EVANSTON, Ill. — For most of this season, when Northwestern’s injury-plagued defense has struggled to make plays, the offense has been to cover up its mistakes with explosive plays. But on Saturday, the Wildcats played with fire for too long, and paid the price as a result.
The Northwestern defense did not play poorly by any means in the Wildcats’ 21-7 loss to the Badgers at Ryan Field, but it did have trouble with Wisconsin’s multi-faceted rushing attack and wide receiver Jazz Peavy. However, with the Badgers dominating the field position battle, Northwestern had to defend against a short field most possessions.