Riding the coattails of an upset road victory at Penn State a week prior, Northwestern hosted Purdue for its final game at Northwestern Medicine Field at Martin Stadium on Saturday, and came away with another winning result.
With members of the University’s 1995 Rose Bowl team watching from the Walter Athletics Center balcony, the Wildcats (5-2, 3-1 Big Ten) kept up their dominant form, overcoming a slow start to beat the Boilermakers (2-5, 0-4 Big Ten) 19-0 in the company of one of the program’s most historic teams.
The contest marked NU’s fourth-straight victory, meaning it can now shore up a bowl game bid with one more win. Prior to Saturday’s contest, NU hadn’t shut out an opponent since it beat Minnesota 39-0 on Nov. 18, 2017.
After the visitors deferred possession to the second half, NU pieced together a 14-play opening drive that spanned half of the first quarter, but came away with just a field goal to show for it. While running backs Caleb Komolafe and Joseph Himon II combined for 49 rushing yards on the opening possession, a stuffed 3rd down run by redshirt freshman backup quarterback Ryan Boe forced the ’Cats to kick.
With an early 3-0 lead in tow, coach David Braun’s defense limited any Boilermaker attempt to respond, forcing a three-and-out drive that took just over a minute off the clock.
From there, the ’Cats extended their lead to 10-0 on the subsequent possession, stacking small gains to work its way down the field as they relied primarily on the ground game. Adding insult to the injury of a 15-yard gain on a 4th down pass interference call against Purdue, freshman running back Robby Preckel pushed himself through 14 yards of traffic to reach the three-yard line.
Preckel — who previously saw just four carries all season — set the stage for graduate student quarterback Preston Stone’s short touchdown pass to graduate student tight end Hunter Welcing.
Firing on its defensive cylinders, the hosts never gave Purdue a first-half chance to creep back in, forcing four punts in the opening 30 minutes of play while limiting their foes to just two first downs.
The ’Cats tacked on another field goal with 8:38 remaining in the second quarter to make the score 13-0.
Looking to evade its first scoreless possession of the afternoon, NU faked a punt on its final drive of the first half, but couldn’t achieve a first down.
Out of the break, the hosts started second-half play on a high note, pushing Purdue’s kickoff returner out of bounds at its own 8-yard line and ultimately forcing another punt.
Shortly after halftime, Komolafe went down with an upper-body injury and did not return. NU extended its lead to three possessions on its first drive of the third quarter when Stone connected with junior wide receiver Griffin Wilde for a 12-yard touchdown pass.
Despite two late turnovers — a fumble by redshirt freshman running back Dashun Reeder and a Stone interception — the ’Cats held on for a shutout victory, capitalizing on fourth-quarter Purdue blunders to seal the deal.
Graduate student kicker Jack Olsen missed a late field goal, but the Boilermakers couldn’t make a dent in their final possession as the clock ran down.
Here are five takeaways from NU’s win over Purdue:
1. Boilermakers stay flat on offense, NU defends shutout with late turnovers
By the end of the first half, the ’Cats had held possession for 22 and a half of the game’s 30 minutes, amassed 14 more first downs than the visitors and forced four punts.
Put simply: a team can’t win if they don’t have the ball.
On a day when Stone struggled to find his rhythm early on, completing just seven of 17 attempts before intermission, the ’Cats reaped the benefits of a Purdue offense that was largely beating itself.
Though NU’s defensive pressure played a considerable role in holding the Boilermakers to two scoreless quarters — the visitors seemed to suffer from their own miscues too, as a handful of attempted passes soared well beyond targeted receivers.
Purdue combined for just 57 yards of total offense in the first half. After the break, the visitors picked up more yardage, but came away with nothing to show for it, as late turnovers plagued what could have been their best scoring chances of the contest.
The Boilermakers turned the ball over three times in the fourth quarter. On its first drive of the final quarter, redshirt junior defensive back Braden Turner forced a fumble after a 48-yard completion to put the ball into the hands of the hosts.
