The 3-2-1 going into Week 11

Here are three things we learned about the Iowa game, two questions we have moving forward and one bold prediction about the future as the Wildcats prepare to head to Camp Randall Stadium and take on Wisconsin.

1. The game of football took a step back.

Everyone expected an ugly game between Iowa and Northwestern on Saturday. What actually took place at Wrigley Field was beyond most people's wildest dreams, or nightmares.

There were plenty of jokes coming in about the potential for a baseball score, and that's exactly what happened. It wasn't even particularly close to the highest-scoring game at Wrigley Field in 2023, which featured 29 runs. The Cubs played in six games at Wrigley this year with higher scoring totals than the 17 that NU and Iowa produced Saturday. The Cubs themselves scored 17 or more twice at home in 2023. To say points, and yards, were at a premium would be putting it mildly.

At halftime, Northwestern had been tagged for 51 penalty yards and had gained only 29 yards of offense. The 0-0 halftime score didn't even do justice to the level of offensive ineptitude that was on display. The quicker both teams punted, the better; for no reason other than it prevented either offense from creating a disaster.

Neither team topped 100 passing yards for the game, and the two offenses combined for just 339 yards of offense. For context, 99 teams across college football individually average more than 339 yards per game this season. The Bears played at Wrigley Field for nearly 50 years starting in 1921, just 15 years after the forward pass was born. The forward pass may have died Saturday at Wrigley Field.

A hole big enough to bury the forward pass opened up in the field during the fourth quarter. After Iowa stuffed Northwestern on four straight plays from the two-yard line, it looked like a small explosion had taken place inside the 5-yard line. Calling the hole that was created in the Wrigley Field turf a divot would be a tremendous injustice. The game was delayed multiple times as sod was brought in via wheelbarrows and buckets while the grounds crew attempted to fill in the crater.

No one expected anything pretty from the Wildcats and Hawkeyes, but one of the worst combined offensive outings of the college football season on a field that was literally falling apart was more than almost anyone saw coming.

2. Northwestern's defense continued their upward trajectory.

Iowa's offense certainly isn't scaring anyone. In fact, it's been so bad in 2023 that their interim athletic director announced last week that offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz would be fired at the end of the year. All that aside, Northwestern's defense turned in another admirable performance.

Northwestern limited Iowa to just 10 points and 169 total yards. The Hawkeyes were held to 4-of-12 on third down, and Iowa's only touchdown came after a blocked punt gave them the ball on the Northwestern 25-yard line. The game-winning field came on a 52-yard bomb. Northwestern gave Iowa absolutely nothing easy and kept the team in the game while the NU offense did a whole lot of nothing for a majority of the game.

The defense was led by a Herculean performance from linebacker Xander Mueller. The Wheaton, Ill., native made a career-high 19 tackles, with 1.5 coming for a loss. He also added one pass breakup for good measure.

After six sacks a week ago, Northwestern got Iowa quarterback Deacon Hill on the ground twice. Aidan Hubbard continued his hot streak, registering his fourth sack over the last two games. Jaylen Pate came up with a huge strip sack in the first quarter to knock Iowa out of field-goal range.

The NU secondary also came up with a turnover for the third week in a row when Theran Johnson picked off Hill in the end zone in the second quarter to stop yet another drive.

Over the last four games, Northwestern is allowing just 18.5 points per game. Unfortunately, the team is only 2-2 in that stretch as the offense continues to sputter. But the Northwestern defense has improved significantly week-to-week under new coordinator and interim head coach David Braun.

3. Northwestern has a penalty problem.

Northwestern was called for pass interference twice on Iowa's opening possession, and that was indicative of the kind of day it was going to be for the Wildcats.

In total, NU was penalized seven times for 71 yards. A number of them came on offense, where Northwestern can ill afford to lose yards.

Braun didn't seem especially concerned about the worrying trend of penalties.

"Those subjective penalties, when our guys are playing aggressive and playing really hard, we're not going to over-analyze those," he said. "Those officials have a difficult job on their hands...we'd rather have an aggressive football team that occasionally gets penalized than a passive team that plays scared to get a flag thrown."

