Keys For a Successful Northwestern Rebound After Disastrous First Game
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Northwestern's 23-3 loss at Tulane last week was a difficult watch. The Wildcats, to put it bluntly, looked terrible.
Defensively, they showed some fight at times, and they were put into difficult, short-yardage situations, but it still wasn't good enough. Offensively, the 'Cats were lifeless all game. There's no way to sugar coat it -- the performance was a very bad sign for what's to come this season.
The good news is it was just one game, and it was the first game. There's still plenty of time for David Braun and his team to turn this thing around. This weekend, the 'Cats play their home opener on the lakefront against Western Illinois. Here are a few keys for Saturday's game.
Limit Turnovers
This is the nice way of saying Preston Stone has to be way better as a passer -- like so, so, so much better. The transfer quarterback I'm sure would tell you that last week -- when he threw four picks -- was a disaster. He's not an idiot, and he's more than capable of playing far better football. He did just that at SMU.
The truth is, even against what should be a much easier opponent, Northwestern will still probably lose if it coughs up the football five times on offense. Stone and the 'Cats need to make last week a blip on the radar in the turnover battle department and not a theme of this season.
David Braun Keeps The Foot On The Pedal
This week is a huge test for Braun as a coach. His team just took a massive kick to the teeth. His starting quarterback's confidence is in jeopardy. And the fanbase is, rightfully, not happy with the team or its leadership at the moment.
Braun can turn that around, but he has to keep his team engaged. He has to keep them firing on all cylinders. And he has to make them -- most importantly Stone -- believe that this team is still capable of great things.
One way to inspire confidence is to continue to trust Stone. Based on his comments postgame, it seems like that is what Braun plans to do. But it can't just be about issuing platitudes to the media. Braun's confidence in his signal caller has to manifest on the field as well.
Go for it on fourth and mid. Leave the offense on the field instead of kicking the field goal. Braun kicked a field goal early in the Tulane game, and it certainly didn't do the team a lot of good. Show the offense you believe it's capable of producing by giving them extra chances to produce. And, while you're at it, you'll just be listening to what the numbers say anyway.
Improved Pass Rush
While Northwestern's defense wasn't exactly the problem against Tulane, it wasn't the solution either. The biggest problem was the lack of pressure Northwestern was able to put on the quarterback. The team's highly touted defensive line finished the game with just one sack.
Western Illinois will be a much easier offensive line to deal with, and the 'Cats need to win that battle at the line of scrimmage handly. This D-line unit is crucial to future success, and it needs to build up some confidence right now.
Anto Saka, especially, is someone the Wildcats need more from if the defense is going to be something they can hang their hat on.
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Ryan Cole is a writer for Northwestern Wildcats On SI covering every team on campus. He’s currently a junior at NU where he’s studying journalism and previously wrote and edited for Inside NU. He also studies business with an eye towards eventually helping develop business models to revive local news. In his free time, Cole enjoys watching sports, playing sports, reading the news and singing.