Saturday Blitz
Fansided

Northwestern has become the least-predictable team in college football

Northwestern always does great when you expect it to fail and fails when you expect it to do great—and that reputation isn’t going anywhere.

By Austin Lloyd

Northwestern v Washington
Northwestern v Washington / Alika Jenner/GettyImages
facebooktwitterreddit

For the life of me, I can’t wrap my head around Northwestern football.

The Wildcats just lost to Washington 24-5, dropping their record to 2-2 on the season, with the other loss being to Duke. Therefore, it’s safe to say that the Huskies and Blue Devils aren’t the only teams that should’ve been expected to drop this season.

But hey, I know what you’re thinking: “Austin, teams dip all the time! It’s rarely some groundbreaking surprise, so who cares?” I’d normally agree, but with how consistently inconsistent Northwestern has been over the past several years, I’m now forced to accept that normalcy has long left the equation.

For the sake of illustrating what’s led me to this conclusion, allow me to remind you all of how the CFB world has treated Northwestern throughout recent memory. The following are Wildcat football’s finishing records in order from 2012 to 2023: 10-3, 5-7, 5-7, 10-3, 7-6, 10-3, 9-5, 3-9, 7-2, 3-9, 1-11, 8-5.

That brings us to now where, as previously established, we seem to be in store for another considerable drop—and that’s especially so when several opponents on NW’s schedule that once looked beatable currently couldn’t appear further from. Speaking of which, enter Indiana.

The Hoosiers are riding on one of their highest highs in years, starting 4-0 with their closest win being decided by 24 points, and even that was in their season opener. Their early success saw its peak in a 42-13 domination of the UCLA Bruins in the Rose Bowl.

In other words, the Hoosiers are one of the last Big Ten squads Northwestern should be trifling with, and after them comes a road trip to a Maryland team that has a Power 4 win, before Wisconsin and yet another road trip to Iowa (both of which only have losses to ranked opposition).

Next. Where will ESPN College GameDay be for Week 5 of college football?. Where will ESPN College GameDay be for Week 5 of college football?. dark

The Wildcats have a bye this upcoming weekend before digging into that stretch. If they don’t make the most of it and right some of their wrongs, NW fans will once again be stuck witnessing an unwatchable run just months after being fed false hope. With that image in mind, I’d have to say it’s a bad year to be a Northwestern Wildcat.

Read more:

feed

Home/Northwestern Wildcats