Northwestern fans may have felt it most when quarterback C.J. Bachér left Saturday’s loss to Indiana with a leg injury. But he is not the only Big Ten passer nursing a wound.

Three other schools — No. 3 Penn State, Indiana and Purdue — do not know who will be starting for them under center this weekend.
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C.J. Bacher is trying to work his late-game magic against Indiana again. Last year he led a game-winning drive of 73 yards to defeat the Hoosiers and make the Wildcats bowl-eligible.

Now he is trying to lead a much shorter drive to get Northwestern to the magic number of seven wins, which would almost guarantee a bowl game.

But no magic this time. Bacher throws off his back foot as the pressure gets to him to Rasheed Ward and Austin Thomas gets his second pick of the game. Bacher hobbles off the field and the Hoosiers take over with four minutes to play.

The Hoosiers pick up a couple first downs as the defense starts getting desperate and the time starts ticking off the clock.

NU calls its final timeout as Indiana faces third and three at the NU 42. Ben Chappell gets pressured and throws the ball in to the secondary incomplete with 2:17 to play. The Hoosiers will punt and the Cats will start at the 20 and Mike Kafka at quarterback.

Kafka is hit and he spins around and throws backwards. the ball bounces out of bounds at the five for a loss of 24 yards.

He then avoids the rush in the endzone and is sacked and fumbles the football. The Hoosiers recover at the eight-yard line. Makes you miss C.J. Bacher, doesn’t it?

At the end of the game, both Bacher and Sutton were out with injuries. So might NU’s pride after losing to Indiana this weekend.

The Wildcats get their turn to start a drive from inside their own five. They took their first drive from the three-yard line 90 yards for a field goal. Now NU has to do it again - or at least regain field position - to come away with a win here.

The defense made a big stop and finally got some consistent pressure on Ben Chappell as he had to elude pressure before making two incompletions to end Indiana’s previous drive.

Tyrell Sutton has missed the last two drives for the Cats and he is not back out there again. Sutton has had a season-high 27 carries and has rushed for 85 yards. But NU will have to win this game without him.

Conteh is stood up short of the first down on third and inches as Justin Carrington makes the tackle. Stefan Demos comes out to punt on third and short with 10 minutes to play. Pat Fitzgerald clearly trusts his defense as less than a yard separated NU from the first down.

The Hoosiers get third and eight from the Wildcats’ 43-yard line, Chappell gets it to Damarlo Belcher and it goes off his hands. A flag comes down after the play. A personal foul called on the Cats - the second of the drive - and the Hoosiers keep the drive alive.

The defensive line responds after the secondary’s penalty. Corbin Bryant tackles the running back for a loss and then John Gill gets a sack to make it third and 17. Corey Wootton and Nate Williams get to Chappell and he throws it harmlessly away.

The defense steps up to make up for the mistake by the secondary. Austin Starr misses the 51-yard kick and the Cats escape unscathed with the ball at the 33-yard line and six minutes to play.

If you can’t pass to him, join him. C.J. Bacher does his best Tyrell Sutton impersonation on first down for a gain of 27 yards to put the Wildcats back in the red zone. He was flushed out of the pocket toward the sideline and he darts through open field for the first down to about the 15.

The red zone issues continue. Bacher goes back… and back… and back… and back 31 yards before throwing it away. At least he did not throw it back across the field for an interception.

He was pushed back to the 40-yard line by the Indiana rush until he finally throws it in the general direction of Ross Lane. Amado Villareal makes a field goal to pull Northwestern within two.

Marcus Thigpen returns the ensuing kickoff past the 50. It is another case of mistakes compounding for the Cats. It seems this year that good plays and bad plays are coming in bunches - at least until the offense gets inside the 20.

NU’s defense is struggling to contain the trick play. Wide Receiver Mitchell Evans throws for 30 yards to Tandon Doss, who is turning in a big game, for the touchdown and the nine-point lead.

