Five Things We Learned from Northwestern-Ohio State

Moral victories abound, but that will not be enough for the ‘Cats down the stretch.

One of the more frustrating aspects of being a Jets fan is their consistent ineptitude after bye weeks. The Jets are 2-8 in their last ten games after a bye, good for second-to-last in the NFL since 2014 — ahead of only the Bears. There are hundreds of more pathetic stats to color the last decade of Jets football (give me Adam Gase missing Thanksgiving with his family to prepare for a game against the 0-11 Bengals that he lost 22-6), but the post-bye week losses exemplify what has to be the most pitiful organization in all of professional sports.

It’s a coaching stat more than anything. After the extra week of rest and preparation, the Jets manage to play a more unwatchable brand of football than the consistently eye-gouging product they serve up with regular rest.

Wildcat football in 2024 has been frustrating in so many ways, but Northwestern is not the Jets (or the Bears, for that matter). NU took a week off and got better. Zach Lujan rolled into Wrigley Field with a script that created 151 yards of offense in the first two drives. Jack Lausch looked competent against the best defense he’s faced all year. The score was still 31-7, but Northwestern took some definitely steps in the right direction Saturday afternoon.

Here are five things we learned from the first of two trips to Wrigley.

Zach Lujan is getting better

The much maligned first-year offensive coordinator engineered the best quarter of Northwestern’s season against one of the best defenses in college football. Ohio State gives up an average of 251 yards per game — second in the country only to Texas — and Northwestern put up more than half of that number in the first quarter.

The successful scripting of the first two drives speaks volumes to Lujan’s preparation. Everyone was involved early. Cam Porter had some real holes to run through. Bryce Kirtz and Thomas Gordon were wide open over the middle. If Lausch doesn’t fumble on that first drive, there’s a real shot that Northwestern is up 14-0 on the Buckeyes in the second quarter.

The early game success did end up proving to be a bit of a mirage. Northwestern finished the game right at the 251 yard mark despite the 151 yards on the first two drives. 205 those yards came on the first two drives of the first half, and the first drive of the second half. The Lujan script works, but after that it gets a little murky.

All you can ask for is improvement. The Northwestern offense was not perfect by any standard on Saturday, but Lujan’s unit showed up prepared and competitive. Lausch has improved immensely since the Iowa debacle and was making quick, confident reads for much of the day. Lujan has built back up the confidence of his young quarterback by calling games based on his strength. Northwestern’s OC has been criticized for, among other things, not utilizing Lausch’s legs enough and relying to heavily on his relatively mediocre run. On Saturday, as Inside NU’s Brendan Preisman noted, Lujan drew up 10 designed runs for QB1 to the tune of 44 yards. That’s efficient, sustainable football.

Bryce Kirtz is a difference-maker

Northwestern’s first two drives were also successful because Bryce Kirtz is ridiculous.

After racking up two catches for 26 yards on Northwestern’s opening drive, Lausch lofts one up to Kirtz who contorts over Ohio State’s Denzel Burke and gets both feet down. Both feet!

Kirtz wasn’t all that open for that play, but he was wide open over the middle all afternoon. The Northwestern passing offense is a different unit with Kirtz than without him. Lausch clearly trusts his number one guy — the back shoulder fade is not a throw you make without a real faith in your wideout — and Lausch’s improved confidence and decisiveness is a credit in part to Kirtz’s talent.

A reality check for the run defense

Northwestern’s defensive line has been regarded as its best unit for much of the year — it probably still is — but that does not mean that the Wildcat front seven can compete against the big boys of the Big Ten. The Ohio State rushing offense had its way on Saturday to the tune of 173 yards on 5.2 yards per carry. Anyone who has picked up EA College Football 25 can tell you the the Buckeye backs are unfair, but their success shows that Northwestern’s signature unit is still not where it needs to be.

Unlike the Iowa game where Northwestern bottled up Kaleb Johnson for the first 29 minutes until he broke off a few big runs, Ohio State did not have a single run that went for more than 19 yards. It was a methodical dismantling of Northwestern’s front seven. The ‘Cats front seven also didn’t pressure Will Howard, and the one Wildcat sack came from Robert Fitzgerald.

The ‘Cats were missing their most important run defender in Xander Mueller on Saturday. It was always going to be a tall task to defend the second-ranked rushing offense in the Big Ten without him. Northwestern will need Mueller healthy next week against a Michigan team that lives on the ground.

Josh Fussell is next up

Keeping with the trend of growth, there is nobody who exemplified Northwestern’s improvement more than Josh Fussell. The redshirt freshman was thrust into the de-facto CB1 role with Theran Johnson out with an injury, and he competed against three of the best receivers in the country.

Fussell did hold his own in match-ups with Jeremiah Smith and Emeka Egbuka — he was all over Smith on the touchdown that got called back in the first quarter — but I want to focus on his battle with Carnell Tate.

Tate beat Fussell early, and he beat him bad. With under a minute to play in the fourth quarter and Ohio State driving at the Northwestern 25, Tate matches up with Fussell and just torches him. It’s hard to tell on the broadcast, but Tate hits the freshman with an avert-your-eyes double move and scores with yards of separation.

Fussell had another shot in the fourth quarter and didn’t blink. Matched up with Tate out-wide with no safety help, Fussell finds himself on an island, and Howard takes notice, delivering a true, admittedly wobbly 50-50 ball in Tate’s direction. This time there is no separation. Fussell swats it away with ease.

Fussell allowed a touchdown on a very similar ball against Purdue two weeks ago. He was playing off-coverage with no safety help, Jand ahmal Edrine head-tapped him with disregard. To go back to the bye week theme again, it’s all about growth. Theran Johnson went through the same learning curve earlier in the year when Washington’s Denzel Boston scored two long touchdowns on him in the first twenty minutes. Josh Fussell has three more years in Evanston, and ‘Cats fans should be thrilled.

Northwestern can beat Michigan

Northwestern hit most of its abstract benchmarks at Friendly Confines, but the time for moral victories is over. The ‘Cats enter their final two games against Michigan and No. 24 Illinois needing two wins to lock-in back-to-back bowl appearances in the first two years of the David Braun era.

The Northwestern team we saw at Wrigley is absolutely capable of doing just that. Zach Lujan proved that his guys can move the ball against a good defense. Assuming Theran Johnson is healthy, Northwestern’s cornerbacks will feast against whichever bad quarterback the Wolverines trot out next Saturday. The run defense has to be better, as does the offensive line, but this is a different Northwestern team than the one that lost by 31 to Iowa three weeks ago.

The ‘Cats will likely be double-digit underdogs in both of their final two games. Earning a win in both is more than a tall task. Yet one thing is for sure after Saturday. Northwestern has life.