CHICAGO — Not even five forced turnovers could grant Northwestern an upset victory over No. 18 Michigan on Saturday afternoon at Wrigley Field.
In what have become “unfriendly confines” for the hosting Wildcats (5-5, 3-4 Big Ten), the Wolverines (8-2, 6-1 Big Ten) capitalized on a made-field goal attempt as the clock ran out to pull away with a 24-22 victory.
NU got off to a strong start, stifling Michigan’s early offensive effort with two sacks, as well as reaping the benefits of a touchdown called back by a holding penalty and a missed field goal on the visitors’ first possession.
Shortly thereafter, though, coach David Braun’s squad experienced some misfortune of its own, when what would’ve been a 36 yard pass to junior wide receiver Griffin Wilde was ruled incomplete after a video review, forcing NU to punt.
Michigan responded with a nearly six-minute, 12-play scoring possession that bled into the second quarter, ending with consecutive short runs by Marshall, who ultimately broke past the goal line to give the visitors a 7-0 advantage.
From there, the two teams traded three-and-out possessions, which combined to take just two minutes off the game clock.
The ’Cats put forth a valiant effort on their subsequent drive, with sophomore receiver Hayden Eligon II recreating Marshall’s fruitless home run celebration from earlier in the game. But just as had happened for the Michigan running back, what Eligon II thought was a touchdown was waved off due to a pass interference call.
NU settled for a 34-yard field goal for its first points of the day.
Late in the second quarter, redshirt junior linebacker Braydon Brus recovered a fumble near mid-field to re-establish possession, and the ’Cats were able to tack on another three points before halftime, making it 7-6 Wolverines at the break.
Returning to the field after intermission, NU suffered another three-and-out drive and Michigan capitalized on a 65-yard rush to tack on another touchdown.
After another fruitless possession, the ’Cats’ special teams unit recovered a Michigan fumble on the kickoff return, which resulted in another NU field goal that made the score 14-9 Michigan.
From there, the hosts continued to capitalize on the Wolverines’ offensive miscues, using what would become five total Michigan turnovers to fuel two early fourth quarter touchdowns.
Bouncing back from early struggles, graduate student quarterback Preston Stone rushed for one yard to score NU’s first touchdown, and sophomore running back Caleb Komolafe quickly followed suit with a six-yard rushing touchdown of his own, following an interception by redshirt junior defensive back Braden Turner.
NU’s two-point conversion attempt on the second touchdown was no good, and it eventually conceded a 22-21 lead they held until the final seconds, when a Wolverine field goal drifted through the uprights as the clock ran out.
Here are five takeaways from NU’s loss to Michigan at Wrigley Field:
1. ’Cats force turnovers aplenty
By the time the first quarter ended, Brus was already having a career day.
His opening-possession sack was the first he’d made unassisted during his time at NU, he’d amassed six total tackles, including one for loss.
With Michigan driving down the field late in the second quarter, Brus’ moment to make an impact came again when the Wolverines’ quarterback pitched the ball back to visiting receiver Andrew Marsh and redshirt junior edge rusher Anto Saka pounced, knocking the ball out of his hands.
From there, the ball bounced three times before Brus picked it up and ran with it, allowing NU to tack on three more points in the bonus possession, which made the score 7-6 Michigan at halftime.
While the Michigan turnover train left the station on Brus’ play, it didn’t stop there.
Around five minutes into the third quarter, the ’Cats forced another fumble — this time via its special teams unit. On that play, graduate student long snapper Liam Reardon forced and recovered the fumble.
NU took the ball down the field once again, adding another three points to the score board.
Then, early on in the fourth quarter, the hosts’ big break came in the form of an interception by Turner. This time, the critical Michigan miscue allowed the ’Cats to score their second touchdown of the afternoon and take a 22-21 lead.
