After about a month of equivocating on whether it was too early to tell anything about this year's Northwestern Wildcats, the time to pass judgement has arrived. The 'Cats took down UCLA yesterday by a score of 17-14.

This was a telling game for Northwestern because it was their first against competition of a similar level. Its three prior matchups were Tulane, Western Illinois and Oregon, and the 'Cats came out of that stretch 1-2, as most everyone expected.

Now, though, we've seen NU line up against a conference foe far less menacing than the Ducks, and there are real takeaways to be gleaned. The outlook for the season, though, is still somewhat mysterious.

Northwestern won the football game, and it was clearly the better team for the entirety of the first half. The 'Cats ran the ball down the Bruins' throats. Preston Stone was better -- not perfect -- but better. At a minimum, he held on to the ball in this one.

The second half was a different story as UCLA came storming back and almost found enough points to overtake the Wildcats. But it didn't. Again, Northwestern won the football game. That's a start.

As for what that means, well, it suggests Northwestern has what it takes to beat the lower-level to middling teams in the Big Ten. Maybe games like Purdue or Minnesota can be wins. UL Monroe is feeling like even more of a lock (is there such thing as a columnist jinx?).

This is not something that should be discounted given how poorly the Wildcats offense looked in the first three games, especially since it lost starting running back Cam Porter to injury. If this UCLA game had gone poorly, I'd be writing about Northwestern staring down the barrel of a 2022-esq single-win season.

Instead, Caleb Komolafe and Joseph Himon came to play in Porter's absence and look like the makings of a dynamic rushing attack for the 'Cats this year. Komolafe finished with 119 yards rushing to Himon's 58.

In the passing game, Stone went for just 115 yards through the air with a touchdown, but he didn't turn the ball over and was relatively accurate in the first half. It's progress, at least.

The major concern I have is that Northwestern will be unable to stay close in games where its defense gives up points early. The passing attack simply isn't good enough with Griffin Wilde as the only receiver Stone can count on.

Wilde had 98 yards and a score yesterday. Hunter Welcing, the tight end, was the team's second-leading receiver with 22 yards. That's just not good enough.

Overall, yesterday wasn't a super inspiring win over a team that's now 0-4. But it was a win. The Wildcats will certainly take it.

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