After a bye week and a quarterback change, last Saturday was an important tone-setting game for the future. The Brendan Sullivan-led Northwestern offense looked much improved against Maryland. However, there were still costly mistakes by the offense as well. On the first possession of the second half with Northwestern in Maryland territory, up 17-10, Sullivan threw an interception. UMD turned that into a touchdown drive to tie the game at 17 and took the lead on its next offensive possession.
If Sullivan had not thrown that interception (and while we’re here, his second pick, which virtually sealed the win for Maryland), there is a good chance that Northwestern would have snapped its losing streak on Saturday.