Here are three things we learned about the Minnesota game, two questions we have moving forward and one bold prediction about the future as the Wildcats prepare to host sixth-ranked Penn State on Saturday.

1. There's a lot of fight left in these Cats

For most of Saturday night, it looked like Northwestern was spiraling towards a second-straight lopsided defeat. Minnesota went up 31-10 with 2:11 remaining in the third quarter, and Northwestern was, for all intents and purposes, left for dead. NU did their best Undertaker impression over the next 17-plus minutes, coming all the way back to pull off a 37-34 overtime stunner.

A Northwestern offense that couldn't do much of anything through 11 quarters against Power Five defenses was suddenly unstoppable, scoring three touchdowns in the fourth quarter. A defense that had been sliced seven ways to Sunday for most of the night stiffened and continued to get the ball back to the scorching-hot offense.

Northwestern pulled all this off after playing an incredibly sloppy first half to dig themselves such a formidable hole. Ben Bryant missed an open AJ Henning downfield twice early to leave points on the field. Henning put the ball on the turf and gave Minnesota the ball at the NU 9-yard line to set up the first Gopher score. The Cats were dinged for 67 penalty yards in the opening half, too.

Impressively, NU flushed all of that and came out of the break a new, determined team. After all this group has been through, between going 4-20 over the last two seasons and a scandal that got their coach fired two months before the season, a lot of teams would've thrown in the towel when Minnesota went up three scores late. Not this Northwestern team. They stuck together, just like they did this offseason and kept fighting until they had pulled off one of the most improbable comebacks Ryan Field has ever seen.

"I kept going up and down the sideline and this is what I keep coming back to with this team," interim head coach David Braun said. "For the first time since I've been here, you look in their eyes, you looked at their body language and they weren't flinching."

There were countless opportunities for Northwestern's locker room to fracture over the last two-plus months, but it never has. And that togetherness came through big time under the lights on Saturday.

2. Perseverance pays off

Bryce Kirtz had seven catches for 59 yards on the season coming into Saturday night. He blew both those numbers out of the water in one of the best single-game performances by a wide receiver in Northwestern history.

The redshirt senior made the Minnesota defense pay for stacking the box to the tune of 10 catches for 215 yards and a pair of trips to paydirt. The 215 yards rank fourth-most in a game in school history, just 11 off the record.

Kirtz got the Northwestern scoring started with an 80-yard catch and run off a double move in the second quarter. The Indiana native came up huge again on NU's second-to-last touchdown drive of regulation. It took NU only three plays to go 69 yards and cut the Gopher lead to just seven. All three of those plays went to Kirtz.

It wasn't easy for Kirtz to have a moment like he did against Minnesota. He came to Northwestern with considerable fanfare as a highly-rated three-star recruit who picked NU over an impressive offer list. His knees just wouldn't cooperate during his career in Evanston.

"I've had four knee surgeries over the past four years," Kirtz said. "Tonight really brought it all to light and it really just showed me why all that hard work and all that time in the training room paid off."

On a night where sticking with it was the prevailing theme for NU, Kirtz was a fitting star. At any point in the last four years Kirtz could have given up when his body let him down again, but he kept coming back to try and help his team. He did more than just help on Saturday.

3. Ben Bryant is the man for the job

The backup quarterback is the most popular guy among any struggling team's fanbase, and Northwestern was no different. Calls for Brendan Sullivan to replace Bryant grew louder every week from fans.

It's safe to say Bryant silenced his doubters for a while with the masterpiece he turned in against Minnesota. The sixth-year senior completed 33 of 49 passes for 396 yards and four scores, all while not turning the ball over.

Bryant left a couple huge plays out there in the first half when he missed Henning on a post twice, but after halftime he was nothing short of surgical. The final drive to take NU 80 yards in the final two minutes was a level of quarterback play Northwestern hasn't had in years.

