Three takeaways from Northwestern football’s HAT week loss

Two days removed from the end of Rivalry Week, ‘Cats faithful continue to seethe at the fact that their rivals have claimed bragging rights for the second straight year.

But their anger doesn’t stem from the fact that it happened. It’s how it happened that infuriates Northwestern fans. A second half full of miscues helped Illinois to the 20-13 win.

With that said, here are the biggest takeaways from HAT week:

Against Northwestern’s biggest rival of the season, Stone made costly errors down the stretch. Time and time again, we saw the week one version of the Northwestern quarterback: rushing his progressions one play, being indecisive the next.

Stone threw two interceptions in the second half, which could’ve easily turned into three, had it not been for a favorable video review that turned a pick into a sack. The first was thrown right to the Illinois DB Miles Scott, who settled over the middle and waited to jump Hayden Eligon’s in-breaking route over the middle.

It was the wrong way to look, and a read that should’ve been made with a clean pocket.

The second pick was off the hands of Hunter Welcing, but throwing the football into zone coverage in a late-game situation, regardless, wouldn’t have resulted in much good for the ‘Cats.

It’s understandable that the snowy conditions made it a bit tough on the pass game for NU, but there’s a standard the offense must reach in order to give the team a chance to win. Included in meeting that standard is finishing a drive that starts at the goal line, which Stone and company couldn’t do in the third quarter. Yes, the offensive line did allow Robby Preckel to get rocked three yards behind the scrimmage. But from there, Stone had two chances to punch it in from the five-yard line and wasn’t able to convert.

Stone has had his fair share of good moments throughout the season, like his 15/15 second half against Minnesota that sent Northwestern bowling and earned him Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week. He also made good throws facing the Illini, like a pass to Eligon that preceded his interception-turned-sack. However, the mistakes from him and the NU offense will unfortunately be the main storyline given the game’s result.

Illinois’ offense was far from explosive on Saturday, especially in the second half. Their first drive of the third quarter went 47 yards. After that, they didn’t sniff 30 yards for the rest of the game.

The ‘Cats couldn’t do wrong on the defensive side of things: forcing punts, three and outs and even a strip sack that they recovered on the Illinois’ one-yard line. Four of the six Illinois offensive drives ended favorably for Northwestern. Three of those drives ended in punts, and two of said punts resulted in touchbacks.

Yet, the Wildcats walked away with only three points in the second half.

Looking back at the 2025 regular season, one can find that this is a recurring theme for the ‘Cats. It’s what beat them against Nebraska, kept their shutout of Purdue much closer than it should’ve been, cost them a potential upset of then-No. 18 Michigan at Wrigley Field, and now, is the reason why the Hat stays in Champaign for another year.

Despite elite defenders like Robert Fitzgerald, who ranks second in the conference in total tackles and first in solo tackles, Josh Fussell, who boasts a No. 2 ranking in pass deflections and Mac Uihlein, who leads all Big Ten LBs in interceptions, NU finishes conference play in the middle of the pack.

This is where both points come together as one, in a way.

PFF rated Northwestern’s schedule as the seventh-toughest in the nation for a reason, but that doesn’t exonerate them from squandering games they had well within reach.

Let’s take a walk down memory lane.

Tulane and Oregon were arguably the hardest games on the ‘Cats schedule, making those games the least winnable. This story starts on Oct. 25 against Nebraska, where Stone’s fourth-quarter pick (and a controversial no-call against Griffin Wilde) saw Northwestern’s odds of getting its best win of the season go up in smoke.

No. 17 USC was next, and had it not been for a Najee Story fumble, the story of that game could’ve been written much differently. The momentum factor didn’t do NU any favors.

Then came the (potentially) final loss at Wrigley against Michigan, where the Wildcats were given two opportunities to put the game to bed with a touchdown following turnovers from Fitzgerald and Braden Turner, and punted away both of them.

Add all of these mistakes together, and you see the ‘Cats could’ve easily finished their season on an eight-game win streak, or winning seven of their last eight at the least, and possibly entering the AP Top 25.

In 2025, the ‘Cats had the chance to win 3 ranked matchups, 2 games on national TV and take the hat back. They walked away from the year empty-handed.