On the Wolverines’ subsequent possession, their freshman quarterback threw another pick, and this time it was corralled by redshirt junior safety Robert Fitzgerald. While NU’s next chance with the ball failed to produce more scoring, it was yet another example of its defense taking advantage of the visitors’ errors.
The ’Cats had one more trick up their sleeve when Turner followed up his earlier grab with a fumble recovery, but they ultimately had to punt once again.
In a game where NU appeared largely outmatched offensively, its defensive and special teams players provided an extra cushion at every turn it could, keeping a game that coud’ve easily gotten out of hand in close contention through the final minutes.
2. ’Cats withstand a strong opening possession, set game’s early tone
For a brief moment during the Wolverines opening drive, it looked like they would easily overcome NU’s early defensive pressure — two sacks by edge rusher Aidan Hubbard and Brus — to take an early lead.
Michigan running back Jordan Marshall even celebrated what he believed was a touchdown, mimicking a home run swing befitting of the game’s historic baseball atmosphere in the endzone until it was called back by a blatant offensive holding penalty.
Following an NU stop on a 3rd-and-23 play, the visitors sent out their field goal unit and watched as its kicker sent a ball soaring outside the uprights.
The ’Cats had weathered the early storm and the score held 0-0.
By halftime, the Wolverines had accumulated 109 more offensive yards than NU. They had racked up 13 first downs compared to the ’Cats’ six and thrown for 185 yards on 15 passes, while Stone completed just five tosses.
And yet, the visitors retained just a one-point lead.
Where NU’s offense struggled, its defense sparkled. The hosts outpaced Michigan in nearly every defensive category, including tackles, tackles for loss and sacks, limiting what could’ve easily been a more prolific Wolverine first-half scoring campaign.
From there, the ’Cats’ defense never faltered, keeping its foot on the gas to keep the visitors in check to the moment time elapsed.
3. Hubbard goes down
Michigan began Saturday’s contest with two quick gains on an eight-yard pass up the middle and a three-yard rush to move the chains.
But when Wolverine quarterback Bryce Underwood took the subsequent snap with a fresh set of downs and faked a hand off, he didn’t see Hubbard behind him as his attempt to scramble ended in vain.
While the veteran edge rusher’s sack wasn’t the direct cause of Michigan’s scoreless first possession, it became the impetus for NU’s daring defensive performance that led to three first-half quarterback takedowns.
Unfortunately for the ’Cats though, Hubbard went down on the play and was labeled as questionable to return with a lower body injury.
He briefly recieved medical attention on the field, but walked to the sideline without much struggle on his own strength.
Hubbard’s early sack brought his yearly total to 4.5, which is NU’s best.
The graduate student also led the ’Cats in sacks in both the 2024 and 2023 seasons. Upon stuffing Nebraska’s passer on Oct. 25, he acquired the sole possession of the No. 8 spot on the program’s all-time sack leaderboard.
4. Offensive struggles yield a big day for foot-ball
The ‘Cats ended the day with less than half of Michigan’s total offensive production, and accumulated just 11 first downs compared to the visitors’ 25.
With NU’s offensive unit struggling to find the endzone for the bulk of the contest, redshirt junior punter Luke Akers and graduate student kicker Jack Olsen shouldered heightened responsibility in Saturday’s contest and proved they were up to the challenge.
The ’Cats’ initial nine points were all scored off Olsen’s foot on mid-distance field goal attempts, keeping the hosts in the contest while Michigan’s offense otherwise dominated.
On possessions where Braun’s group failed to score, Akers also put his best foot forward, ensuring the visitors began their ensuing drives with difficult field position.
Akers punted six times for a total of 271 yards. His longest punt came toward the end of the first quarter, when Michigan was forced to go the full length of the field following a fair catch at their own nine-yard line.
5. Next up
Following a tight loss to Michigan, NU has two more chances to shore up a bid to a bowl game.
The ’Cats will take on Minnesota next week back at Wrigley Field and will travel to Illinois on Nov. 29 to compete in the Land of Lincoln rivalry game.
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