The game-tying touchdown featured Bryant showing off his veteran savvy manipulating Minnesota safety Tyler Nubin with his eyes before coming back to his left and firing a strike to Henning in the middle of the end zone.

When Northwestern needed a hero down the stretch, Bryant donned the cape and gave Northwestern the veteran quarterback play they've been sorely missing since Clayton Thorson graduated in 2018 (except for one season of Peyton Ramsey in 2020).

After his game-winning toss to Charlie Mangieri in overtime, Bryant put his hands to his head in disbelief, and rightly so, after all of the drama that unfolded at Ryan Field. But one thing became clear: Bryant will be the quarterback no matter where 2023 takes the Cats.

1. Is Ryan Field a tough place to play?

Pictures of Northwestern's rather timid field storming made the rounds on social media and people got a good laugh after the miniscule Ryan Field crowd made their way onto the field to celebrate the improbable win.

Minnesota certainly didn't have to go to a silent count, but the numbers through four games don't lie: Northwestern is 2-0 and averaging 37.5 points per game at Ryan Field so far, and 0-2 while averaging 10.5 points per game on the road.

Northwestern will welcome their toughest test of the season, home or away, to Ryan Field this weekend, when No. 6 Penn State makes the trip west. The Cats will look to build on the comfort level they've built up at home against one of the best teams in the country.

NU may not have a raucous crowd behind them when they're at home, but the familiar surroundings clearly pay dividends. Maybe a comeback win for the ages over Minnesota paired with a top-10 opponent coming to town will get a few more fans to stay in the stands and increase Northwestern's budding home-field advantage.

2. Can the defense continue momentum from a strong second half?

After a bit of a rough first half, Northwestern's defense held Minnesota in check over the final 30 minutes plus overtime. Minnesota only managed 10 points after halftime, as the Wildcat defense got comfortable and kept the Gophers within striking distance while the offense heated up.

The overall numbers still weren't great. NU allowed 397 total yards, including 198 on the ground to Minnesota freshman Darius Taylor. The Cats also failed to take the ball away.

Still, the way the defense clamped down in the second half against a team that had their number in the first half is a good sign. The coaches are pushing the appropriate buttons, and the players are responding to those changes. Even with a thin defensive line group due to injuries, the NU defense got stronger as the night went on. That improvement will be put to the test next week.

The Nittany Lions offense will present challenges Northwestern hasn't seen yet this year with their collection of talent all across the board. Still, Drew Allar is a young quarterback who will be making only his fifth collegiate start, and if NU can find a way to make him uncomfortable, the Cats have a chance to continue the positive momentum on D.

David Braun will be a serious contender for the full-time job.

With eight games left, there's still a wide range of outcomes for Northwestern's 2023 season. Braun, though, has made a strong case for having the interim tag dropped from his job title with more wins through four weeks than they had all of last season.

Wins are important, and what will ultimately decide Braun's job status at the end of the year. But what Braun has done off the field will make him a serious contender regardless of how the final two-thirds of the season go.

Braun has shown a remarkable ability to connect with players. The fact that only one projected contributor left the program during the 30-day transfer window after the hazing scandal and subsequent coaching change speaks to Braun's ability to keep everyone invested. The 21-point comeback against the Gophers speaks to the same point.

This team believes in their coach, and he believes in them. It wasn't a guarantee that whomever got tasked with replacing Pat Fitzgerald after 17 years would be able to keep everyone pulling in the same direction, but Braun has done that and then some.

"I lost my brother a month ago," safety Coco Azema said. "First things first, [Braun] was like, ‘Hey, do you need to go home? What do you need? Do you need me to come there, do you need me to come to the funeral?’ Seeing that guy care for us so much, it's never wavering. No matter what happens, he didn't blink, and he got down to his role. I want to go fight for somebody like that."

There's optimism that Braun and his team can put together a couple more wins before it's all said and done. But no matter what happens, Braun's relationship with the locker room and his ability to connect with the players while keeping everyone together will make him a strong candidate to become the full-time head coach after the 2023 season.