There's no need for Northwestern to play scared, but limiting the amount of times they shoot themselves in the foot would go a long way. Saturday's flag barrage came after Northwestern was called for eight penalties totaling 75 yards two weeks ago at Nebraska, and six penalties for 69 yards a week ago against Maryland.

The lack of discipline is becoming more than a trend and starting to look like a characteristic of this team.

1. How did Northwestern let another one get away?

Two weeks ago, Northwestern lost an exceedingly winnable game at Nebraska. After the game, Braun talked about how much that hurt the team. Well, just two weeks later the Cats went and did it again, letting Iowa escape the Friendly Confines with a win.

The simple answer for how Northwestern let it happen again is themselves. The Wildcats made too many mistakes on Saturday, and the defense's outstanding performance couldn't cover for all the self-inflicted wounds.

The biggest mistake of the game, and really what cost the Wildcats a win, was getting a punt blocked to open the third quarter. Northwestern got the ball to start the second half, lost seven yards in three plays, and sent Hunter Renner on to punt. Iowa's Anterio Thompson got a hand on the punt, setting Iowa up with the ball on Northwestern 25-yard line. The Hawkeyes scored to go up 7-0 seven plays later.

That short field was the only time Iowa got close to scoring a touchdown on Northwestern's defense. Without that mistake, NU's single touchdown very likely would have been enough for the Wildcats to walk out of Wrigley Field with a win.

NU's seven penalties certainly didn't help either. Neither did center Ben Wrather snapping the ball when quarterback Brendan Sullivan wasn't looking leading to a loss of 17 yards that hamstrung the Wildcats' only promising drive of the first half.

Northwestern has an incredibly small margin for error with the challenges their offense has scoring points. The mental mistakes have to be kept to a minimum over the final three games, or else Northwestern is going to let more winnable games slip through their fingers.

2. What happened on the goal-line stand?

One of the biggest moments of the game was Northwestern being unable to pick up two yards in four plays late in the fourth quarter. After Bryce Kirtz was interfered with in the end zone, NU got the ball at the Iowa two-yard line trailing 7-0 with 8:38 to play in the game.

Northwestern first ran left with Cam Porter, who picked up a yard. Northwestern followed with a failed sneak by Sullivan, a stuffed run by Porter and one final attempt at a "tush push" with Sullivan that went absolutely nowhere. Iowa took over inside their own 1-yard line still clinging to the lead.

Whether or not Northwestern should have gone away from running up the middle on third or fourth down is up for debate. What is not up for debate is that a team has to be able to get two yards across four plays. They just have to, and Northwestern couldn't.

Strength and conditioning, and offensive line play are two areas that have been thorns in the Wildcats' side all season long. Both problem areas reared their ugly heads as Northwestern was manhandled at the point of attack on four consecutive plays on Saturday.

Mike Bajakian will not be retained as offensive coordinator, regardless of who Northwestern's head coach is in 2024.

After Saturday's clunker, Northwestern's offense is now at 16.5 points per game dating back to the start of the 2021 season. That is not going to win very many football games. And Northwestern hasn't.

Offensive coordinator Mike Bajakian hasn't done enough to warrant sticking around in 2024. Northwestern's new head coach, whoever it is, will bring in a new voice to lead the offense, and it will be the right move. Just in the last three weeks, Northwestern has lost games where their defense has allowed 17 and 10 points.

Braun continues to make the right statements and voice his confidence in his struggling coordinator, but even if he gets the full-time job, this situation is simply untenable. Bajakian was hired after 2019 to revive Northwestern's offense, but the unit is still flatlining four years into his tenure.

Northwestern currently ranks 126th out of 130 in yards per game, 129th in yards per play and 113th in points per game. Bajakian coordinates arguably the worst offense in America outside of Iowa City.

Northwestern isn't that far away from being in a much better position as a team. Better offensive performances against Nebraska and Iowa, and the Wildcats would be bowl eligible and in a great spot in the Big Ten West. The offensive struggles have held NU back. The coach next season will realize that and make a change at the top.