Northwestern football made its first significant change of the 2024 season on Monday: Coach David Braun announced that redshirt sophomore Jack Lausch will be the starting quarterback against Eastern Illinois Saturday night.
This comes after graduate transfer Mike Wright started the first two games of the season against Miami (Ohio) and Duke. Wright threw for less than 200 yards and failed to score a passing touchdown in both games. Leaving points on the board and committing costly turnovers have led to the Wildcats’ downfall as an offense.
Still, Braun sees encouraging signs.
“In all three phases of the game, there are plenty of things as a football team … that we can improve on,” Braun said Monday. “But I see improvement.”
Lausch will be making his first career start on Saturday night when Eastern Illinois comes into town, and the ’Cats have plenty to work on to revitalize the offense.
It starts with limiting turnovers, or as Braun said, “valuing the football.” NU has turned over the ball four times (three fumbles, one interception) in two games; On Friday night, the Blue Devils scored 10 combined points off a Wright interception — which led to the one Duke touchdown in regulation — and redshirt freshman running back Caleb Komolafe’s fumble.
Regardless of who is out there, keeping the football needs to be the top priority. While one of Wright’s strengths was the ability to extend plays, it came at the expense of ball security.
“I think it’s just a very delicate balance of what is an extended play that can lead to production and really weighing the risk-reward,” Braun said. “The non-negotiable is, we can’t put the ball in danger. We don’t want to punt, but punts are OK every now and then … Turning the ball over is not winning.”
The ’Cats established the run game in their first two games; graduate student running back Cam Porter has run for 157 yards on 27 carries and looks as good as he has since 2022. The veteran should be a focal point for the games to come, and one of the keys to success for the offense might be feeding him the ball.
Look at the overtime periods against the Blue Devils — Porter rushed for 34 yards in the two extra frames and was the most impactful offensive player. If NU gave him the ball on a third-and-one from the 3-yard-line in double overtime, there would have been a very good chance the team is 2-0 now. But, the ’Cats are 1-1.
When it comes to the run game, NU might lose some speed with Lausch replacing Wright. But, the redshirt sophomore is mobile; Former offensive coordinator Mike Bajakian used Lausch for designed quarterback runs throughout the 2023 season, and new coordinator Zach Lujan can do the same.
Along with establishing the run, NU needs to rely on its returning production to get the pass game going. While they lost their leading receiver Cam Johnson, the ’Cats returned their other two core receivers in graduate students Bryce Kirtz and A.J. Henning.
The passing attack has been a major flaw for NU so far, but this can change by getting Kirtz and Henning a sufficient number of targets.
Kirtz was the focal point of the passing game against Miami (Ohio), hauling in six receptions for 91 yards but seeing only four targets and two catches against Duke. Henning, on the other hand, saw the opposite production — he had eight receptions for 52 yards on 12 targets against the Blue Devils, but he failed to eclipse 20 receiving yards last week.
Moving forward, both receivers need to be involved for the offense. For Lausch, Lujan and the NU passing attack, it is about designing easy throws to the top weapons. Kirtz and Henning — along with Porter — are the three best skill players NU has to offer.
The common message, whether in the ground or the air, is to get the ball in the veterans’ hands. In order to compete with a young, inexperienced quarterback, NU needs to get the ball to their playmakers.
If Porter, Kirtz and Henning are central to the offensive game plan along with NU continuing to do some of the positives from the first two weeks, expect the offense — and the entire team — to see results. That starts on Saturday when Lausch makes his first start against Eastern Illinois.
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