Rutgers head coach Chris Ash had to answer some difficult questions about his offense against Northwestern. The questionable decision to hide running back Isaih Pacheco in the second half of the game was the interesting topic of discussion.

Later in the week, offensive coordinator John McNulty answered some of those questions.

In the first half of Saturday’s game, Pacheco rushed for 72 yards on 10 carries against the Wildcats defense. He helped give the Scarlet Knights a 12-7 lead at halftime, arguably the best half of football the team has played this season.

The Rutgers changed its strategy. Pacheco had just one touch in the second half, taking a handoff four yards. That was it. And the Scarlet Knights dropped to 1-7 after an 18-15 loss.

McNulty had an interesting explanation behind the decision.

“We had 20 plays (jn the second half), and half of them were third downs that we didn’t convert. They were blitzing every second down, so the only run call is really first down. The one drive we did have, Raheem was in there and he just got back,” McNulty said, according to NJ.com.

That’s a fair explanation and an understandable decision. But it still seems that maybe Pacheco could’ve seen a few more touches to see if he could create something on a player here or there. Instead, Rutgers opted to go away from their top-performing back.

Pacheco has pieced together two solid weeks. Against Maryland, the freshman rushed for 107 yards and a touchdown on 22 carries. This week, he finished with 76 yards and a score.

For the year, Pacheco has 299 yards and two touchdowns on 62 carries.

Rutgers enters a difficult stretch, having to play Wisconsin, Michigan, Penn State and Michigan State over the next month. It’s unlikely the Scarlet Knights are able to register a B1G win on the year. But it could be a good time to experiment with the offense and get Pacheco a few more carries moving forward.