This loss to Michigan just stinks.
Sorry for the unimaginative cold open, but I thought it might be better to start this Where Are We Wednesday in a more candid, genuine light. Usually, I’d try and keep
it analytical, but I think this loss is better expressed in terms of feelings rather than numbers.
Similar to this time two years ago, NU has five wins and needs just one more to clinch a bowl game for the second time in head coach David Braun’s three full seasons. This outcome isn’t entirely unexpected for many. If you listened to Braun in his postgame press conference, then you’d know this team has lofty expectations for itself.
Giving Michigan a run for its money doesn’t get you any props in the Northwestern locker room. The players in the building expected to be 8-2 by this point in the season if Braun is to be believed. Honestly, that kind of confidence is necessary at this level.
Still, from an outside perspective, the Wildcats sit exactly where many thought they would after that Purdue win, having played two ranked teams and a Nebraska squad that was ranked the week before NU made its trip to Lincoln. What was unexpected was how close those games ended up being. Nebraska needed a game-winning touchdown drive and a favorable no-call on Griffin Wilde to beat the ’Cats, while the Wolverines needed a walk-off field goal.
But here is where I’m inclined to agree with Braun’s proposition that “almost winning” doesn’t mean much. There are two guaranteed games left for Northwestern in this season, with potential for a third. Earlier on in the season, it was much easier to extrapolate meaning from the games, both good or bad.
The Penn State win was so important because it changed all of the projections. It felt like a seismic event that would ripple throughout the rest of the season.
The Nebraska game, even in a loss, was somewhat similar, as there’s so much potential variance in a game like that. What if Stone limits turnovers? What if the defense could have gotten off the field on that last drive? What if the kickoff return doesn’t happen? Each week presents another opportunity for one of those questions to be answered.
That’s the appeal of playing talented, ranked teams: They’re a litmus test for your own squad. How big is the gap between NU and the next level? Well, in the Coliseum, that gap was approximately 21 points and a Najee Story fumble for a touchback.
Now, maybe the 2025-26 Northwestern Wildcats were simply always destined to fail these tests, and any excitement that fans and media had for such games was pure “hopium.” I, for one, really enjoyed the hope, even if it was fated to be misplaced.
My working thesis for why this Michigan loss feels so uniquely tough to stomach is because it was the last chance this squad had to dramatically change the way we view the rest of the season. There are no true “big tests” left, and Minnesota has been circled as the game that will most likely clinch the bowl for weeks now. A win against the Gophers needs to be handled business at this point, and while only three spots separate them in the CFP poll, Illinois is no Michigan.
This game against Michigan was a de facto culmination of all the questioning and pondering. Some of the value of the shutout against Purdue was the potential translation of that performance against a better opponent. With five turnovers, the defense’s dominance translated, but it didn’t actually matter in the end.
If this game happened weeks ago, I’d write a lot of words about the defensive line producing three sacks in the first half and only allowing 30 rushing yards. I’d say how the level of play is promising, some variation of “if the ’Cats can keep up this level of play,” with the undertone of that statement being, “They might be competitive against the better teams on the schedule.”
The ’Cats have now faced those “better” teams. The test results came in, and they weren’t what NU wanted to see.
This is all a bit of doom and gloom. To set the record straight, I think this NU team has shown enough on film throughout the season to be favored against Minnesota on Saturday. I also think Illinois has shown enough vulnerability this season to where the Fighting Illini are very much beatable.
It’s just that Northwestern gave Michigan its best punch on Saturday. The Wildcats truly played the Wolverines really well in the game, which represented the final chance for NU to test itself against one of the Big Ten’s elite teams.
But it appears that Northwestern’s ceiling this year may be nothing more than giving Michigan a run for its money. Braun and I both just can’t seem to stomach that revelation.
