WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — As redshirt sophomore running back Joseph Himon II motioned to his right during Northwestern’s overtime drive in Ross-Ade Stadium, no Purdue defenders shifted to pick him up in coverage.
Once Himon looked back to haul in redshirt sophomore quarterback Jack Lausch’s throw, the running back possessed an empty lane to the end zone. Moments later, Himon spun the ball in celebration, with his walk-off 22-yard score sealing the Wildcats’ (4-5, 2-4 Big Ten) 26-20 victory over the Boilermakers (1-7, 0-5 Big Ten).
“It’s just a testament to my teammates blocking for me up front and Jack — the connection I have with him — just getting me the ball at the end of the game,” Himon said. “That’s a testament to my teammates and coaches getting me in the right spots.”
Himon, who shone early in conference play on NU’s kick return unit, recorded 157 all-purpose yards during the win. He tallied a game-high 78 rushing yards on six carries and secured his first career multi-touchdown performance with both a receiving and rushing score.
Coach David Braun said his change-of-pace running back put forth an “explosive” effort.
“Joe’s a playmaker,” Braun said. “His consistency has been incredible. His willingness to lean into some of the things that weren’t necessarily strengths to become a more well-rounded football player continues to show up.”
The matchup marked a typical role reversal for the ’Cats’ backfield tandem. Graduate student running back Cam Porter struggled to generate traction on the ground, averaging just 1.5 yards per carry, but he nabbed a team-high eight receptions for 85 yards.
Porter said the week’s preparation incorporated him as a receiver more heavily than previous games, and the extra receiving reps paid dividends.
“Seeing Joe take over the run game, I was able to influence the pass game,” Porter said. “It was really cool to switch roles a little bit. Most of the time, he’s the receiving back and I’m the running back, so it was really good to see us both have success on the field today.”
With the teams knotted at 3-3 late in the first quarter, offensive coordinator Zach Lujan dialed up consecutive rushes for the 5-foot-9, 189-pound scat back. First, Himon moved the chains on a 10-yard second-down rush as NU approached midfield.
On the ensuing snap, Himon gashed the Purdue defense for a 51-yard rushing score. The play set a new career-long rush for the Little Rock, Arkansas, native.
Himon said the outside zone concept provided a perfect window for him to capitalize, and his game-breaking speed left the Boilermakers in the dust as he dashed in for his first touchdown since the ’Cats played Eastern Illinois on Sept. 14.
“I hit it, put it in second-gear and I was gone,” Himon said.
Although Himon and the NU offense slowed following a 17-3 start, the redshirt sophomore appeared a threat to move the sticks whenever he touched the ball.
When the ’Cats needed a score to close their Saturday afternoon win, Lausch said he knew Himon would make a decisive play well before he went through his pre-snap progressions.
“We’d run that two or three times earlier in the game,” Lausch said. “(I thought) one of those two guys would take him man-to-man, and no one ended up taking him. We had a lot of space, a lot of room for it. Pre-snap, it was pretty clean, like ‘We might have this for a touchdown.’”
NU soon mobbed its halfback hero, with a sea of white jerseys descending upon the north end zone.
Fifty-seven days after the ’Cats fell 26-20 in their double-overtime defeat against Duke in Martin Stadium, Himon helped NU land on the opposite end of the same score in West Lafayette.
“He’s such a huge asset for our offense, an asset on special teams and unfazed under the brightest of lights,” Braun said.
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