With less than a minute left in the first half of Saturday’s matchup with Wisconsin, Northwestern found itself with first and 15 on its own eight-yard line, looking to gain any semblance of momentum. 

As redshirt sophomore quarterback Jack Lausch dropped back to pass, linebacker John Pius got home for a strip sack, giving the visitors the ball on the three-yard line. On the very next play, Cade Yacamelli rushed for a score, leaving coach David Braun’s squad with a 14 point deficit to overcome in the final 30 minutes. 

The Wildcats (3-4, 1-3 Big Ten) had a slew of miscues en route to their 23-3 loss to Badgers (5-2, 3-1 Big Ten) on Saturday in their final lakeside game of the season. 

“We knew a good football team was coming in here, and (we) did not perform to our standard,” Braun said. “The way we performed today was not a positive reflection on the way that I had the team prepared to go.”

Despite having one of its best outings last week against Maryland, the Northwestern offense could not find much in the air or on the ground, gaining a total of 209 yards. 

NU was forced to punt on its first two possessions of the game , but the defense came ready to play. Graduate student defensive back Coco Azema picked off Braedyn Locke in the first quarter , giving the Wildcats the ball at their own 42-yard line . The passing defense was stout all game, surrendering just 160 yards through the air. 

“In the back end we kind of pride ourselves on being good versus the pass,” Azema said. “I feel like we had some pretty good disguises that kind of deterred some throws.”

The takeaway ultimately led to nothing, as a short run and two incomplete passes forced a three-and-out for the ’Cats on a drive that saw graduate student wide receiver A.J. Henning suffer an upper-body injury that knocked him out of the game.

“There are certainly some things in our gameplan that are very tailored to his skillset,” Braun said. “Losing a guy like him starts to chip away at that depth in the wide receiver room.” 

Despite playing each other closely for most of the quarter, the Badgers broke the deadlock on the second play of the second quarter . Locke rushed eight yards on an option play to put the Badgers up by seven. 

NU looked to respond on the next drive, moving the ball all the way to Wisconsin’s 10-yard line,  but the ’Cats suffered another special teams miscue: NU trotted out redshirt junior punter Luke Akers to try a 28 yard field goal, but his attempt was blocked by Badger defensive lineman Ben Barten . 

On the ensuing drive, redshirt junior defensive lineman Jaiden Cameron recorded a blocked kick of his own. 

The team’s traded punts until Lausch’s costly fumble late in the second quarter allowed Wisconsin to extend its lead.

“In hindsight … (we) probably should have changed our tune and at least handed the ball off after that five yard penalty,” Braun said.

After forcing a Wisconsin punt on the first drive of the new half, the NU offense put together a 13 play drive that resulted in an Akers field goal from 26 yards out.

The ’Cats conjured up a sign of hope after a strip sack on the following drive by graduate student linebacker Greyson Metz , but a three-and-out and a three-yard receiving touchdown by Tucker Ashcraft gave the Badgers an 18 point lead. 

In what looked like a now or never situation for NU, the Badgers’ defense came up big again at the start of the fourth quarter, sacking Lausch in his own endzone for a safety to make the score 23-3. 

From there,  Wisconsin was content to run out the clock for most of the fourth quarter, gaining 68 yards on the ground in that period, and the Badgers became the latest team to best the ’Cats in their temporary stadium.

“(Wisconsin) got after us today,” Braun said. “They outplayed us.”

NU will look to regain its offensive footing next Saturday at Iowa. 

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