Playing what was its final game at the lakefront stadium, Northwestern was dominant, shutting out the Boilermakers in a 19-0 victory. The Wildcats move to 5-2 on the season, and extend their winning streak
to four games, after playing what may have been their best football of the entire season.
Stock Up
Robert Fitzgerlad, Healthy and Balling Out
Robert Fitzgerald, the junior defensive back from Dallas, already led Northwestern in tackles entering the game, with 47 on the year. At game time, Fitzgerald was listed as questionable in the injury report. Though Fitzgerald’s injury was unclear, there was lots of uncertainty about how involved he would be in the game. Fitzgerald silenced all questions on Purdue’s first offensive possession, getting involved early with a tackle that stopped Purdue’s Jesse Watson short of the line-to-gain on a 3rd & 13. Fitzgerald would continue to assert his presence for all four quarters, finishing the game with 13 tackles (five solo) and a fumble recovery, while helping all over the field in pass coverage. Though ‘Cats fans already knew Fitzgerald was one of the team’s best players on the defensive side of the ball, it was reassuring he put together such a dominant performance after entering the game with a worrying injury designation.
3rd down success
On both sides of the ball, Northwestern was dominant on third down in this game, showing up to make plays when it mattered the most. On the year, Northwestern has had a 46.1% conversion percentage on third down. Today, the Wildcats finished 7-of-16 on third down, though they started the game 4-of-6 on their opening two drives, which jetted them out to an early 10-0 lead. And many of these plays came on 3rd & long, including Stone’s 7-yard scramble on a 3rd & 7 and an explosive 15-yard run from Caleb Komolafe on an early 3rd & 10. However, the defense also came to play, stopping Purdue’s offense 64.2% of the time on third down. And, like the offense, these weren’t always easy third down plays. Five of Northwestern’s third down stops came on 3rd & 3 or less, in short yardage situations for the Purdue offense.
Running Back depth
Four different players carried the ball today for Northwestern, and all of them looked good. Though Caleb Komolafe left the game in the second half with a left shoulder injury, he led the team in rushing yards at the end of the third quarter, totaling 67 yards on just 12 carries. However, in addition to Komolafe, Joseph Himon II lead the team with 22 carries for 87 yards. Dashun Reeder averaged 10.1 yards a carry, rushing 5 times for 51 yards, and Robby Preckel, the fullback-tight end hybrid, added 19 yards, including an explosive 14 yard carry in the second quarter. Considering the depth in talent that Northwestern has at the running back position, it’s no surprise that David Braun chose to hand the ball off an astounding 50 times. The Wildcats totaled 232 yards on the ground, averaging 4.6 yards per carry. Keep running the ball: it’s worked!
Honorable mentions: Time of Possession (Northwestern 37:39, Purdue 22:21), Mac Uhlein ( 7 tackles, 2 of them for a loss), Won the turnover battle (3-2), Playing clean (Just 3 penalties, for a total of 20 yards)
Stock Down
Preston Stone downfield passing
Looking at the stat sheet, Preston Stone’s poor performance is notable right away. Stone finished the game 11/26, throwing for just 132 yards, and giving away the ball and a very ill-advised interception. Stone’s timing and efficiency was good on short yardage passes, and he was also quite good throwing over the middle, throwing a 35-yard dart to Hayden Eligon II for his longest completion of the day, and connecting with Griffin Wilde for a 12-yard touchdown in the middle of the end zone. However, Stone forced many balls deep down the sidelines, and had poor accuracy doing so. Stone’s 42% completion percentage was largely due to his 22% completion percentage (2-of-9) on deep passes. Stone got bailed out on a few other underthrown deep passes that don’t show up in the box score due to pass interference penalties called against Purdue.
Caleb Komolafe injury
Caleb Komolafe was playing well, on pace to rush for over 100 yards for the second time this season. However, midway through the third quarter, Komolafe suffered an injury to his left shoulder. After walking off the field on his own weight, Komolafe spent an expansive amount of time in the medical tent, before heading to the locker room and being ruled out for the remainder of the game. Since star running back Cam Porter went down with an injury in Week 2 against Western Illinois, it’s been Caleb Komolafe who has led the run-heavy ‘Cats offense to a three-game win streak. With Komolafe’s health for the rest-of-season now unclear, Northwestern fans will be praying for good news.
Special teams
For the second week in a row, the Northwestern special teams unit finds itself in the stock down part of a postgame article. Though none of the special teams’ mistakes actively affected the outcome of the game, it did make mistakes that gave Purdue a couple of opportunities to build momentum. With less than two minutes to go in the 2nd quarter, Paul Creighton decided to dial up a fake punt on 4th & 10, from the Wildcats’ own 49-yard line. Lawson Albright took the direct snap and was immediately surrounded, getting away with just four yards, well short of the line-to-gain. This blunder gave Purdue a chance to mount a drive late in the second quarter, with field position on their own 47-yard-line. Additionally, Drew Wagner continued to struggle in his kick return role, returning four punts for just nine yards. Wagner also made one poor judgement on the first punt of the second half, deciding to not call a fair catch when he should have, and getting rocked by the gunner as a result. Wagner held onto the ball, but the Boilermakers easily could’ve forced a fumble and gotten the ball back deep in Wildcat territory.
Honorable mentions: Early down offensive efficiency, Points off turnovers (0, despite 3 defensive takeaways), Cloudy day on the lakefront (get ready for winter, Evanston)
