Northwestern's 45-6 loss to Tennessee in the Outback Bowl ended what was otherwise a remarkable season in Evanston. With a redshirt freshman quarterback at the helm, a third-straight 5-7 season seemed in order. Instead, the Wildcats won as many games as they did in 2013 and 2014 combined, using a talented and opportunistic defense en route to one of the best seasons in program history.
The offense, as Pat Fitzgerald admitted following the loss in Tampa, is behind the defense in terms of competition and depth. That was evident on the field this season. While the defense was ranked fifth in the country according to defensive S&P+ (an opponent-adjusted stat that rates defenses or offenses with a weighted points-per-game stat), the offense was ranked 111th out of 128 FBS teams.