Pat Fitzgerald is doing it again, erasing a sloppy start by gaining traction through October. The Wildcats pulled out back to back home overtime wins, and suddenly look like a tough out again. What Wildcat fans have to be most pleased by is how the offense finally showed up last week. Yes, they only had 17 regulation points, but they gained 350 yards in regulation against what had been a stout Michigan State defense. Justin Jackson was still a no show, but Clayton Thorson executed the west coast offense perfectly, killing Michigan State all afternoon on slats and crosses. The concern now might be the secondary, after a moribund Michigan State passing game lit them up for 445 yards through the air. Now they have to deal with Tanner Lee, who has erased a lot of his early turnover problems, and is second in the Big Ten in both passing yardage and passing efficiency in Big Ten play. Some of that is out of necessity with Tre Bryant out for the year and the Huskers playing from behind extensively the past few weeks, but some of it is real progress. The key for the Huskers is finishing drives in the end zone. If Nebraska hadn't come back last week, the story would have been four trips inside the 25 and four field goals through three quarters last week. Even with the two late touchdowns, Nebraska's red zone touchdown rate of 36.8% is worst in the Big Ten. Defensively, Northwestern has forced the most empty red zone trips (6) of any Big Ten team, but a big part of that is their opponents can't make chip shot field goals, going 2-5 on field goals inside the red zone on the year. No other Big Ten team has had opponents miss 3 such field goals, and only three others have had opponents miss two. The Northwestern defensive red zone touchdown rate of 61.9% is far less impressive. The Northwestern Achilles' heel all year has been an offensive line that can't do anything. The Wildcat offense wants to get the ball out quick, and the line wasn't even allowing that. Somehow last week, against what had been a good Michigan State pass rush, that changed, and Thorson was barely touched. Granted Dantonio continued his decade long tradition of sitting back in a passive zone against that offense, and letting Northwestern pick him apart, but still. Nebraska hasn't had much of a pass rush all year, and Thorson showed what he can do with the time that I think he'll get again.
NORTHWESTERN 27, NEBRASKA 24
