In the simplest terms, Week Two was better. A lot better. Preston Stone and the Northwestern offense put together a complete game, albeit against an FCS team. The ‘Cats did what they should have done this week, and maybe it’s a good sign of things to come. For the first time, Zach Lujan’s Northwestern offense eclipsed 500 total yards, as the Wildcats were succeeding through the air and on the ground. Speaking of which, let’s hop on in and look at this one.
The Numbers
Stone bounced back by going 21-of-29 with
245 passing yards and three passing touchdowns. He looked more like the quarterback Northwestern fans were expecting to see as he more than doubled his PFF offensive grade from a week ago, this time landing at a 79.0 (tied with Julian Sayin at 54th in the country for FBS quarterbacks). This consisted of a 78.4 PFF passing grade, a 61.2 PFF rushing grade and a 68.9 PFF fumble grade: much better than last week.
Stone averaged 8.4 yards per attempt; a whole 4.0 yards more than he did against Tulane. This time, he had two PFF big time throws (a pass with excellent ball location and timing, generally thrown further down the field and/or into a tighter window). His average time to throw was 2.56 seconds, very similar to last week. Stone was under pressure on 25.8% of his 31 dropbacks and was 4-for-6 with a touchdown on those dropbacks. The pass blocking did look better this week for sure, but there is still room for improvement. Martes Lewis has been the highest graded pass blocker for the ‘Cats two weeks in a row, with Caleb Tiernan at second both times as well.
Stone flashed his ability to throw the ball deep in this one but was still only 1-for-5 on 20+ yard passes. The one completion was a 46-yarder to Griffin Wilde that we’ll take a look at later. In the intermediate game, he went 6-for-9 with a touchdown throw (passes between 10 and 19 yards), while he was 8-for-9 in the short passing game and didn’t make any mistakes throwing behind the line of scrimmage.
All in all, the numbers were solid and so was the tape, so let’s take a look.
The Good
Almost anything is better than last week. Stone looked calmer in this one and the offense ran more as a cohesive unit. Here’s what stood out the most to me:
Stretching the field
Northwestern finally was able to see what Stone can do when he lets it fly.
This play is a thing of beauty. The offensive line (and tight end Lawson Albright) has to pick up five defenders as they seemingly blitz Stone. However, Stone had all kinds of time in the pocket as he saw Wilde beat his man off the jump. The pass was a little under-thrown as it could’ve been a touchdown, but nonetheless a successful deep shot.
This one was nowhere as deep, but a great display of what Stone can do when he has time in the pocket. Western Illinois sent six on this play and all the blocks were picked up. Cam Porter made a huge block on the edge to prevent a free rusher to allow Stone to go through his progressions and find Wilde on the crossing route. Stone delivered it right on the numbers as his connection with Wilde continues to grow and blossom.
This play screams confidence. On 4th-and-1, only six yards out from the end zone and with a timeout remaining, Stone saw Hunter Welcing near the back corner of the end zone and placed the ball where only he could go up and make the play. The offensive line held up here strongly as well to allow Stone to deliver the strike, but what jumps out most about this play is the coaching decision. David Braun didn’t choose to kick a field goal. He trusted his quarterback and let the offense get an in-game rep together in a situation that could arise in a close game down the line.
The last passing play I have here is a perfect example yet again of what Stone can do when he has time and can locate the open receiver. He finds Welcing in a soft spot of the zone coverage and put it right on the money. Another eye-popping moment from this play is Ricky Ahumaraeze. He didn’t go out to catch a pass, rather he started in the H-back spot and delivered a key block to keep Stone clean.
Downhill running
The run game last week looked alright but was overshadowed by the other struggles. In this one, the potential of what the Northwestern offense can do on the ground was very evident.
Jackson Carsello, Deuce McGuire and Evan Beerntsen do a great job here in the trenches to allow Porter to get through the middle and into open field. When he broke the tackle that gave him a wide-open lane to the end zone, it was Ahumaraeze who delivered the pancake block on the cornerback to allow Porter to have all that open space.
Ahumaraeze is my biggest winner from this week. PFF had him graded as a better run blocker than three of Northwestern’s offensive line starters this week and the highest overall on the team when including the Tulane game. He’s blocked on 48.9% of his 94 total offensive snaps, 45 of those being in the running game. Ahumaraeze has shown his willingness as a blocker and that he’s not afraid to get his hands dirty. While Himon does follow the blocks very well here, its No. 10 who pops off the screen.
Final Thoughts
This game was encouraging to see. Yes, the opponent is an FCS team that hasn’t seen much success lately in general, but Northwestern still may have found something on offense. Lujan put together a complete game that allowed the offense to flourish and gave Stone more time in the pocket. The offensive line is still a big point of emphasis when you go back and watch the Tulane game, and this upcoming game against Oregon could get ugly fast. The Ducks are ranked at No. 4 in the country so either way it’ll be a tough game, but Stone showed on Friday night why he was being talked about so highly this offseason.
