There’s nothing to celebrate after giving up 50 points.
Out of Northwestern’s seven losses in 2024, this one is far and away the worst.
On Saturday evening, the Wildcats were manhandled by the Wolverines in a 50-6 loss. They hadn’t relinquished 50 points since their 56-7 loss to Nebraska on Oct. 2, 2021. Michigan stormed all over the field for 201 rushing yards — NU’s worst defensive performance since giving up 203 yards to Iowa on Oct. 26. Seven of Northwestern’s 11 drives ended in a punt, interception or safety.
This weekend’s result was a mess on every level, and the tone postgame was that a loss like this would stick for a while.
“We’re gonna have to sit in it, we’re gonna have to own it,” head coach David Braun said after the game. “There’s nothing to sugarcoat here.”
Braun is right — there is absolutely nothing positive to take from this result. For the fourth time in their last five games, the ‘Cats entered halftime trailing their opponent. Michigan’s second-half outburst could’ve looked a lot less explosive had NU’s offense competed in the opening 30 minutes of action.
In fact, they didn’t look half bad after kicking a field goal to trim the score to 10-6 with 1:57 remaining in the second quarter. But Davis Warren absolutely shredded NU’s two-minute defense — he went 7-for-10 for 61 yards on a drive that he capped with a three-yard touchdown pass to tight end Colston Loveland.
“We gotta do something right,” Braun said about Michigan’s drive. “We talk about winning in the middle eight, but everything has to be evaluated. We have to figure out a different way to practice it.”
Unfortunately, you can’t teach an old dog new tricks. With one game remaining on the schedule, it’s going to be difficult to fix NU’s issues with the two-minute drill.
In the second half, the wheels completely fell off for a typically staunch run defense. After allowing just 14 first-half yards on the ground, the ‘Cats gave up 187 (!) rushing yards in the final 30 minutes. In the second half, Northwestern’s defense allowed four run plays that went for 20 yards of more. Before Saturday, the ‘Cats relinquished just five such plays all season.
“This is a game not that we were hoping to win, but that we should win,” Braun said following the game. “What we saw in the second half is totally not aligned with the standard of Northwestern defense.”
On offense, the ‘Cats simply could not move the ball, and a lot of that comes down to Jack Lausch’s continued struggles. Every week, he’s thrown to the wolves and expected to make the most of a broken gameplan. But it’s become clear that he lacks the individual juice to carry a Big Ten offense. On the first drive of the game, Lausch threw a third-down interception and set the Wolverines up for a touchdown mere minutes later.
“He’s scrambling, he’s trying to make a play, forces a ball that should be thrown away,” Braun said when evaluating Lausch’s performance. “After that, you didn’t see the same Jack we’ve seen in so many other games.”
Take NU’s final first-half drive, for example. Lausch uncorked a rainbow on first down to Bryce Kirtz that was severely underthrown, but his receiver adjusted to make a 39-yard grab. With the ‘Cats threatening on Michigan’s 8-yard line, Lausch threw a goal-line fade that hit a defender’s back instead of reaching a wide-open Kirtz’s hands. He missed a prime opportunity, and the team knew it.
“He’s gotta put it on the back pylon,” Braun said. “Bryce is wide open. I know Jack wishes he had that throw back.”
Of course, Lausch’s poor performance can’t be evaluated in a vacuum. The Wolverines brought the pressure all game long, notching a season-high six sacks against a battered offensive line. The ‘Cats were behind schedule on offense from the opening drive, and that enabled Michigan to wreak havoc.
“Wink [Martindale, defensive coordinator] does a good job with his pressure package,” Braun said regarding Michigan’s defense. “But we also have to put ourselves in the situation as a football team not to be down three scores in the second half.”
That deficit was hard to shrink when the ‘Cats were completely ineffective in the red zone. They only passed Michigan’s 20-yard line twice, and both trips resulted in field goals. On the season, NU’s offense has scored touchdowns on just 13 of their 31 red-zone opportunities — a frustrating figure, indeed.
“Everybody has to win their one-on-one matchup, and everybody has to know what they’re doing,” Kirtz said postgame. “Maybe come up with a different package that we can throw in there, maybe get some bigger guys in there.”
During last year’s utopian 8-5 season, Braun was lauded for taking command of a team so quickly. He’s been able to rally his guys from mistakes, miscues and deficits. This year, that grittiness has eroded away as the losses have piled up.
“I think we do a good job as a team responding after tough things,” Braun said after the loss. “But these last couple weeks, we’ve done a really poor job of responding to in-game adversity.”
Looking ahead, Northwestern football faces a bleak future that’s so much bigger than on-field struggles. Construction forges ahead on an $800 million stadium for a fanbase that can barely fill the seats of a temporary lakeside field. NU hasn’t attracted a four-star recruit since signing backup O-linemen Jordan Knox and Anthony Birsa two years ago. Its recruiting class of 2025 ranks 62nd in the nation. The team’s best players — Cam Porter, Bryce Kirtz, Xander Mueller, Coco Azema — are nearing the end of their college careers.
No matter what happens next week against Illinois, this is an inflection point for Braun and the football program as a whole. If resilience is his calling card, what does it say if Braun can’t rally his team to a fifth win?
“We’re gonna find out a lot about me, our staff, our entire team collectively in terms of the way that we respond,” Braun said postgame. “But we don’t want to send this group out with a taste like that.”
Pride is the only thing the ‘Cats have left. And that’s all they can rely on heading into their season finale.