It is almost as if the Hoosiers are using the Cats’ aggressive defensive style against them. They are biting on playaction and reverses and it has shown as all three touchdowns have been relatively easy for Indiana to finish.

NU’s offense is finding its rhythm between the 20s though. Bacher runs for a big gain as he gets away from the rush for 15 yards. Tack on another personal foul for the Hoosiers and it is a big 30-yard gain.

Despite the strong running from Sutton and Bacher, the passing game looks out of sync. Bacher has struggled to find receivers in the second. He is 3-for-8 in the third quarter and is not moving the ball nearly as efficiently.

Bacher brings the Cats into the redzone with a third-and-10 pass to Jeremy Ebert to the seven yard line for 15 yards.

NU finally punches in a red zone touchdown. Bacher runs a naked bootleg, ducks his head and bowls his way into the endzone for a touchdown. The Cats pull back within two.

The Hoosiers commit another personal foul, canceling out a solid run by Marcus Thigpen. NU is taking full advantage of Indiana’s mistakes. The team has committed eight penalties for 109 yards. The Hoosiers hold the lead, but they are giving the Cats the chance to hang around.

The teams will head to the fourth quarter.

If NU is to win, the team has to get more pressure in the backfield. Wootton has gotten into the backfield a couple of times, but Ben Chappell has had plenty of time to throw otherwise. The Hoosiers are shooting themselves in the foot. NU must cash in with touchdowns. That has not happened so far this game.

Red zone try number three: same results. C.J. Bacher is forced out of bounds for a short gain on third and 10 and Stefan Demos comes back on to kick a field goal.

But the Wildcats play their get out of jail card and Indiana commits a personal foul, giving them new life inside the 10. Third time is the charm and three plays later, Tyrell Sutton is in the endzone. Amado Villeareal’s extra point is no good and NU takes a two-point lead.

Two personal foul penalties helped the Cats on that drive, including one on a fourth-down field goal attempt that kept the offense on the field for the touchdown.

But NU is still looking uncomfortable in the redzone. The offense seems to tighten up and the playbook gets smaller. A couple of Sutton runs up the middle marked the Cats’ plays inside the 10 and it has not been much different anywhere inside the 20.

More importantly, Villareal missed another extra point. Those need to be automatic for the Cats to continue to win.

The good news for the defense is that Indiana is convinced it can beat NU deep. Since Brian Chappell threw the 43-yard strike for the touchdown, he has looked deep more than he has looked short. The Hoosiers offense is out of sorts, committing two delay of game penalties after first trying to draw the Cats offsides.

The Hoosiers are finding their way though. Two big plays, first a third down pass to Tandron Doss for 21 yards and a screen pass to Mitchell Evans for a 13-yard gain (30-yard gain before the review), get the Hoosiers back into scoring position.

The defense is continuing its bend-not-break mentality. Corey Wootton makes a tackle on the running back for a three-yard loss. Indiana settles for a field goal, but Austin Starr’s 47-yard field goal is no good.

The offense’s turnover woes continue. A bobbled handoff is recovered by Matt Mayberry and the Hoosiers take over at the NU 34-yard line with about a minute to play

NU could not commit turnovers and let Indiana hang in the game. But that is exactly what the team is doing. The Hoosiers have had great field position all game and look ready to score right before the half.

The defense is playing well. But like in the game against the Spartans, the Cats have had their backs against the wall and sometimes the best they can do is only give up a field goal try.

The fake play gets the NU defense again. Brian Chappell runs three yards for a touchdown on a fake handoff. Wooton bites on the handoff and Chappell goes untouched into the endzone.

Turnovers and field position are the sticking points for the Cats again. That is how they lost their first game. That is how they are losing this game.

It might be one of those days for C.J. Bacher. Bacher nearly throws an interception to Richard Council as he is about to get sacked, but Tyrell Sutton comes up with the ball and gains seven yards on the throw.

