When your anemic offense is rolling, you gotta let it roll.
Hosting a struggling UCLA squad in its lakeside abode Saturday, Northwestern entered halftime with its largest mid-game lead over a Big Ten opponent in offensive coordinator Zach Lujan’s 16-game tenure.
By the time 30 minutes had elapsed on the game clock, NU’s second-year play caller had seen the fruits of his labor. In stark contrast to his quarterback’s interception-riddled debut three games back, graduate student passer Preston Stone had already completed nine of his 11 attempts and thrown for more than 100 yards. On the ground, NU’s running backs matched Stone’s output, averaging 6.8 yards per carry.
Perhaps best of all for Lujan’s own report card, junior wide receiver Griffin Wilde — who followed him from South Dakota State ahead of the season — had racked up 83 receiving yards and scored the Wildcats’ second touchdown to go up 17-0.
The stats alone weren’t much to write home about, but the way Stone and company controlled both possession and pace surely was.
Well on its way to an emphatic, statement victory, NU’s offense seemed to flick on cruise control and take one hand off the wheel. From that point on, Lujan’s group played it safe as conservative play calling defined the game’s latter half, allowing an onslaught of stuffed run plays to trickle time off the clock.
An NU offense in rhythm returned from intermission with choppy, repetitive drives, all of which ended in questionable field goal attempts and decisions to punt.
On a day when a commanding defeat was well within grasp, the ’Cats stopped playing like a team looking to avenge its low-scoring losses of days past and settled for simply scraping by.
The shift in tempo nearly failed them.
With NU’s foot off the gas, the Bruins began to creep back in, tacking on a third-quarter field goal and a fourth-quarter touchdown to cut the hosts’ advantage to just three points.
Forced to relinquish possession with three minutes left to play, a perfect punt by graduate student punter Luke Akers, followed by sturdy NU defense, prevented the visitors from scoring on their final drive with three minutes to go.
Still, thanks to the offensive slowdown, this was hardly the tone-setting win it should’ve been.
Stone went on to throw for just 11 yards after halftime, completing three passes on only seven attempts. Of course, a team with a lead will traditionally lean on the run game and focus on protecting the ball. But for a group that could surely use a Big Ten confidence boost after just two conference wins under Lujan, repeatedly handing off to redshirt sophomore running back Caleb Komolafe for small gains nearly caused more harm than it did good.
Whether or not the ’Cats should have kicked the blocked fourth-quarter field goal up 17-6 is an easier conversation in retrospect, but had they taken a chance, making it a three possession game would’ve likely have closed the door on the Bruins.
NU defense’s clutch play on UCLA’s final drive confirmed the winning result, but just because the second-year coordinator’s group was bailed out, it doesn’t mean there aren’t offensive questions worth asking.
After calling an electric opening half Saturday, Lujan clung to the same sheltered play call that ensured the ’Cats were the worst in Big Ten yards per game last season. Prior to NU’s first win of 2025 over Western Illinois, it had scored either one or zero offensive touchdowns in seven of 13 total games with Lujan on staff.
In each of the last three games, the ’Cats have surpassed the one-touchdown output, but throughout Lujan’s tenure, they’ve struggled to find the offensive cohesion necessary to convincingly fend off its more daunting foes.
Last season, NU’s offense recorded just 12 touchdowns against Big Ten challengers, a far cry from the conference’s top drawer, where teams like Indiana and Oregon recorded 40 or more.
Against UCLA, the ’Cats showed glimpses of greatness in the first half, but the final score didn’t show it. For a Wildcat squad looking to establish itself as a competitor as it stares down the bulk of its conference slate, a blowout win would’ve raised their stock before they turn to tougher competition following a sandwich game against Louisiana-Monroe.
Pouncing on their opponents’ miscues as they travelled to Evanston with a new interim coach, the ’Cats came away with the necessary outcome. It could have been so much more.
Granted, a Bruins team that would be among the worst in the Mountain West after season-opening losses to New Mexico and UNLV is hardly the tallest task on NU’s grueling schedule. But a two-touchdown lead over a conference challenger is no meager feat — especially for Lujan, who has been the subject of sharp criticism throughout his tenure.
Lujan’s come a long way from his original sin more than a year ago, when, in double overtime against Duke, he opted for a pass play on 3rd-and-1, rather than handing off to a veteran running back who already scored two touchdowns.
In his second year in the role, the former Jackrabbits’ coordinator has made clear improvements from his earliest games at NU, but still has a lot to learn when it comes to keeping pace with other Big Ten offenses. It didn’t take long for him to earn the respect of his promising (albeit, somewhat erratic) transfer quarterback.
“Coach Lujan is maybe the smartest coach I’ve ever been around,” Stone said at Big Ten Media Days ahead of the season. “From a scheme standpoint, from a terminology standpoint, everything we do is a master’s-level offense. At the same time, he communicates it to you in a way that’s very understandable and digestible.”
Establishing trust is an obvious starting point for a team looking to forge a new identity with fresh talent, but if NU hopes to avoid being relegated to the Big Ten basement — alongside UCLA, of course — it’s gonna need its play caller to show some guts. Otherwise, far less attractive fates against its upcoming conference adversaries wait just around the bend.
Email: AudreyPachuta2027@u.northwestern.edu
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— Rapid Recap: Northwestern 17, UCLA 14
— Football: Caleb Komolafe carries Northwestern to first Big Ten win
— Football: Northwestern holds off late UCLA push for 17-14 win
