clicked early and the Northwestern running game came out swinging. Later in the game, in the fourth quarter, the line struggled during a crucial stretch.

Down 29-14 with under six minutes remaining at the Purdue 43, the line surrendered four straight sacks that snuffed out Northwestern's drive and gave the Boilermakers the ball at the Wildcat 35.

An incidental onside kick when Purdue kicker Ben Freehill slipped on the Wrigley grass but hit a short squb that was recovered by the Boilers to start the second half. It is hard to seriously blame Northwestern's kickoff-return unit when even Purdue had no idea it was coming, but it was still a special teams gut punch that led to Purdue starting both halves with the ball.

"It sounds like our season," said head coach Pat Fitzgerald.

The Boilermakers capitalized with a touchdown, albeit failing to convert their two-point try, and took a 19-7 lead before the Cats offense hit the field.

NU kicker Charlie Kuhbander continued his tough season as his 38-yard attempt in the first quarter was blocked by the Boilermakers. That makes Kuhbander 6-for-12 on the year, and two for his last five.

The Cats have been using Kuhbander sparingly because of his inconsistency. It has been a disappointing season for the kicker who has been the starter since 2017.

Marty got the start, and though there were two second-quarter drives helmed by Hilinski, he secured the job for the rest of the game -- and maybe for the season finale at Illinois next week as well.

Marty threw a touchdown pass to Marshall Lang to end the first half, but he got the reins and he got Northwestern's offense moving because of his ability to pose a running threat alongside Hull.

Northwestern ran Marty nine times in this game, and threw the ball just nine times in the second half. He is coming off a pair of rocky games against Iowa and Wisconsin, when he threw a combined six interceptions, but the opportunity to play a defense that doesn't count itself among the nation's elite was helpful for Marty and the offense.

His passing stats were solid: his final line was 10-14 for 93 yards and a touchdown. But Northwestern's offense became so centered around running the ball in the second half that it is hard to draw conclusions from his passing.

Hilinski made one more appearance for the final drive of the game where he threw an interception. He finished 8-for-11 for 66 yards and the aforementioned pick.

Offensive coordinator Mike Bajakian seems to like the dual-threat aspect that Marty brings, and this performance has all but sealed him in as the starter the rest of the way.

While Northwestern didn't like the outcome, the Wildcats couldn't have been happier about having the opportunity to play at Wrigley Field.

Fitzgerald began his post-game press conference by thanking a long list of people for helping to make the Wildcats' second game at Wrigley Field -- and first since 2010 -- a success.

"I thought Wrigley was spectacular," said Fitzgerald.

His players agreed.

Defensive tackle Joe Spivak, a native Chicagoan, called it "a blessing" to play in the venue. While several players slipped or lost their footing on the grass during the game, Spivak said that the field was "great."

"It was a really special day out there," he said.

"The environment was amazing," said Hull. "Just the history of Wrigley Field, just to be a part of this. The facilities are amazing, too... Win or loss, it was a great experience."