Northwestern’s 22-21 loss to Western Michigan on Saturday may not have been shocking. The Wildcats were just six-point favorites coming into the contest against a Broncos team picked to win the MAC.
The way that the Wildcats lost, however -- with the defense getting pushed all over the field -- qualifies as a stunner.
All summer, the media sung the praises of “The Franchise”, middle linebacker Anthony Walker, and Northwestern’s stalwart defense. Walker himself said that his veteran unit was looking to be the best in the nation in 2016.
On Saturday the Wildcats didn't even have the best defense on the field.
Western Michigan was supposed to have an explosive offense but very few people outside of Kalamazoo expected them to completely dominate the game. Just consider the numbers.
The Broncos piled up 416 total yards -- 218 through the air and 198 on the ground -- more than all but two of Northwestern’s opponents a season ago. Zach Terrell completed 26-of-36 passes for 218 yards and a touchdown against Northwestern’s “Sky Team” that finished third in the nation in pass efficiency defense in 2015. Running back Jamauri Bogan ran for 105 yards and a touchdown and wide receiver Corey Davis caught seven passes for 70 yards.
In all, the Broncos held the ball for a whopping 39:04 as Northwestern’s vaunted defense was unable to get off of the field. They converted 7-of-17 third downs. Zach Terrell somehow scrambled for 18 yards on a third-and-17 in the second quarter, and Jamauri Bogan gained six yards on third-and-2 late in the fourth quarter to seal the game.
But even if the Broncos failed to pick up a third-down conversion, they showed absolutely no fear on fourth, going 4-for-4 on their attempts. That includes a fourth-and-goal from the 1 with 5:38 left to give Western Michigan its final margin of victory.
The drive chart on the stat sheet no doubt made head coach Pat Fitzgerald cringe after the game. The Broncos mounted four drives of 10 plays or more: 19-, 10- and 16-play drives that ended with field goals and a 12-play drive that netted a touchdown. Those four drives alone took 20:53 off the clock and sapped the Wildcats’ defensive legs on a hot and sunny day in Evanston.
Northwestern’s defense also failed to create a single turnover and registered just one sack, by linebacker Brett Walsh on a blitz.
And Walker, the superhero character with a lunchbox and a logo? He was mostly quiet -- more Clark Kent than Superman -- registering just seven tackles and not a single TFL.
For most of the game, it was impossible to tell which was the Big Ten team and which was from the MAC. Western Michigan’s offensive line was able to control the line of scrimmage and neutralize a Northwestern front seven that dictated the tenor of most games a season ago. The Wildcat front four was unable to mount any consistent pressure on Terrell, who, for the most part, had all day in the pocket to pick apart Northwestern's secondary.
It was two days short of a full year ago, on Sept. 5, 2015, that Northwestern’s defense turned in a sterling effort to upset Stanford and set the tone of what turned out to be a 10-win season. The defense that walked off the same Ryan Field on Saturday looked a lot different than that one.
