Facing a Louisiana-Monroe pass defense that ranked as a bottom-10 unit among FBS teams, Northwestern established its attack early on in Saturday’s matchup.
While the end result worked out well for the Wildcats (3-2, 1-1 Big Ten) — as the team picked up a season-high 269 yards through the air en route to a 42-7 win over the Warhawks (3-2, 1-0 Sun Belt) — that outcome was far from certain at the start.
Already down seven after ULM broke out the flea-flicker for a 34-yard touchdown on its first drive, NU’s offense gained possession, intent on finding a big play of its own.
Redshirt sophomore running back Caleb Komolafe punched one in from three yards out to even the score at 7-7, but the ’Cats struggled to find a rhythm through the air along the way. Graduate student quarterback Preston Stone had completed just two of his six passes, all of which were thrown at least a dozen yards down the field.
On the first play of the second quarter, coach David Braun’s squad watched as a deep ball to junior wide receiver Griffin Wilde became the fifth pass in just seven attempts to fall harmlessly to the turf 15-plus yards down the left sideline.
But in the remaining 44 minutes of the game, Stone found his groove, leading the way for an NU barrage that targeted nine different receivers throughout the afternoon’s aerial assault.
Two plays later, after failing to connect with sophomore wide receiver Hayden Eligon II on back-to-back attempts in the first quarter, Stone finally found him on a third shot down the left sideline for a 37-yard score.
Eligon said postgame that he should have made plays on his previous two targets. When Stone heard this, he took the microphone back as soon as his receiver finished his answer and put the responsibility on himself.
Eligon — who nearly quadrupled his season output with a career-high 80 yards on the day — saw his budding connection with Stone pay dividends in Saturday’s win.
The following drive, Stone looked for his 6-foot-4 receiver on each of the team’s three third-down plays, connecting for two contested grabs of 25 and 18 yards, respectively, before the ’Cats eventually settled for three to take an 18-7 lead before halftime.
“Seeing Hayden make the plays he did today and show up, it’s not a surprise,” coach David Braun said.
Braun cited practice reps as a key reason for Eligon and fellow sophomore wide receiver Drew Wagner flashing as of late. Both missed some time before the season, and with the two returning to practice in full, they’ve begun building their rapport with Stone.
“As those guys have come back and started to create a certain level of rhythm and timing with Preston, there’s just a comfort level that continues to rise,” Braun said.
The graduate student signal-caller certainly looked calm against ULM with the trio of Wilde, Eligon and Wagner by his side.
For the second time in his career, Stone notched over 300 total yards, didn’t take a sack and finished the game without a turnover. He routed the ball to his top three receivers for at least 60 yards and a touchdown each, something a ’Cats quarterback hadn’t done since 2021.
Wagner found a productive niche in the slot with NU’s plan to spread the ball around, grabbing a career-high six passes for 63 yards along with his touchdown.
His quarterback explained post-game that the decision was made during the week because of what the Warhawks had shown in their previous four games.
“We knew on film they were going to show a double team on Griffin,” Stone said. “They bracketed him quite a bit, which was honestly awesome because that’s a guaranteed opportunity to get guys like Hayden (Eligon II) or Drew (Wagner) or Ricky (Ahumaraeze) the ball, and those guys definitely stepped up to the plate today.”
Wilde played the role of unsung hero in the first half, going without a catch and pulling coverage his way so other receivers could get the ball in their hands and help build a multi-score lead. As ULM changed their approach throughout the game, the South Dakota State transfer got his opportunity and turned a quick pass into a 49-yard house call in the third quarter.
According to Eligon, execution was something the receiver room focused on in the days after their game against UCLA, where everyone besides Wilde combined for -4 yards.
“As a receiver group, we knew heading into the following week that we wanted to come together and really strive on doing our 1/11th,” Eligon said. “Because if we do our job, the linemen are going to do their job, Preston’s always going to do his job, and that’s when the offense really moves the ball.
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