EVANSTON, Ill. _ The quarterback who was going to take some of the load off his shoulders was preoccupied with a pesky pass rush.
The running back who was going to give him some breathers was injured after one carry and out of the game.
The defense that shared top billing with him during the 10-victory 2015 campaign was pushed around, gassed and outright disappointing.
Justin Jackson was Justin Jackson, but he wasn't enough to prevent the disaster Saturday that was Northwestern's 22-21 loss to Western Michigan at Ryan Field.
Beaten badly in yardage and worse in time-of-possession battles, Northwestern still was inches from taking a late lead when Broncos' linebacker Robert Spillane stripped Clayton Thorson at the goal line on a first and goal rush from the 6.
A bizarre, confusing sequence followed safety Davontae Ginwright's recovery in the end zone, but it was upheld upon review and the Broncos managed to kill the final 2 minutes, 54 seconds _ giving them 39:04 worth of possession in the contest.
"You play as poorly as we did, and that is not to discredit Western, but when you play as poorly as we did, those calls, the football gods, they go against you," said Pat Fitzgerald, who dropped to 9-2 in season openers as Northwestern's coach.
"You get what you earn, and that's what we deserve. ... They played much better than we did, and the credit goes to Coach (P.J.) Fleck and his players."
A 1,000-yard rusher in each of his first two seasons in Evanston, Jackson looked better than ever.
He rushed for 124 yards on 23 carries, caught two passes for 47 yards and recorded his first three-touchdown game.
Thorson (15-of-22, 196 yards) was good enough, particularly on the Wildcats first and last possessions _ until their final offensive play, which would have been called back for holding if he had not fumbled.
"I saw a lot of space, could have scored, but even if I didn't, I should have gone down or something," Thorson said. "I can't fumble on the 1."
Said Fitzgerald: "(Spillane) made a great play inside-out to strip the ball, but we can't fumble there. Any time you turn (it) over in a tight game at the half-yard line, that's the difference."
Northwestern's defense played a major role too.
The Wildcats were among the best in the Big Ten last season, but their Mid-American Conference opponent pushed them around up front and they couldn't seem to get off the field.
Western Michigan quarterback Zach Terrell hit 26 of 36 passes for 218 yards and rushed for 40 more on nine carries to post decent numbers and his offense outgained the Wildcats 416-319. Perhaps the most revealing numbers were 7-of-17 and 4-of-4 _ the Broncos' conversion rates on third and fourth downs respectively.
"'Walk' used to say it all the time, 'Some people point fingers, others point thumbs," Fitzgerald said referring to his late predecessor Randy Walker. "We need to have a bunch of guys be thumb-pointers and look inward and look at how we can coach better and how we can play better.
"A lot of teams typically make their biggest improvement from week one to week two."
Fleck has improved Western Michigan tremendously since the Broncos went 1-11 in his first season in 2013. This was his first victory against a Power 5 school.
"It's as big as 1-0," Fleck said. "That's it. It's wonderful for our fans ... it's wonderful for the community. This is why I was brought here. I know after 1-11 it was hard to fathom."
