The 3-2-1 going into Week 9

Here are three things we learned about the Nebraska game, two questions we have moving forward and one bold prediction about the future as the Wildcats prepare to host Maryland.

1. Northwestern's defense was up to the task.

After two years of making sieves look stingy, the 2023 Northwestern defense has gotten much closer to the standard that legendary defensive coordinator Mike Hankwitz set during his tenure in Evanston.

The Wildcat defense turned in a vintage performance on Saturday in Lincoln. They flew around the field from the very first play of game — literally. On the first snap of the game, Nebraska quarterback Heinrich Haarberg threw behind his intended receiver and sophomore safety Devin Turner pulled it in to set the tone early. Two drives later Rod Heard II snared a deflected pass to create another turnover for the NU defense.

Unfortunately, Northwestern's offense turned those turnovers into a total of just three points. After a couple years of poor defense, Saturday represented a return to a frustrating place for Northwestern fans and players: a sterling defensive performance wasted by an offense that isn't even worthy of being called inept.

In total, NU kept Nebraska to 248 yards, just 85 of which came through the air. Haarberg completed less than 50% of passes. Nebraska was only 4-for-12 on third down, and NU had the aforementioned pair of interceptions. It was a dominant performance from a unit that left it all out on the field.

While it was a disheartening loss, there are many positives to take away from Northwestern's defense after seven games. Interim head coach and defensive coordinator David Braun has restored an identity and toughness to Northwestern's defense. The group plays hard and plays together; everyone is confident and knows where to be, things that were lacking over the last two years.

New defensive line coach Christian Smith has been a borderline miracle worker with his unit this year. With significant departures via the transfer portal this offseason, Northwestern was left with four defensive tackles to practice with this spring, only two of them being scholarship players. One of the transfer additions Northwestern made after spring ball, Matthew Lawson, suffered a season ending injury in the first game of the season. Despite all that, Smith has rounded the defensive line room into a group that has been able to hold their own in Big Ten play so far.

The turnaround on defense is a massive credit to Northwestern's players and coaches on that side of the ball. They worked tirelessly to get closer to the standard that had been set, and through seven games that work has paid off. It's just a shame they aren't getting any help.

2. Northwestern has a kicking game.

The list is long, but kicker was near the top of the list of positions where Northwestern struggled over their 4-20 2021 and 2022 seasons. Charlie Kuhbander had an absolutely dismal 2021, where he converted less than 50% of his field goals (6-13). Last year, Adam Stage was an efficient 7-for-9, but his range was severely limited. His season long was 35 yards, and he never attempted a field goal from 40 yards or beyond.

In 2023, Jack Olsen has stabilized NU's kicking game tremendously. The suburban Wheaton native was the only Wildcat to score on Saturday, converting three of his four kicks. His makes came from 45 (a career long), 37 and 25. The miss was from 54 yards out, but even that was perfectly on target and only came up a few yards short. With how abysmal Northwestern's offense is, having a kicker who can reliably turn stalled drives into points is tremendously valuable as NU tries to piece wins together coming down the stretch of the season.

Olsen's holder, punter Hunter Renner, had an outstanding day in Lincoln, too. Renner punted six times for an average of 43.5 yards. More importantly, four of those six were downed inside the 20, including a pair inside the five.

3. Lack of discipline doomed the Cats.

Northwestern has been consistently among the least penalized teams in the country over the years. But keeping flags off the field has been a struggle at times in 2023, and Saturday the penalties were crippling.

Northwestern was called for eight penalties for 75 yards against Nebraska. Memorial Stadium is a tough a place to play, but false starts still came too early and too often. Northwestern even managed to get called for a false start on play where Nebraska jumped offsides, but everyone on the NU offensive line was too slow to react and allowed the defensive player to reset onside before attempting to draw the penalty.

Caleb Tiernan was called for a debilitating false start when Northwestern faced third-and-3 to start the fourth quarter. Brendan Sullivan was sacked on the ensuing third-and-8, forcing Northwestern to punt from their own 6-yard line. Nebraska took advantage of the great field position following the punt and took a 17-6 lead on the next play.

