On a 3rd and 1 play with just over seven minutes left to play in Northwestern’s Friday night matchup with Western Illinois, redshirt freshman quarterback Ryan Boe took the snap and pulled the ball back on the option. The gap was there.
Boe zipped across midfield, met a defender at the second level and, with an outstretched arm, threw him into the 40 painted on the turf below. He tiptoed down the left sideline and dove across the goal line for the first touchdown of his career.
Northwestern, 42. Western Illinois, 0.
The Leathernecks (0-2, 0-0 Ohio Valley Conference) scored a late touchdown to dash the Wildcats’ (1-1, 0-0 Big Ten) shutout dreams, but nothing could dampen the mood in Evanston after a 42-7 victory.
After a drudging at the hands of the Tulane Green Wave last week, the ’Cats showed out for their first game at the lake, winning the team’s third consecutive home-opener in as many years under coach David Braun.
The result wasn’t unexpected — NU was heavily favored heading into its matchup with the FCS program — but the tallies on the final stat sheet were.
In a record-breaking showing, the ’Cats offense racked up 281 yards on the ground en route to a 526-yard total for the evening, both the most in Braun’s tenure.
“Some of the things we saw today, it’s not like those weren’t showing up in increments in the Tulane game,” Braun said. “It was just the consistency element of it and finding rhythm.”
NU found some success on the ground during its stint at Tulane, with graduate student running back Cam Porter and redshirt junior running back Joseph Himon II averaging six yards per carry. But the offense moved away from the ground game in the second half of that contest, already trailing by three possessions, and the two combined for just five carries.
Against the Leathernecks, there was no such problem. Porter scampered for 43 yards to open the scoring onslaught and nabbed all seven rushes in the first quarter.
With full control over the game’s script, Braun’s group played complementary football. Western Illinois was forced to respect an NU run game with the potential to break one loose for 40-plus yards.
So, on the next NU snap following Porter’s touchdown, the Leathernecks’ linebackers jumped five yards forward to meet Porter in the hole — then graduate student quarterback Preston Stone dropped a moonball off a play-action fake into the hands of junior receiver Griffin Wilde for a gain of 46 yards.
The ’Cats never looked back.
At his weekly press conference Monday, Braun emphasized the importance of a strong ground game to succeed, particularly in the Big Ten. While their Friday night matchup wasn’t against FBS competition, it was a good experience to get the kinks out and see what the offense should look like near peak-performance — a run-first attack that can make life easier on Stone and the rest of the offense.
“To win in this league you have to be able to run the football,” Braun said. “It doesn’t mean you can’t be dynamic in the pass game, but (Stone) needs to be supported by that. We were able to do that today, and that needs to continue.”
Unfortunately for the ’Cats, the rushing attack also took a serious blow mid-game, with Porter exiting during the third quarter with a lower-body injury.
Coach Braun was unable to provide an update after the game on the injury or Porter’s availability for NU’s matchup with No. 6 Oregon on Saturday.
In his absence, redshirt sophomore Caleb Komolafe stepped into a larger role beside Himon and ended the night with a career-high 11 carries and 63 rushing yards.
Komolafe notched a team-leading nine attempts against Tulane, but struggled to make chunk plays against a disruptive front. But with Porter out of the picture for the latter half of the Western Illinois game, Komolafe flashed some of the big-play ability that Braun praised him for during the offseason, ripping off a career-long 24-yard run two plays into the fourth quarter.
If Porter’s injury lingers, NU will need other ’Cats to contribute out of the backfield. Whether it be Himon, Komolafe or even Boe, the foundation laid down on Friday showed the run game doesn’t have to slow down.
Email: [email protected]
X: @aboyko_nu
Related Stories:
— Rapid Recap: Northwestern 42, Western Illinois 7
— Football: Turnovers topple Northwestern offense in 23-3 loss to Tulane
— Football: Northwestern begins its season in disappointing fashion, falls 23-3 at Tulane
