Right now, nothing is going right for Northwestern’s offense. The Wildcats rank 93rd in the nation in rushing, 118th in passing and 119th in scoring.

They can’t run, they can’t throw and they can’t score. Other than that, they’re fine.

Take the game against FCS Eastern Illinois out of the equation, when they scored 31 points, and the Wildcats have scored just 33 points in three games against FBS competition – 13 against Miami (Ohio), 20 against Duke and just three against Washington (two came on a safety). That’s an average of 11 points per game. And that includes two overtimes against Duke, when NU scored a touchdown; without that, the average in regulation goes down to 8.7 points per game.

The bye week couldn’t have come at a better time for NU’s offense. The coaching staff will self-scout and figure out what they can do to jump-start an offense on life support. Hopefully, they’ll get a few key players back, too – like offensive linemen Nick Herzog and Jack Bailey, and running back Cam Porter, whom Braun said should be back for Indiana on Oct. 5.

So as offensive coordinator Zach Lujan and his staff pore through the game film and formulate game plans, here are our three ideas for improving the offense.

Running the ball has to be Northwestern’s offensive identity. They have a hammer of a running back in Porter. They also have an extremely green quarterback in Jack Lausch who is still getting his feet wet. Nothing will help Lausch develop more than a running game he can lean on.

The Wildcats’ best teams in recent years were ones that ran the football and played great defense. This team could yet turn into that, but the offense has a long way to go.

Porter should be the focal point of the offense, a guy who gets at least 20 touches a game so that he can wear down the defense. The offense is at its best when No. 1 has the ball under his arm. He’s averaging an impressive 5.3 yards per carry so far this season – though that number is helped by the fact that he missed the Washington game, where the Cats averaged a pitiful 2.3 yards per rush.

Northwestern also has Joseph Himon II and Caleb Komolafe as complementary backs, but Porter has to be the bell cow. He’s the guy that can move the pile and create a hole when there isn’t one there.

Right now, the Wildcats rank 16th in the Big Ten with 136.0 yards per game. That’s not going to cut it.

Head coach David Braun said after the game that he wants the Wildcats to get back to running the ball effectively.

“Again, when you talk about our brand football, it's balanced football,” he said. “It's keeping people honest. It's established in a run game. We're gonna have to get back to that. That did not show up tonight, that efficiency in the run game will show up and [then we can] play-action pass, and opening up the pass game. But that's something that we have to have to hang our hat on.”

Let Porter run behind his pads and stick with the run game, even if you don’t have success with it early.

Northwestern’s haplessness in short-yardage was on full display against Washington, when they ran eight plays from inside the Husky 4-yard line on consecutive possessions and were not able to punch the ball into the end zone. Himon had a 96-yard kick return that gave the offense the ball at the Washington 2, and they came away with nothing.

While Porter’s absence was certainly missed, the Wildcats have had problems in short-yardage situations all season. Against Miami (Ohio), they fumbled the ball at the Redhawks’ 1. Even against EIU, they were unable to convert a fourth-and-1.

It’s also a big reason that Northwestern is so abysmal on third down overall. They rank dead-last among Power Four teams, 127th nationally, with just a 27.5% conversion rate.

So what can the Wildcats do? Here are a few ideas:

Put Lausch under center: Lausch is a talented and physical runner – why not try a quarterback sneak? Getting Lausch under the center also means that a running back like Porter gets a running start and can get downhill quickly to slam into the line.

Run some option: The offensive line is struggling getting any push up front. The option means they will have to block one less player on the line of scrimmage – the guy they are optioning – and can use a double-team to the play side. Lausch is a legit threat as a runner, and he and, say, AJ Henning as the pitch or read man, can be a handful to defend.

Challenge the offensive line: Failing to “dent” the defensive line, as Braun called it, against Washington is one thing; but not being able to pick up a yard against EIU is unacceptable. The offensive line is dinged up, and you can’t do anything about injuries, but offensive line coach Bill O’Boyle needs to challenge his guys to find their inner brute. As Braun said after the Washington game, “It's not X's and O's, it's being able to move and puncture the line of scrimmage.”

As we stated above, nothing will help Lausch more than the running game. Then, he can throw some play-action passes behind it that will at least slow the rush that’s been unrelenting.

More than anything right now, Lausch needs to develop the timer that goes off in a quarterback’s head when he’s held the ball for too long and needs to get rid of it. It’s not there yet, and there have been several times in his two starts where he needed to just get rid of the ball.

Braun thinks it’s his quarterback’s major problem.

“You could tell…,” said Braun after the Washington game. “And there's sometimes he's about to pull the trigger and he's pulling it back down.”

(Though it bears mentioning that when I asked Lausch later in the press conference if he agreed with Braun, he said, “not really” and that he didn’t feel hesitant.)

Regardless, there are some things that offensive coordinator Zach Lujan can do to help Lausch with his play calling.

Add more screen passes, which are easy to complete and quickly get the ball to dangerous players like Henning in space.

Teams have no fear of playing man coverage and blitzing against the Wildcats, so run some slants, rub routes and crossers that are designed to beat man coverage and require Lausch to get rid of the ball quickly.

And how about sprinting Lausch out to get him outside of the pocket, where he can utilize his athleticism and only has to read half the field?

All those things will help.

It bears mentioning that we agree that Braun should stick with Lausch and give him a long leash to develop on the job. He showed in the second half against Eastern Illinois what he can be. Going back to Mike Wright makes no sense, as he’s a finished product in his fifth year of college football. It’s time to find out if you have a Big Ten-caliber quarterback in Lausch.