Northwestern falls to Iowa without Aidan Chiles

The news broke Friday afternoon, and it was the worst kind for a 6-2 team heading into its biggest home game of the year.

Pete Thamel

@PeteThamel

Sources: Northwestern starting QB Aidan Chiles is expected to miss the game against No. 19 Iowa on Saturday. Chiles has been dealing with an upper body injury and his timeline for return is uncertain. Chiles has accounted for 23 TDs in leading the Wildcats to a 6-2 start.

Chiles has been the whole show for Northwestern this fall. Going into the weekend he had thrown for 1,898 yards with 13 passing touchdowns, 10 rushing touchdowns and 1 interception, running an offense that new coordinator Chip Kelly rebuilt in a hurry. He was listed as questionable on Wednesday's Big Ten availability report, and by Friday he was out with no timeline to return.

Pete Thamel

@PeteThamel

Veteran back-up Nicco Marchiol will make the start for Northwestern, his first start for the Wildcats. He’s a veteran who has a 6-2 record as a starter while at West Virginia. He’s played in 27 career games.

Marchiol isn't some walk-on thrown to the wolves. He's the former West Virginia starter with 27 career games behind him. But it's still a lot to ask of a backup making his first Wildcats start against a Phil Parker defense, and it showed early. Northwestern drove the ball well enough and then stalled out, and Iowa took advantage.

The defense didn't help. In the 2nd quarter Iowa, an offense nobody confuses with a track meet, went 97 yards for a touchdown, finished off by a 24-yard pass from Hank Brown to Tony Diaz. Wildcat Report put it best: Chiles doesn't play defense.

Marchiol's line wasn't the problem. He went 24-of-32 for 181 yards and added 52 yards on the ground, which is solid for a guy getting his first snaps as the starter here. What he didn't do is create anything big, and against Iowa that's how you lose. The only Northwestern touchdown came on a 2-yard pass to Joseph Himon II with under 2 minutes left. Brown was efficient for the Hawkeyes, going 16-of-21 for 126 yards with a touchdown through the air and another on the ground. That's all Iowa needed.

That's the takeaway. Kelly's offense has made Northwestern a real team this year, but without the quarterback who makes it go, Parker's defense took away everything until the game was over. It was also Northwestern's first loss at the new Ryan Field and its 2nd straight loss overall. Iowa moves to 7-2 and 4-2 in the Big Ten. Northwestern falls to 6-3 and 3-3.

It doesn't get easier. Northwestern goes to No. 11 Ohio State next Saturday, and Chiles' status is the only question that matters. If he's out again, Marchiol has a week of first-team reps to find something bigger than 10 points. If he's back, the Wildcats get to find out whether this was a blip or a real problem.