Northwestern goes how Bacher goes in the last three years. The Wildcats are undefeated at 11-0 when their quarterback throws fewer than two interceptions. Bacher’s inconsistency at quarterback is well chronicled.

But he has been managing the offense well so far today. The Cats have not had many options deep yet, but Sutton is picking up good yards on the ground and Bacher is finding receivers underneath. The tempo is very good and the team is moving the chains efficiently.

A key has been the ability to pick up third downs - third and shorts at that.

But on third down the worst happens. Bacher throws a pick to Austin Thomas to the 11-yard line. Mark it up as another empty redzone trip.

The Cats have 125 yards in the first two drives and only three points to show for it. They have struggled scoring in the redzone all season. If NU is serious about competing for a Big Ten title or a premier bowl game, red zone scoring will be key.

The defense is bailing the offense out right now. But like against Michigan State, how long can that last?

Right when the offense looked good, the defense comes out an struggles.

The Wildcats got a break on a holding call, starting the Hoosiers inside their own 10. But eight plays later, Indiana is on the scoreboard.

Sophomore punter Chris Hagerup ran for 17-yards after struggling to corral the snap on fourth down, keeping Indiana’s drive alive. A play later, a fake reverse leaves Damarlo Belcher wide open for a 43-yard touchdown.

The Cats are hitting hard, but got fooled on the nice play.

But problems compounded for NU as the special teams continues to struggle. Stephen Simmons fumbles the football on the ensuing kickoff and a hot Indiana offense comes back onto the field with good field position.

The Cats defense makes a stand though. Nate Williams, who is replacing Malcolm Arrington, comes on the delayed blitz and forces Chappell out of the pocket where John Gill sacks him for a big loss on fourth down.

NU’s defense got beat on a great play for the touchdown, but the defense is hitting hard and keeping Indiana off the scoreboard. The Hoosiers have gone into the Cats’ territory three times and come up with only one score.

Good news for NU. The team has been outscored 33-3 in the first quarter of Big Ten games this season. Damage controlled, I guess.

It looked like the beginning of this game was going to be a repeat of the Michigan State game. Senior Marcus Thigpen took the opening kickoff to the 36-yard line and nearly broke it for longer. His first run of the game went 10 yards and you felt that “uh-oh” moment of Northwestern teams of old.

Good thing the game against the Spartans was flushed. After receiving the ball on their own three yard line, C.J. Bacher has moved the Wildcats well into Indiana territory. A couple of good third down throws helped keep the drive alive around the 20- and 30- yard lines.

But the real reason for the success is the strong rhythm of the offense. Bacher has had very good protection and Tryell Sutton has been running the ball effectively for 5- and 6-yard gains. The Hoosiers have not found a way to stop the Cats offense.

The red zone continues to be the struggle for NU. The Cats got inside the 10, handed the ball off to Sutton twice and threw an incompletion into the back of the endzone.

Amado Villareal hits the field goal and that is all NU gets out of the 90-yard drive.

Tyrell Sutton goes through the same pre-game routine every week. He gets his ankles taped, puts his pads on and listens to coach Pat Fitzgerald’s inspirational speech.

The senior running back then lines up inside of the tunnel alongside senior wide receiver Eric Peterman and junior safety Brendan Smith, and he gets ready to take the field.

As his teammates file out in front of him, Sutton gives Peterman and Smith a hug and handshake, and prepares himself for battle.
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Five minutes. Seventy-three yards to go. Touchdown or bust.

That was the situation facing Northwestern in last season’s clash with Indiana.

Down 28-24, then-junior quarterback C.J. Bachér marched his offense up the field, finding wide receiver Ross Lane in the end zone with 44 seconds left for the winning score.

The flawless execution of that last-minute drive was nothing new for Bachér and the Wildcats offense. In recent years, NU (6-1, 2-1 Big Ten) has excelled in close games, coming up with a winning drive or a defensive stop to preserve a narrow victory.

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