Mind-numbing penalties weren't just reserved for the offensive line. After Northwestern improbably completed a forward pass when Brendan Sullivan found AJ Henning downfield for 32 yards, the Cats were set up at the Nebraska 22-yard line trailing by just four. On the very next snap tight end Thomas Gordon was called for an illegal low block that set NU back 15 yards. Olsen was then forced to attempt the 54-yard field goal that came up short.

Northwestern's offense makes moving the ball look hard enough without the penalties. The self-inflicted wounds make it impossible to score, and have to be cut out over the final five contests of 2023.

1. Where does Northwestern's offense go from here?

Saturday in Lincoln was about as low as it gets for an offense. Northwestern's offense was absolutely abysmal from start to finish. Northwestern's first three drives all started in Cornhusker territory, including one from the Nebraska 13-yard line. Those possessions turned into three points for the Wildcats.

Northwestern was limited by having a backup quarterback at the controls. Sullivan struggled again for the second straight start. He completed 12-of-23 passes for 176 yards. He did throw an interception, but it was on a Hail Mary attempt before halftime. The redshirt sophomore looked unsettled in the pocket again and struggled to quickly move through his progressions.

It's hard to completely blame Sullivan for feeling a little uneasy in the pocket. Northwestern's offensive line was dominated by the Cornhuskers’ defensive front. Sullivan was sacked a whopping eight times, and it would've been more without Sullivan successfully running for his life a handful of times. NU averaged only 2.1 yards per carry. That number was hurt by sacks, but there was absolutely nowhere to run all afternoon.

The personnel struggles are amplified by offensive coordinator Mike Bajakian's play calling that has been dumbfounding for years. The problems go hand-in-hand. On Northwestern's opening drive of the second half, Bajakian dialed up a screen to running back Cam Porter at the perfect time as Nebraska brought a blitz. Sullivan got the ball to Porter, and he needed one block from Tiernan to turn it into a big play. The left tackle whiffed and Porter was dragged down after a gain of six yards, and Renner came on to punt again.

Getting quarterback Ben Bryant back, whenever that will be, is going to help. Having a veteran who can get the ball out on time and on target will mitigate a lot of the issues Northwestern is facing. The problems go deeper than just quarterback play, though. Even with Bryant back in the fold, play-calling and the offensive line are still going to hold him back. Northwestern's offense isn't going to suddenly figure it out, but scoring double digits should not be too much to ask.

2. Where did the running game go?

On Northwestern's second field goal drive, the Cats ran the ball nine consecutive plays and picked up 73 yards. Northwestern combined for eight rushing yards on all the rest of their drives. The Cats gained only 12 yards rushing after that field goal drive.

A big catalyst if the success on the ground was Anthony Tyus III. The junior carried five times for 63 yards on the drive, including a big play of 39 yards. He had one other carry the rest of the game.

Northwestern had one drive where the offense was able to consistently move the ball on Nebraska's defense, and they did it on the back of a power running game led by Tyus. It defies all logic that Bajakian never went back to him.

With a backup quarterback playing behind an offensive line struggling to pass protect, it would likely have been in Northwestern's best interests to stick to what was working on the ground.

Mike Bajakian is going to make fans miss Mick McCall

It was a general consensus after the 2019 season that former offensive coordinator Mick McCall had overstayed his welcome in Evanston. He was replaced by Bajakian, who has managed to consistently field offenses on par with the 2019 group that cost McCall his job.

The incompetence of Bajakian-led offenses is reaching historic levels. Going back to the start of the 2021 season, NU has scored single digits in 11 of 31 games. That's failing to muster even a touchdown and field goal in 35% of games. It's almost impossible to believe that's true, but it is.

If Northwestern finishes averaging fewer than 20 points per game this season (currently at 20.1) Bajakian will become just the fifth Power Five coach since 2000 to coordinate three straight offenses that averaged fewer than 20 points per game.

McCall averaged fewer than 20 points per game only two times in 12 seasons at the helm of the NU offense. In one of those seasons, 2015, Northwestern won 10 games.

The 2019 offense that got McCall fired averaged 16.3 points per game. Bajakian's offenses are averaging 16.3 points per game over the last 31 contests going back to the start of the 2021 season.

Bajakian has been consistently as bad as the worst year of McCall's tenure, and there isn't much hope for improvement of the offense over the final five games of 2023.

It seemed impossible in 2019, but folks in Evanston may start missing their former offensive coordinator.