In the game of football, few things are more demoralizing than watching an opposing quarterback lounge in the pocket with enough time to balance his checkbook, check his email, and prepare a peanut butter and jelly sandwich before hitting his receiver for a big gain. Against Northwestern, that happened a lot last year. NU's defense finished dead last in the Big Ten with 17 sacks, while more than half the conference's teams had at least 29.
However, despite the dismal pass rush, the Northwestern defense was still in the middle of the pack in the conference (seventh in scoring defense, eighth in passing yards allowed).