Big Ten power rankings entering Week 4: Penn State Football or Iowa No. 1?

Northwestern may just be bad.

The Wildcats fell to Duke 30-23 on Saturday, the same Duke team that lost to Charlotte.

The Blue Devils came out the gates firing, going up 27-0 late in the second quarter. To their credit, Northwestern battled back and outscored Duke 23-3 down the stretch, but it was too little too late.

A big reason why Northwestern fell behind so bad so early, was the play of quarterback Hunter Johnson. Johnson threw three interceptions in the first half, and completed just six passes. The reason Northwestern came back though, also had to do with quarterback play. Andrew Marty replaced Johnson late in the second quarter and led the team on a six play, 75-yard scoring drive in less than a minute.

Marty finished the game 11-16 for 151 yards and two touchdowns, he added a rushing touchdown as well. It looks like he is the best option for Pat Fitzgerald’s squad going forward. The defense also performed better in the second half, not allowing any points and giving the offense a chance to win the game.

Northwestern may have found themselves in the second half of this game, and with a game against a bad Ohio team this upcoming week, they have a chance to work out more kinks. While there’s still hope, right now Northwestern looks like one of the worst teams in the conference.