Ahead of an upcoming stretch of favorable home matchups against UCLA and Louisiana-Monroe, Northwestern has a crucial two weeks of rest and preparation following a 34-14 Saturday loss to No. 4 Oregon.
Entering their bye week, the ’Cats (1-2, 0-1 Big Ten) now have three games of film to look back on after two emphatic losses to College Football Playoff contenders with a win over an FCS opponent wedged between.
Following Saturday’s loss in which the Ducks (3-0, 1-0 Big Ten) held NU scoreless until the final quarter, coach David Braun said the team needs to use the break to look within and discover its identity.
“There’s an opportunity for us to go back and evaluate and say, ‘Who are we as a football team and as a coaching staff, and how do we put this team in position to do it the Wildcat way?’” Braun told reporters after Saturday’s loss.
The ’Cats racked up 178 rushing yards, two more than their Week 3 foes, in large part to redshirt freshman running back Dashun Reeder’s 79-yard touchdown in the game’s final two minutes. Despite struggles to impact the game’s score, NU attacked Oregon with long, run-heavy drives and play-action passes.
NU won the time of possession battle, holding the ball for 32:17, but struggled to capitalize after crossing the 50-yard line to turn those drives into points. The ’Cats reached the red zone once, when redshirt sophomore Caleb Komolafe capped off a 75-yard drive with a one-yard touchdown with 6:20 remaining in the fourth quarter.
“There was never a point where I didn’t feel like we were able to establish the line of scrimmage,” Braun said.
Through three games with the ’Cats, graduate transfer quarterback Preston Stone has already matched his career high of six interceptions. He struggled in NU’s two FBS matchups with Tulane and Oregon, averaging 148 yards, three interceptions and no touchdowns per game with a 52.6% completion percentage.
When Stone transferred to NU this spring, both sides hoped his experience would provide stability at quarterback and elevate the team’s passing attack.
At SMU in 2023, Stone led a prolific passing offense that pushed the Mustangs to an 11-3 season and a conference title. His 28 passing touchdowns were 12th in the country. Last season, NU started two different quarterbacks and finished with the seventh-fewest passing yards among Power Four teams.
In addition to the passing game’s slow start, the offense was without graduate student running back Cam Porter, who suffered a season-ending injury in NU’s home-opening win over Western Illinois. Porter, the second three-time captain in program history, led the ’Cats in rushing yards in 2023 and 2024 and was expected to lead a backfield trio with redshirt junior running back Joseph Himon II and Komolafe.
In Porter’s absence, the backfield was split between Komolafe and Himon. Komolafe led the ’Cats with 16 carries, logging 53 yards and his first career rushing touchdown. Himon had 12 carries and two catches, leading the team with 118 all-purpose yards, including a 39-yard kick return.
Porter has been a staple of the team’s offense since 2020, but NU’s rushing attack responded well against an Oregon defense that gave up 16 points in its first two games.
“(Cam Porter is) someone we look up to, so that was kind of a devastating loss, but it’s next man up,” Himon said. “I think me, Caleb and Dashun stepped up when our number was called. I trust in my o-line. We see that we can move the ball on anybody in the country.”
The ’Cats return to action on Sept. 27, when they host UCLA (0-3, 0-0 Big Ten).
Email: [email protected]
Related Stories:
— Football: Miscues plague Stone in 34-14 loss to No. 4 Oregon
—Rapid Recap: No. 4 Oregon 34, Northwestern 14
—Football: Caleb Komolafe braces for a larger running back role following Cam Porter’s injury
