With a ton of elbow grease and a bit of good fortune, the ‘Huskers have snapped the ‘Cats four-game win streak.
Unlike Northwestern’s first two losses to Tulane and No. 6 Oregon, last Saturday against Nebraska showed the true grit and determination of David Braun’s squad. After a kick return touchdown to open the second half gave Nebraska the lead, NU punched back by driving down the field and breaking the goal line on back-to-back offensive possessions between the third and fourth quarters, and even
getting a golden opportunity to pull ahead following a Braydon Brus interception.
Despite momentum being on the side of the purple, it took one interception from Preston Stone to see the Wildcats’ hopes of bowl eligibility fade, at least for the weekend.
So close, but yet for far. What’s to take from this? Let’s dissect.
It’s time to allow Stone to let it fly
No, I’m not saying Stone should throw the ball 45 times a game. I’m not saying Caleb Komolafe should see less carries either — after setting a career-high 125 yards on Saturday, that would be completely ridiculous to say.
Instead, my point is this: Checkdowns and five-yard over routes for Stone aren’t cutting it anymore.
All four of Northwestern’s remaining opponents have higher team passer ratings than the ‘Cats. In fact, the next closest opponent in Minnesota is still rated nearly 10 points higher than Northwestern.
Stone made some of his best passes of his season on Saturday. Was it his best game? By no means. Is his arm the same as it was before? No, it’s clear that his deep ball ability has faded a little.
Stone still needs to start raking up passing yardage regardless. With three of their next four opponents (the outlier being Minnesota) hovering around the 30 point-per-game mark, it’s highly unlikely that the ‘Cats have any low-scoring, scrappy “dogfights” left on their schedule. Every game from here on out will most likely be a high-scoring affair.
And in order for Northwestern to compete in that type of game, it needs to cut the leash off its premier transfer portal acquisition. In short, let him throw the ball downfield more often. Trust the maturity he’s shown in learning the Northwestern playbook, and give him more free reign to sling the ball.
Discipline is a defensive issue
Braydon Brus had the biggest defensive play of the game on Saturday. He also got fooled on Dylan Raiola’s longest pass of the day, leaving the middle of the field wide open for a huge 26-yard Nyziah Hunter reception.
Throughout the season, the linebacker corps has been prone to confusing its assignments, oftentimes abandoning zones in NU’s Cover 2 and thus leaving tight ends and slot receivers open downfield.
Other times, Fred Davis II has been left on an island as Northwestern’s CB3, splitting reps with Ore Adeyi. Davis, a natural nickel defender, has seen little to no success in one-on-one man coverage situations, especially in conference play. On Saturday, Raiola and Hunter exposed that inexperience with a perfectly executed red zone fade ball in the third quarter.
A major reason why the ‘Cats have gotten beaten by the teams they have is because of mental lapses: Mac Uihlein taking a bad angle on a Jake Retzlaff rushing TD (Tulane), linebackers losing Kenyon Sadiq at the slot and leaving him open down the seam (Oregon), et cetera, et cetera. The list goes on.
Another major contributor to Saturday’s loss was the front seven’s inability to read the run. Many of Emmett Johnson’s 130 rushing yards were the result of the linebackers flowing the wrong way, allowing Johnson to cut outside for extra space to run.
To beat one of the remaining four opponents — all of whom have received Top 25 votes at some point this season — Northwestern needs to be more fundamentally sound on defense, especially with USC’s high-powered offense looming after the bye week. If not, the end of the season may get ugly for Tim McGarigle’s unit.
Send more pressure!
Despite having two of the most elite pass rushers in all of the FBS in Anto Saka and Aidan Hubbard, Northwestern ranks among the bottom of the Big Ten in sacks and tackles for loss. How is that possible?
Northwestern’s defensive scheme is one of the most conservative in the Power Four, and it has paid dividends this season — specifically against struggling offenses like UCLA and Purdue. However, it has bitten the ‘Cats against elite quarterbacks like Dante Moore and, most recently, Dylan Raiola.
Against the second-worst offensive line in the conference — one that’s given up 26 sacks this season — NU managed to drop Raiola only once on Saturday.
Yes, he was limited to just 21 passing attempts on the day, but the one touchdown he threw was a gut punch in the third quarter that went a long way in securing Nebraska the win.
McGarigle’s achilles’ heel in his scheming is the ideology of “bend, don’t break.” Don’t get beat by the deep ball, which, for the most part, Northwestern has done a great job of preventing thus far. But, teams have shifted to systematically breaking down the ‘Cats, taking each drive yard by yard, holding possession time for as long as possible, and in turn, rushing NU’s offense to score in certain end-of-half situations — situations Stone tends to struggle in.
For the ‘Cats to force chaos on defense and turn the possession arrow, the blitz must become more prevalent in passing down situations. Five interceptions through eight games is a slow trend that the Wildcats cannot rely upon across their next four games. This bye week needs to be dedicated to blitzing the B-gap, opening up the edge for Saka and Hubbard to cause havoc in the backfield.