Later turnovers by way of a graduate student linebacker Mac Uihlein interception and a redshirt junior defensive lineman Anto Saka strip sack further thwarted Purdue’s offensive momentum.
While the Boilermakers’ own offensive misfirings may have defined the first half, the ’Cats’ hefty fourth quarter defense gave way to securing the elusive shutout result.
2. Komolafe goes down
Carrying the ball on a 4th-down play, Komolafe went down during NU’s first drive of the third quarter and did not return for the remainder of the contest. The redshirt sophomore ball carrier, who had already racked up 67 rushing yards before his early exit, walked off the field on his own strength and trotted to the locker room without his pads on after an initial examination on the sideline.
When graduate student running back Cam Porter suffered a season-ending injury during the ’Cats’ second game of the season against Western Illinois, it was unclear who could fill the enormously large shoes he left behind.
In Porter’s absence, Komolafe has erupted for a 2025 ascension, doubling his number of carries and tripling his yardage compared to last season after just six and a half games.
After leaving the field, Komolafe was labelled as “doubtful to return” with an upper-body injury.
For a team that relies heavily on its ground game production, Komolafe’s exit could be a major loss for the ’Cats, should his injury linger.
3. Another questionable Stone showing
By the time the two teams departed the field for halftime, Stone had completed just 46% of his passes and thrown a handful of balls that were nearly intercepted. Coming off three consecutive contests where he hovered right around 65%, Stone posted the worst completion rate across games he’s started across his collegiate career.
But … you wouldn’t know it from the score.
Stone ended the day having completed 11 of his total 26 passes. Up 19-0 in the fourth quarter, the veteran passer tossed his seventh interception of the year. After a rocky start with four picks at Tulane and two against Oregon, Stone hadn’t turned the ball over in NU’s last three contests.
Stone recently told The Daily that “the most important stat” is tallies in the win column and that he’d be just as happy to “hand the ball off 100 times” to shore up a victory, even if his own performance didn’t stand out.
Though NU easily beat Purdue, it will likely need stronger performances from Stone as it grinds through the remainder of its Big Ten slate.
4. Familiar faces return, ’Cats honor 1995 Rose Bowl squad
Standing on the balcony of the nearby Walter Athletics Center, former coach Pat Fitzgerald watched the ’Cats’ Saturday win surrounded by fellow members of the school’s 1995 Rose Bowl team.
In his first NU appearance since settling with the University in a wrongful termination suit, Fitzgerald took the field with a large group of teammates after the first quarter for a ceremony commemorating the 30th anniversary of the Rose Bowl squad.
Braun’s group wore black throwback jerseys to celebrate the occasion and a video montage of the 1995 season was displayed on the video board.
Fitzgerald, who played linebacker from 1993 to 1996 and served as head coach from 2006 to 2022, was initially suspended by NU without pay in July 2023 after an outside investigation found evidence of hazing. He was then dismissed after a Daily report detailed the allegations of that hazing which had not been previously reported by the school.
In an August 2025 statement regarding the settlement, NU said that evidence uncovered by litigation revealed that Fitzgerald did not condone or direct any hazing. The two parties settled for an undisclosed amount.
5. The road ahead
Seven games into the season, Braun has now surpassed his 2024 win total. With one more victory, his team will solidify its opportunity to compete in a bowl game — something it missed out on last year with a 4-8 record.
The ’Cats will next head to the Cornhusker State for a Week 9 tilt against now-No. 25 Nebraska.
Following Nebraska’s recent loss to Minnesota, which had previously not won a Big Ten game this season, it will likely fall out of the top 25 before NU hits the road. The following week, the ’Cats will travel to another currently ranked foe in USC.
While Saturday marked NU’s final contest in its palace by the lake, it still has two home contests against Michigan and Minnesota on its schedule, both of which will be played at Wrigley Field.
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