Hoping to enter its bye week with a statement win, Northwestern (3-3, 1-2 Big Ten) hosted Howard (2-3, 0-0 MEAC) for homecoming weekend.
While the Wildcats earned a wire-to-wire 23-20 victory on Saturday, it wasn’t as easy of a win as expected. That creates cause for concern entering the halfway point of the season.
NU’s inability to pull away was largely due to its difficulties stopping the run game — the Bisons rushed for a total of 183 yards. The ‘Cats had no answer for running back Eden James, specifically, who had his way all afternoon and ensured the game remained in striking distance for his team.
“A lot of it comes back to rooting in the fundamentals by block destruction, tackling and playing with good leverage,” interim head coach David Braun said. “I’ll always go back and self-evaluate where I can do a better job of putting us in some more advantageous calls to limit the run game.”
Throughout the first half, NU’s defense was dominant. It forced four straight three-and-outs, including a forced safety as a result of an intentional grounding penalty. The ‘Cats run defense fired on all cylinders, limiting Howard to 38 rushing yards.
However, the ‘Cats defense couldn’t pick up where it left off in the second half. The Bisons’ offense opened the second half with a 17-play, 74-yard touchdown drive that spanned nearly eight minutes. In this drive, Howard rushed for 20 yards on eight carries.
This noticeably tired out NU’s defense for the remainder of the game. James started to find more open holes, furiously running through the ‘Cats as the contest continued.
While NU’s offense matched Howard’s touchdown with one of its own, the defense was unable to maintain the lead at a comfortable level. James started to single handedly move the chains for the Bisons, recording a first-down and a 26-yard rush to close the third quarter.
In the fourth, James continued to win the battle against the ‘Cats defense. When the Bisons took over the ball following an NU turnover on downs, the running back steamed out for a 64-yard touchdown on the first play, making it a two possession game with eight minutes left to play.
Braun acknowledged that his defense will need to do a better job finishing games.
“When we have a team on the ropes, we need to find ways to close out games,” Braun said. “There are plenty of opportunities for us to evaluate the way we need to play four quarters, specifically in the second half.”
In the subsequent drive, James continued to wreak havoc, rushing for 12 and 16 yards and hauling in a 24-yard reception. This helped lead the Bisons to a second consecutive touchdown, bringing the point difference to three.
Although the score remained the same until the final whistle, senior linebacker Xander Mueller spoke on his defense’s inability to stop the significant yardage plays in the run game.
“A big part of (James’ success) were the (large) gains,” Mueller said. “There were a lot of big plays where there was one little miscommunication, one little missed tackle or times when all three levels of the defense were out of their gaps. We’ve got to keep our leverage to stop those plays.”
While the ‘Cats’ defense allowed a total of six rushing yards to every other Howard rusher, James finished with 177 rushing yards on 21 attempts.
Opposing run games have plagued NU all season long, especially in their losses thus far. Notably, NU’s defense allowed 97 rushing yards to Duke quarterback Riley Leonard and 268 total rushing yards a few weeks ago.
Entering the bye week, Braun knows his defense has areas to improve for more complete performances over the second half of the season.
“It’s a neat opportunity as a football team when you can learn and grow through some things you need to continue to improve on while still coming out with a victory.”
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