Beyond the Box Score: Northwestern Falls To Nebraska Late

Another big game, another big loss for the Northwestern Wildcats. They led 28-16 late in this one but a Taylor Martinez led comeback was just enough as the Nebraska Cornhuskers held on to win 29-28. The Wildcats had a chance to take a lead in the waning seconds but a 53 yard field goal attempt came up just short. Of course, it shouldn’t have even come down to that. Northwestern had two straight defensive possessions with a chance to basically end the game with a turnover and they dropped two gimme picks! Let’s break this depressing one down…

“THE FIVE”:

– Venric Mark: He was outstanding again today including a key 3rd down pickup early where he kept his legs moving despite the play looking like it was stopped and then of course his 3rd quarter huge touchdown run that put the Wildcats in good position. He did muff a punt early on and after that it seemed like he lost confidence in fielding the ball which really hurt Northwestern’s field position. Several Nebraska punts could have been saved from going inside the 10 but he wasn’t even thinking about touching them. Late in game he appeared to suffer a head injury, probably a concussion, and wasn’t seen from after that. While the ‘Cats still got some bit of a running game from Mike Trumpy, Mark’s explosiveness was clearly missed.

– Nick VanHoose: He’s clearly Northwestern’s best corner and when he went down everything seemed like it went down hill. With the lack of depth Northwestern has at DB, VanHoose has to stay on the field. Early in the redshirt freshman’s career it looks like he’s injury prone. That’s at least the 3rd time I recall that he’s left the field due to injury. Of course when two more corners get hurt and you are playing primarily special team players at corner you’ve got issues. We’ll get to that in a minute.

– Trevor Siemian: I really like Trevor. I think he has a hell of a future as Northwestern’s quarterback but he has really started to regress. It started in the Penn State Nittany Lions game. Opposing defensive coordinators realize he gets rattled under blitz pressure and they are sending the heat. Also, his ball placement is terrible on cross field throws. He consistently missed everything high and didn’t give his receivers a chance to even make a play on the ball.

– Northwestern’s receivers: Does somebody, anybody, want to get seperation one-on-one? Tony Jones, Kyle Prater, Christian Jones and Rashad Lawrence continuously lost against a very average Nebraska secondary. That forced nearly a perfect throw from either quarterback and it was one of the main reasons the Wildcats couldn’t get any flow on offense for nearly the entire game.

– Brandon Williams: Northwestern’s kicking game is the best it has been in years and the former walkon is punting above expectations. He pinned the Nebraska offense inside their 10 on multiple occasions and gave Northwestern’s defense a lot of field to work with. His buddy, kicker Jeff Budzien has also been great despite the 53 yard field goal he missed by a yard or two in the closing seconds.

*BONUS* Northwestern’s coaching staff: Recruiting is getting better under Pat Fitzgerald but it isn’t good enough. Northwestern has one player they can count on at quarterback. That’s unacceptable for a Big Ten school. You have got to put your focus on upgrading that. This Northwestern team is pretty good but they won’t take the next step until that is addressed.

MOVING FORWARD: This one hurt but really the Penn State one was worse. Even if Northwestern won this game against Nebraska they would have needed the Michigan Wolverines to slip up unexpectedly to have a shot at the Legends division title. It is very unlikely the Wildcats will go into Ann Arbor against a hot Michigan team and pull out a win. Anyways, the Iowa Hawkeyes come into Evanston next week and this is a huge one. With the Michigan State Spartans reeling and the Illinois Fighting Illini all but done for the year, Northwestern can get to 9 wins. Although 8 wins is a fair goal and that would exceed my expectations. I thought Northwestern’s best chance for a Rose Bowl run would be next season anyways. This season was just getting to bowl eligibility. That’s already been accomplished. However, get to 8 or 9 wins and a New Year’s Day bowl is a good possibility.