The first game of Northwestern’s Jack Lausch era was nothing short of a profound success. Thousands of fans in Northwestern Medicine Field at Martin Stadium watched the redshirt sophomore quarterback go a perfect 11-of-11 for 163 yards and two touchdowns in the second half of a 31-7 pummeling of Eastern Illinois.
Fresh off this victory, the Wildcats (2-1, 0-0 Big Ten) will travel to Seattle to welcome Washington to the Big Ten.
The Huskies (2-1, 0-0 Big Ten) breezed past Weber State and Eastern Michigan in their opening two games with 35-3 and 30-9 victories, respectively. Last week, the reigning College Football Playoff finalists fell to in-state rival Washington State 24-19.
When the ’Cats take the field at 6 p.m., they will search for their first-ever win against Washington. Having last played NU in 1984, the Huskies lead the all-time series 3-0 with an aggregate score of 105-7.
As the ’Cats embark on their first road game of the season, here’s what to watch for in Husky Stadium.
1. Jack Lausch’s Big Ten debut
At one point in NU’s clash against the Panthers, Lausch was just 4-of-13 through the air. The flip switched during the offense’s two-minute drill in the first half. From that point, the Chicago native completed 16 of his next 18 throws. NU scored 24 unanswered.
Facing the Huskies on the road is a much taller task than Eastern Illinois at home, and coach David Braun and Lausch know that. Still, Braun said what Lausch showed in the latter half of Saturday’s action is a promising sign of what is to come.
“At the end of the day, the rhythm, the confidence, the ability to come out in the second half — when things weren’t easy in the first half — are things that are really encouraging,” Braun said following Saturday night’s victory. “I think you saw some things out of Jack today that are certainly reason for a lot of optimism moving forward.”
Statistically, Lausch had one of the best performances by a Wildcat quarterback in their starting debut in recent memory with his 227 passing yards and two touchdowns.
As Lausch and the team prepare to take on Washington, NU is pumping artificial crowd noise into practices to simulate the road environment in front of 70,000 fans at Husky Stadium.
“I am really excited for this weekend,” Lausch told The Daily Tuesday. “I’m really excited for the atmosphere. I think that’s something, as a competitor, you grow up dreaming about playing in. I mean, this is one of the coolest stadiums in the country for a reason.”
2. The front seven’s ability to stop the run
The defensive line and linebacker groups for the ’Cats have been one of the team’s biggest strengths through the opening three games of the season.
NU has only allowed 57.7 rushing yards per game to opposing offenses, a figure that ranks sixth in the FBS and fourth in the Big Ten.
“Fundamentals, technique, really sound scheme, guys playing really hard, guys never being satisfied with being blocked and just holding their gap,” Braun said of the ’Cats’ success against the run. “I know it sounds cliche, but it all starts off with fundamentals and technique.”
Xander Mueller, a member of last year’s All-Big Ten Third Team, enables the team’s thwarting run defense. He is PFF’s highest-graded run defender in the Big Ten and slots in at No. 5 in the FBS.
Mueller, who leads the team in tackles with 20, leads NU into battle against the Huskies’ junior running back Jonah Coleman, who ranks third in the Big Ten in rushing yards with 306 on the campaign.
The ’Cats are yet to allow a team to average over 3.1 yards per game on the ground this season. Meanwhile, Washington has exceeded that mark in every game so far. Something has to give when NU’s front seven lines up in front of the Husky offense.
3. Slowing down the Washington pass game
Last year, Michael Penix Jr. — a Heisman Trophy finalist — led Washington to the College Football Playoff final. Now, senior quarterback Will Rogers has taken the reins of the Huskies offense.
The Mississippi State transfer, who is a former teammate of NU graduate student quarterback Mike Wright, has thrown for at least 250 yards and a touchdown in each game this season. His 825 passing yards rank third in the Big Ten and 22nd in the nation, while he is completing 77.1% of his passes.
“You’ve got a very talented, experienced quarterback with a really talented coaching staff. It’s a scary operation,” Braun said. “We’ve got to do a great job of forcing him to process post-snap, and we’ve got to do a great job of affecting him in the pocket. If he’s comfortable in the pocket, he’s scary.”
The ’Cats’ secondary will have to be ready for their biggest test of the year thus far. Redshirt junior Theran Johnson, NU’s top cornerback, junior safety Devin Turner and company have their hands full. Braun said his squad is “going to have to be at our best for sure.”
Braun is no stranger to Washington coach Jedd Fisch either. Fisch was Arizona’s head coach when Braun was North Dakota State’s defensive coordinator, and the two teams faced off in 2022.
In his Monday press conference, Braun applauded Fisch’s offensive scheme that led to Arizona garnering a 31-28 win.
“We were going against a really well-coached operation that understood how to stress defenses,” Braun said. “I thought the quarterback play was really high-level and well-coached. That one was a tough one to swallow — tremendous amount of respect for Coach Fisch and his staff.”
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