Northwestern’s first matchup with a Sun Belt squad went just as expected: a 42-7 rout in front of a home crowd on the lake for homecoming weekend. Caleb Komolafe continued his strong play, Dashun Reeder
looked excellent on his 11 carries and Preston Stone had by far his best game of the season. Eight different players caught passes from Stone, including five players with two or more receptions. Without further a do, let’s look at the numbers behind the impressive offensive showing put on by the ‘Cats:
The Numbers
Stone had the seventh-highest PFF offensive grade (90.3) for all FBS quarterbacks in Week 6, and fifth-highest if you take out the two quarterbacks ahead of him with less than 20 drop backs. The four ahead of him? Julian Sayin (Ohio State beat Minnesota 42-3), Nico Iamaleava (UCLA upset Penn State 42-37), Ty Simpson (Alabama beat Vanderbilt 30-14) and Blake Horvath (Navy beat Air Force 34-31). He was also graded the highest on offense this week among all Northwestern players.
Stone had just one PFF “big time throw” (a pass with excellent ball location and timing, generally thrown further down the field and/or into a tighter window), but showcased a dual-threat ability that hasn’t ever been seen from the signal caller. He averaged 8.5 yards-per-attempt—his highest mark of the season—as he went 20-of-31 for 262 yards and three touchdowns passes. Stone added the cherry on top with his five carries for 49 yards, the second-most in his career (he had eight carries for 81 yards in 2023 with SMU in a 36-31 win over Rice). Iamaleava laid the framework for how to beat Penn State, and with what Stone did on the ground against UL-Monroe, the gameplan could see him running it more. He also saw success again this week on play action passes. Two of his three touchdown passes were off of play action, as he posted a 78.8 PFF offensive grade on those plays, while posting a 90.0 PFF offensive grade on non-play action passes.
The entire offensive line has been a huge bright spot for the ‘Cats this season. NU is 28th in the FBS with a 76.0 PFF pass blocking grade and fourth in the country (behind Iowa, Rutgers and Indiana) with a 78.6 PFF run blocking grade. Overall, Northwestern is the 22nd in the country with an 82.0 PFF offensive grade. This puts the ‘Cats ahead of teams like Tennessee, Alabama, Virginia and Vanderbilt.
While Griffin Wilde has continued to be Stone’s top target, the others got involved. Strong performances from Hayden Eligon II and Drew Wagner showed a new ceiling for this Northwestern offense. Wilde caught three passes for 64 yards and a touchdown, Eligon led the team with 80 yards and a score on three catches, while Wagner led the ‘Cats with six receptions good for 63 yards and a touchdown. Tight end Hunter Welcing also had a good showing, posting a 79.0 PFF offensive grade (fourth-highest on the team) and catching four passes for 32 yards. Enough with the numbers and stats, it’s time to look at the film:
The Good
As I’ve alluded to, this Northwestern offense was firing on all cylinders against ULM. Stone was awesome, the running backs were awesome, the receiving group was awesome and the offensive line held it all together. Zach Lujan had his guys running a well-oiled machine.
It’s a bird! It’s a plane! No! It’s Preston Stone!
Stone played like the quarterback people expected when the news of him transferring to Northwestern broke.
That’s not Preston Stone! That’s not Preston Stone! Stone’s Danny Diaz from McFarland, USA moment. The second-longest rush of Stone’s career was a beauty. This seemingly QB draw call was executed to perfection. The blocking was fantastic here, including a huge upfield block from Jackson Carsello. Stone found some daylight, cut it to the outside, Eligon delivered a solid block and he was off to the races. After Stone went out of bounds, he gave off the most energy he has all season. If Stone can replicate some of what he did on this play, the Penn State game could be closer than expected.
Play action fake, then a pump fake to the screen. That’s all Eligon needed to break free on the wheel route down the left sideline. Stone has an extremely clean pocket thanks to the offensive line play (and blocking from Lawson Albright and Komolafe). When he has that time, he can do what he did here. Beautiful ball to Eligon, and the receiver did the rest to get into the end zone. Even if this play didn’t end in six, it still would’ve been worthy to be here. Eligon has been emerging as the outside receiver opposite Wilde and showed his skill in this game.
All the way from the left hash to the right sideline. Beautiful throw from Stone here. The play action fake had the defender in the flat on that right sideline come a little closer to the ball (also to watch Frank Covey IV). Stone seemingly went through his progressions from left to right as he found Wagner on the out-breaking route for the big gain and a first down.
It may not look like much, but this was by far the best play of the day. Stone checks his first progression: not open. His second progression: also not open. His third progression: covered. With pressure in his face, he rolls out to his left. Eligon sees Stone in distress as he’s standing in the middle of the field, but cuts back towards the right sideline to try and get open. Stone turns his body, sets his feet and lets it rip, finding the crossing Eligon for a huge first down on a 3rd-and-16. What a play from Stone to extend the play and go through his progressions. Also great awareness from Eligon to get open to give Stone a place to throw to. Wow!
Not much to say here, other than the fact that Stone delivered a strike while getting hit from his blindside. The overload blitz because of the starting formation being a heavy pistol set with one wide receiver to Stone’s right. Wilde beat his man off the jump and was off to the races once he caught the pass.
Run it up
The running game has been the backbone for the Wildcats’ success this season. This game was no different.
Alex Lines motions in, Stone gives to Komolafe, Lines picks up a huge block and Komolafe gets to the second level with just one man to beat. Shoutout Wilde for a huge block on the defensive back too. One missed tackle and the rest is history. The Northwestern offensive line and overall run blocking has been such a bright spot for this team. This team is one of the better run blocking teams in the country and it’s very evident. ULM’s run defense, although a Group of 5 team, wasn’t too bad coming into this game. The ‘Cats are just built different right now running the ball. Stick to the ground game as Stone gets more comfortable and the ceiling for this team can keep increasing.
Northwestern may have a budding star in Reeder. Four of his 11 carries went for 10+ yards as he came in at the start of the second half. This run, 16 yards, was Reeder’s longest of the day. His ball carrier vision and finding the holes the offensive line paves has been extremely impressive to see in his playing time this season. The blocking on this play was also impeccable. Any time you block the defense well enough that your running back gets into the second level, you’re doing something right. Huge block from Eligon here too to assist the offensive line in paving the gaping hole for Reeder to get to that second level.
Drew Wagner appreciation
Wagner has fully arrived and he’s to stay.
The route running on this play was so filthy that I had to make a section dedicated to Wagner. This obviously wasn’t his only good play of the day and he did benefit a lot from the play of Stone, but for a preferred walk-on from a year ago, the evolution and emergence is incredible. In-breaking zig route executed to perfection.
The Bad
Nothing bad to say about this week.
Final Thoughts
This week was everything you could hope for, and more. ULM started off with an opening-drive touchdown, but the ‘Cats took over from there on out in dominating fashion that is backed by the film. While ULM isn’t on the same level as a Tulane and not even close to an Oregon, Northwestern has steadily improved and impressed as the season has gone on. The UCLA win looks even better now after the Bruins upset Penn State, as the Wildcats are looking to do the same. The ‘Cats have been strong at home this season overall, even with the Oregon loss. It’s time to see what the road atmosphere looks like in one of the toughest places to play in the nation.
