Northwestern Football: 3 takeaways from shocking win over Nebraska

Northwestern football won their game against Nebraska in Dublin, Ireland, on Saturday. Here are three takeaways from a great win.

Many thought it was a lost cause for Northwestern football this evening in Dublin. After all, the Cornhuskers had blown them out 56-7 last year, and were a 13-point favorite coming into this game.

Yet, Northwestern pounded the Cornhuskers to bits on the ground, Ryan Hilinski had a career day passing, and the Northwestern defense did enough in pass defense to give them a clutch victory.

There were still parts that Northwestern could improve upon but these are the three takeaways from Northwestern’s win over Nebraska.

3. Northwestern’s pass defense may need some work

It is weird to be typing this out in a game that was ultimately won off of interception returns. But, aside from those, Nebraska had a stellar passing day. Casey Thompson was 25-of-42 for 355 yards and a touchdown.

All game, the Huskers found success in the short to intermediate passing game, as their flood route combos were often putting the Northwestern pass defense in conflict. There were three starters back from the Wildcats 2021 squad. Yet, in one-on-one situations, they didn’t look the most comfortable tackling Nebraska players.

That’s not to say that the pass defense was bad, per se. The quarters coverage did force Thompson to think about any downfield throws after the first drive or two happened. Yet, this was a unit that didn’t really force takeaways until today, and one wonders if the blueprint of this win is sustainable.