Rapid Reaction: Northwestern puts up a fight, but can’t grab first Big Ten win against No. 23 Indiana

It was a good effort, but the ‘Cats couldn’t quite pull off the upset at the lakefill against the 23rd-ranked Hoosiers.

Facing their first ranked opponent of the season, the Wildcats kept things close for much of the game but ultimately were unable to pull off the upset. The Wildcats had their best offensive game of the season, but couldn’t convert down the stretch to keep up with IU’s strong offensive attack, losing 41-24.

Quarterback Jack Lausch rebounded from a poor afternoon in Seattle with an impressive day in Evanston, tossing for 243 yards and two touchdowns and adding 34 yards on the ground. No one stood out from the pack in the running game, though Joseph Himon II was efficient in his touches, averaging seven yards per carry. Bryce Kirtz was the silver lining today, notching his first 100-yard receiving game since September 2023 — he finished with 128 yards on 10 catches — to pace the air raid.

On the Indiana side, Kurtis Rourke was nearly perfect, completing 25 of his 33 passes for 380 yards and three touchdowns, mainly to his big target Elijah Sarratt, who finished with seven receptions and 135 yards. Running backs Justice Ellison and Ty Son Lawton both found their way into the endzone, combining for 120 yards on 24 carries.

Looking to pull off a major upset, the Wildcats brought a big crowd out to the lakefill for one of their final home games of the season. Indiana got the air raid going early, driving with pace into Northwestern territory via catches from Ty Son Lawton and Elijah Sarratt. But the Wildcat defense held strong amidst IU’s momentum, forcing a turnover on downs after Mac Uihlein made a beautiful open-field tackle on receiver Miles Cross for a massive stop.

On Northwestern’s first possession, the Wildcats had a promising start, picking up a first down but were unable to advance past midfield. NU was forced to punt, pinning the Hoosiers inside their own 15.

Indiana was again unable to get past the sticks in large thanks to a huge Anto Saka tackle on third and short as Kurtis Rourke tried to escape the pocket. A short Hoosier punt gave Northwestern solid territory heading into their second possession.

A quick three-and-out from the NU offense handed the ball right back to the Hoosier offense, who finally got the gears going on their third drive. Rourke was both brilliant and methodical, going 6-for-6 for 49 yards on an 89-yard drive that ended in a Justice Ellison 5-yard run for the first score of the game.

Trying to respond to Indiana’s touchdown, the Wildcats started things off strong with a 30-yard Joseph Himon II return and a IU facemask penalty starting Northwestern’s drive at their own 47. Two beautiful Jack Lausch third-down runs helped the ‘Cats keep the drive moving. A pitch and catch over the middle to Thomas Gordon was followed by an outside run from Cam Porter, who sneaked past the goal line to tie things up at seven midway through the second quarter.

Indiana responded quickly, with two catches of over 20 yards putting the Hoosiers inside the red zone in just four plays. The Northwestern front seven held strong as IU inched towards the endzone, forcing a 4th & 1. Head coach Curt Cignetti decided to roll the dice, calling a play action that resulted in a toe-tap touchdown in the back of the end zone from Miles Cross, putting Indiana up seven once again.

To many fans’ surprise, Northwestern’s offense came out firing on all cylinders for a second straight drive. Himon got the ball rolling on the first play, ripping off a 35-yard run into IU territory. A few first down pickups from Bryce Kirtz and Jack Lausch brought the ‘Cats into the redzone heading to the two-minute warning. The drive stalled from there, but a Jack Olsen 32-yard field goal brought it to 14-10 with a minute left in the half.

Indiana then did their best impression of a one-minute drill, traveling 56 yards in just 1:05. A huge 37-yard over-the-shouder catch by E.J. Williams help put the Hoosiers squarely in field goal range, setting up a 37-yard Nicolas Radicic field goal before half.

At the half, Indiana had outgained Northwestern 275 to 132. Rourke was a main reason for the disparity, having thrown for 196 yards and a touchdown on 18 pass attempts. Sarratt was his favorite target, racking up three catches for 61 yards, while Justice Ellison spearheaded the run game, notching nine carries for 49 yards. For the Wildcats, Lausch’s 54 passing yards weren’t all that impressive, but the quarterback was also the team’s leading rusher in the first half, scrambling for 33 yards on six carries. Bryce Kirtz grabbed four of Lausch’s passes for 27 yards.

Northwestern received the ball first heading into the second half looking to tie the game. The ‘Cats were able to pick up a couple of first downs, but stalled at midfield and punted after Lausch took a 6-yard sack.

Indiana responded fiercely with a 87-yard drive spanning almost five minutes, headlined by a huge run by Lawton and big catch from Sarratt to put IU in great position for another score. Rourke finished the drive off right, lofting one right into the hands of Ke’Shawn Williams for his second passing touchdown of the day.

With the game in danger of getting out of control, the Wildcats got the ball back with their backs against the wall. Offensive Coordinator Zach Lujan knew to rely on his best athlete, A.J. Henning, to get the job done. Henning had only one catch up to that point, but was Lausch’s target for the first two passes of the possession, picking up 17 yards. The ‘Cats continued driving past the 50 before Henning would see the ball once again: an easy out route for the receiver left him in open space with only one man to beat, and Henning’s speed proved too much for the IU defense, as he sprinted 38 yards for the score.

Big plays continued to be an issue for the Northwestern defense, as they gave up a huge catch from Ke’Shawn Williams, who shedded nearly the entire Wildcat defense to get inside the Northwestern 10. The defense bent, but it didn’t break. The secondary was able to swat away two endzone targets to hold the Hoosiers to a field goal.

Staying on-theme for a very uncharacteristic Northwestern day, the offense continued rolling. The offense made their way to midfield before Lausch took a shot to Kirtz. It was an ugly-looking ball, but Lausch floated it inside the five right to Kirtz’s back shoulder for a massive 47-yard gain to put Northwestern in scoring position yet again. A pass interference call would put the ‘Cats even closer before a screen to Henning gave the elusive receiver an easy path in for six.

Now only up three, the pressure was on IU to make things happen with just over 11 minutes left in the game. Clutch throws to Sarratt on third down and Omar Cooper Jr. the next play gave Cignetti’s crew some momentum as they entered NU territory. Positive play after positive play put the Hoosiers in prime position to score, and Lawton would get the job done. He ripped off a 15-yard gain to the one-yard line before punching it in the next play with just six and a half minutes to go.

Looking to stay in the ballgame down two scores, the Wildcats went aggressive at their own expense. In what was up to that point arguably the best game of his career, Lausch fell apart, throwing eight times for only two completions, capped by a head-scratching throw into no-mans land on 4th & 10.

The Hoosiers capitalized on their great field position, converting a pass on fourth down before a play action pass to Zach Horton for a four-yard touchdown, putting the game away for good.

Northwestern tried for a score in a desperation attempt to get back in the game, but were unsuccessful once again, as they crossed into Indiana territory before being stopped on fourth down to give the Hoosiers the ball and end the game for good.

Northwestern moves to 2-3, still winless in the Big Ten, and will look to grab its first conference win next week against Maryland in College Park. That game will kick off this Friday at 7 p.m. CST on FOX.