Being beaten by Brendan Sullivan wasn’t on the bingo card going in. It probably should have been.
As the captain of a sinking ship, David Braun understands where his team is at. It’s hard not to after the Wildcats’ shipwreck fell under the Hawkeyes’ wave in Northwestern’s 40-14 loss.
“That was an embarrassing performance, embarrassing loss, embarrassing second half,” Braun said postgame. “Where we’re at as a football team right now, it’s difficult to come back after something like [Iowa’s second half momentum.]”
The ‘Cats scored zero offensive points, with seven coming courtesy of a Theran Johnson pick-six in the second quarter and seven more thanks to a Drew Wagner 72-yard punt return touchdown late. Those scores simply bookended a lopsided Iowa masterclass of beating Northwestern at its own brand of football.
Northwestern’s failure to win its own game was abundantly clear as a familiar face broke down the Wildcats’ defense. Brendan Sullivan, who transferred to Iowa after losing the starting job in spring ball to Jack Lausch, wasn’t perfect. But after taking over for a struggling Cade McNamara in the second quarter, Sullivan finished 9-of-14 for 79 yards alongside 41 rushing yards and a score. It wasn’t flashy, snazzy or unique. Nothing from Sullivan’s performance was surprising. It was just another iteration of Sullivan being the athletic lacrosse kid tasked to run around with the football for his high school’s junior varsity team.
Northwestern has one of those leading its offense too. Well, maybe leading is the wrong word. Nothing about the Wildcats’ offense should imply organization.
When asked if he regrets not naming Sullivan the starter after spring ball, Braun defended his decision.
“No,” he said emphatically.
And that’s the right call. Regardless of the final score, Brendan Sullivan at quarterback wouldn’t have changed the outcome of this game, much less this season. But the Jack Lausch experiment seems like it’s a ticking time bomb that the bomb squad clearly has no answers for.
We know who Jack Lausch is: 53 yards and two interceptions against Washington, 82 yards against Wisconsin and 10-of-19 for 62 yards and two interceptions against Iowa. For the second straight week, Lausch was safetied because of his inability to get rid of the football in his own end zone. After being safetied with 7:07 remaining in the first half against the Hawkeyes, Northwestern ran nine consecutive rushing plays before completing a pass for a loss of four yards on third-and-4 with 9:46 left in the third quarter.
That doesn’t exude trust in NU’s signal caller. Nor does inserting Ryan Hilinski into the game in the fourth quarter, when at this point in the season, the only realistic reason for having Lausch play is game reps and his development. After benching Mike Wright for Lausch after Northwestern’s loss to Duke in Week 2, Braun made it clear the decision was underlined by the importance of holding onto the football.
Well, Lausch has shown that’s a problem for him. Especially on his first pick against the Hawkeyes, in which he rolled out to his left just to throw back across his body toward the middle of the field. Beyond the question of “who let a quarterback with a subpar arm roll out to his weak side?”, that play was the cherry on top of the “this isn’t a Big Ten quarterback” sundae.
After all, the three offensive points scored over the last two weeks of football make up the sundae’s cup, ice cream and sad excuse for purple sprinkles.
If Northwestern had prioritized winning from the start, Mike Wright — or who knows, maybe Hilinski at this point — would be starting. Even with the turnover woes, Wright at least moved the offense, while Hilinski showed his arm talent against the Hawkeyes with a couple of throws Northwestern fans wish Lausch could consistently hit.
It’s also concerning that Hilinski was thrown into the mess instead of Wright, potentially alluding to a shift in the depth chart behind Lausch.
“Our only issues aren’t at quarterback,” Braun said. “[They’re] everywhere.”
Even with Northwestern’s strong first-half defensive effort, the Wildcats were outplayed in all three phases Saturday. The ‘Cats were also out-coached. Notice a recurring weekly trend?
After the two fourth-and-2 debacles against Wisconsin last week, you’d assume Northwestern would have learned its lesson. Well, what better than an opportunity on the game’s opening drive to show that with a fourth-and-2 from Iowa’s 33-yard line? Go for it after two missed field goals last week…right?
Wrong. But the same inexplicable decision got the same inevitable result as Akers’ 50-yard attempt fell short.
Northwestern is 0-for-3 on fourth-and-2 field goals in the last two games. Not to mention the shocking goal line breakdown against Washington – a situation where the experience of Wright could have paid dividends.
Braun said if Porter could pick up two yards on third down to make it fourth-and-1 he likely would have rolled the dice by keeping the offense out there. Yet from that distance on fourth-and-2, the pregame plan was to kick.
“If we’re not going to trust in our practice and the things that we’re collecting pregame for our decision making, then why are we going through those processes,” Braun said.
Understood, but after Akers missed from 50-plus yards in an identical situation against Wisconsin, it’s the definition of insanity to let Akers try again expecting a different result.
It’s just the next decision in a series of debatable calls from Northwestern that has you questioning your confidence in David Braun. The first one was the quarterback run in overtime against Duke. In a moment of panic, the next one was benching Wright for Lausch a game later. That’s when it all went south. Now we’re at rock bottom.
The season’s ship was sinking a long time ago. It’s poetic justice that Brendan Sullivan submerged it for good.