NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos...

Northwestern football dropped a 29-23 Friday night road game to the Indiana Hoosiers that showed how far coach David Braun's program has come. The Wildcats had plenty of opportunities to spring a big play or two and change the complexion of the game, but trailed throughout and ended up falling short.

Afterward, Indiana coach Curt Cignetti had positive words for Braun's Wildcats, sharing his thoughts on what transpired at Memorial Stadium after his team narrowly escaped. 

Cignetti Speaks on Wildcats 

Cignetti went off the cuff postgame, speaking about the Wildcats in comments shared by Northwestern alum and former NU softball player Sydney Supple of the Big Ten Network. 

"Northwestern is a good football team," Cignetti said. "I tried telling everyone that. No one wanted to believe me, but two years ago if someone would have said Indiana at this point of the season was a good football team, no one would have believed that either."  

Northwestern was a 20-plus point underdog in most sportsbooks heading into the game and outperformed expectations, an outcome Cignetti and his coaching staff knew was highly possible if not likely. 

Cignetti's offense won the game with big plays late, securing a home win that was closer than the experts thought it would be heading into Friday night's kickoff. 

Wildcats Finish Strong on Offense

The Wildcats overcame offensive mistakes, negative plays and first half jitters to finish strong on offense, scoring on their last four drives of the game. 

Finishing strong on offense has been a calling card of Kelly's offense so far this season with Northwestern. His Wildcats have now scored on the last four drives of its first three games, according to reporter Matthew Shelton.  

Indiana led 12-0 at halftime before Northwestern began playing the way Braun and Kelly know they are capable of playing in the second half. The Wildcats outscored Indiana 7-3 in the third quarter and 16-14 in the fourth quarter. 

NU Defense Falters Late 

A late 70-yard run by Indiana running back Lee Beebee with the Hoosiers up 22-20 and just over five minutes left in the game proved too much to handle for Braun's team as Northwestern's defense wasn't able to get a crucial stop. 

A quick glance at the box score shows where it all fell apart for coach Braun's team: the running game. 

Weeks after Northwestern running back Joseph Himon II boasted that the Wildcats have the best running back group in the country, Beebee and the Hoosiers stole the spotlight with 271 rushing yards to 32 for the Wildcats. 

Indiana possessed the football over 34 minutes to over 25 minutes for NU, preventing QB Aidan Chiles' offense from getting untracked until it was too late. 

There are tons of coaching points for Braun and his coaching staff to take away from this game, and Cignetti's comment is one of them. It also happens to be something that Braun and Kelly already knew wholeheartedly, and something that the rest of the country now knows just as well, even in a losing effort. 

More at NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos