The Northwestern football team will take on lowly Purdue today without two of its best players due to injuries.
Linebacker Xander Mueller and wide receiver Bryce Kirtz are reportedly both going to miss today's Big Ten game.
“Sources: Northwestern will be without leading wide receiver Bryce Kirtz and second-leading tackler LB Xander Mueller, who are both out today at Purdue,” ESPN's Pete Thamel wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “Kirtz is dealing with undisclosed injury and Mueller has been battling a lower body injury.”
Despite missing last week's game vs. Iowa, Kirtz leads the Wildcats in receiving yards with 414. His 15.3 yards-per-catch average and 27 receptions also rank first and second on the team, respectively.
Similarly, Mueller has recorded more assisted tackles this season than any other Northwestern player with 20, and his 43 total tackles are second only to Mac Uihlein despite Mueller having also been sidelined for the Wildcats' decisive loss to Iowa.
Without Kirtz, Northwestern quarterback Jack Lausch will likely try to lean even more heavily on A.J. Henning and Thomas Gordon, who account for more than 40% of the Wildcats' receptions this season. Henning and Gordon are the second and third-leading receivers in terms of yards, respectively, and Henning leads the team with 3 touchdown catches in 2024.
In Mueller's absence last week, Uihlein reached double-digit tackles for the second time this season. The fourth-year junior recorded 6 solo tackles and 4 assists, including being part of a tackle for loss, as the Wildcats were routed by Iowa in the second half of a 40-14 road loss.
Northwestern football team faces uphill battle amid rough season
After the defeat to the Hawkeyes, Northwestern fell to 3-5 on the season and 1-4 in Big Ten play during head coach David Braun's second season. Braun, who began the 2023 season as the interim head coach following the firing of Pat Fitzgerald following allegations of hazing within the football program, led the Wildcats to an 8-5 record, including a bowl victory.
Braun had his interim label removed late last season, but things have not gone nearly as well this go-around. The Wildcats' offense has sputtered — the team has scored 20 or fewer points in five of its eight games — and NU has been beaten by more than two scores in four of its five losses.
A path to bowl eligibility is unlikely, but if the Wildcats have any chance, they will have to win today's game, in which they are favored by 1.5 points. Purdue (1-6, 0-4) is the only team in the expanded Big Ten that has not won a conference game so far this season.
After the Boilermakers, Northwestern will face Ohio State at Wrigley Field, Michigan in the Big House, and in-state rival Illinois again at Wrigley. The Wildcats will assuredly not be favored in any of those games.
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