In nine games last season, Northwestern’s defense allowed just under 146 rushing yards per contest. After the first snap of the 2021 season, the Wildcats had already surrendered over half of that.
The game really does change in the blink of an eye.
Entering 2021, the ‘Cats had suffered several losses on defense, including the departures of Greg Newsome, Paddy Fisher, Blake Gallagher and Earnest Brown IV — not to mention the retirement of Mike Hankwitz. Even then, most expected NU’s defense to still be above average under new defensive coordinator Jim O’Neil.
With Newsome and Hankwitz at Ryan Field on Friday night, the O’Neil era could not have gotten off to a much worse start.