For the second time in Big Ten play this season, Northwestern failed to score a touchdown.
“We knew a good football team was coming in here and did not perform to our standard, and results showed,” coach David Braun said.
Saturday’s action against Wisconsin marked the third time under Braun’s tenure in Evanston that his team has failed to find the endzone.
The Wildcats (3-4, 1-3 Big Ten) scored just three points in their last lakeside action this season. The output marked the fewest points the team has scored under Braun. The Badgers, (5-2, 3-1 Big Ten) meanwhile, scored 23 in a dominant victory.
During the offense’s opening three drives, redshirt sophomore quarterback Jack Lausch totaled just 28 passing yards by completing 2-of-8 throws. His 10th throw of the game was a target toward graduate student A.J. Henning along the right sideline, who sustained an upper-body injury on the play and did not return to the game.
“I won’t discredit how valuable A.J. Henning is and what he brings to the table,” Braun said.
On the next drive, the ’Cats’ offense ran onto the field starting at the 42-yard line. On third and three, graduate student running back Cam Porter was stuffed by the Wisconsin defensive line.
On fourth and two, redshirt junior punter Luke Akers, who also served as the team’s kicker due to redshirt junior kicker Jack Olsen’s injury, trotted onto the field for a 51-yard attempt that ultimately fell short.
“Our track record on fourth and short here the last couple of years from if you want to go by numbers is not the best,” Braun said. “I look forward to this group … continuing to mature and grow and put us in a situation where fourth and two anywhere on the field, we are like ‘this is a conversion every single time.’”
NU’s subsequent drive was its most successful of the day, as Lausch led the offense up the field through the air and on the ground. Chunk plays, such as a 16-yard run by Lausch and an 18-yard completion to graduate student tight end Thomas Gordon, placed the ’Cats on the Badger 10-yard line for fourth and two.
Braun called Akers onto the field, as he felt a 28-yard kick for Akers would be “automatic” to make the game’s score 7-3, but Wisconsin blocked the attempt.
“I thought the difference was really just finishing in the red zone,” Lausch said. “I thought there were opportunities for us to finish there — some throws I could have made.”
With a shade under a minute left in the first half, Lausch led the offense onto the field, looking to get points on the board before returning to the locker room.
A false start backtracked the offense on its own 8-yard line. On the ensuing play, Lausch dropped back, and pressure quickly got to him. Wisconsin outside linebacker John Pius stripped the ball free, and the Badgers soon took a 14-0 lead.
“Obviously, (I’ve) got to get the ball out a little quicker,” Lausch said. “We had a double move called, Cover 1 look. It was really a great look for it, just kind of an unfortunate play. I was really literally getting ready to release the ball, and they made a nice play up front.”
As the ’Cats trotted out onto Martin Stadium for the second half, they had to fight back from a two-touchdown deficit. Their first drive offered a semblance of hope, as a 7-minute drive led to a field goal — the team’s only points of the duel.
During the final 16 minutes, NU totaled just 7 plays for -12 yards — two three-and-outs and a -18 yard drive that resulted in a Badger safety.
Lausch finished the game by completing 9-of-24 passes for 82 yards, his second-lowest mark of the season.
“It was a lot of good single-high looks out of them, where they’re super aggressive and then morph into some single-high pictures that turn into Cover 2,” Braun said. “That can be really tough on a quarterback.”
Lausch pointed to the offense’s execution as a point to improve, noting that the team must capitalize on opportunities when they reach the red zone or close to it.
The ’Cats’ offense converted just 2-of-14 third downs with nine first downs. Lausch said teams “win football games on third down.”
As NU prepares for Iowa next week, Braun said he has faith that a good week of practice will help his offense find the form they had against Indiana and Maryland in its two prior outings.
“Good game by Wisconsin, not our next execution today offensively, but really confident that Jack and that crew will bounce back,” Braun said.
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