Oregon is a different beast. Even with some crazy weather leading up to the game, Northwestern couldn’t get much of anything done. 10-0 Ducks quickly turned into much more as they beat the ‘Cats 34-14.
The ‘Cats hung in there early on, but quickly fell behind. The run game looked as good as it could have in a blowout, as both the offense and defense couldn’t keep up with Dan Lanning’s high-powered contender. NU did play better in garbage time, but it wasn’t enough. Josh Fussell also exited with a lower-body
injury late in the first half and didn’t return after looking good on the outside.
Offensively, Preston Stone was 11-of-21 for 135 yards and two interceptions while being sacked twice. Caleb Komolafe carried the ball 16 times for 53 yards and a touchdown, while Joseph Himon II had 59 yards of his own on 12 carries, adding 20 receiving yards on two catches. Dashun Reeder took his lone carry 79 yards to the house late in the game. Griffin Wilde led NU pass catchers with four receptions on seven targets for 55 yards.
On defense, Robert Fitzgerald led the way with 10 tackles (three solo) while Mac Uihlein was close behind with eight tackles (five solo) of his own. Uihlein also added an interception, his second of the season. Jon Jon Stevens Jr. was third on the team with six tackles (four solo) after filling in for an injured Garner Wallace. Stevens, Michael Kilbane and Aidan Hubbard each had a tackle-for-loss (TFL), but no one was able to bring down an Oregon quarterback for a sack.
Northwestern won the toss and deferred, handing Oregon the ball to start it off. Jayden Limar took the first handoff from Dante Moore with Noah Whittington banged up. The Ducks picked up two first downs, including an 11-yard screen play to Dakorien Moore, but the ‘Cats defense held strong thanks to some strong pass rush from Anto Saka. James Ferguson-Reynolds came on and punted the ball 39 yards, pinning Northwestern at its own 10-yard line.
Stone opened the drive with an 8-yard play-action pass to Wilde, followed by Komolafe picking up the first down on the ground. Komolafe picked up eight yards on a second-down run to give the ‘Cats a third-and-short, followed by him picking up four and the first down. Stone was lucky on a second-and-6 to not be picked off by Bryce Boettcher, as Komolafe was ruled just short of the first down marker on third down. Zach Lujan decided to keep his offense on the field to go for it, which paid off as Lawson Albright took the direct snap to move the chains. The ‘Cats tried some trickery with an unsuccessful double-pass, followed by a 7-yard Himon run to set up a third-and-3. An illegal formation penalty pushed NU back five yards, which led to Stone throwing into traffic and being intercepted by Boettcher off the Wilde tipped pass.
After the interception and a 29-yard return, Oregon started on Northwestern’s 23-yard line and picked up a first down in two plays thanks to a powerful run from Limar. Dante Moore threw it short to Dakorien Moore as he made a few guys miss and got the ball down to the NU 2-yard line. The Ducks couldn’t punch it in on a second down run, but a pitch out to the left side was all they needed as Limar walked into the end zone untouched to give Oregon a 7-0 lead with 2:18 to go in the first quarter.
On the kickoff following the score, Himon took it 39 yards to the NU 45-yard line to give the ‘Cats good starting field position. Northwestern started the drive with a 2-yard Komolafe run. The next play was a play-action fake that saw Stone throw behind the line of scrimmage to a falling Komolafe for a loss of six. Stone overthrew Wilde on third-and-long, ending the drive. Luke Akers punted the ball into the end zone for a touchback, giving Oregon the ball on its own 20-yard line.
Moore faked the handoff to Tulane transfer Makhi Hughes and rolled out to his right to find Jeremiah McClellan for no gain. The clock then ran out, signaling the end of the first quarter. The Ducks still led 7-0 as the field flipped and Moore found Cooper Perry for a gain of eight. On third-and-2, Hughes took the handoff and earned a first down, followed by a screen pass to Kenyon Sadiq and another Oregon first down. Jay Harris gained two yards on the first down carry, followed by him gaining 16 on a draw the next play. Moore took an end zone shot to Malik Benson from the Northwestern 38-yard line, but the pass was broken up by Fussell. The next play, he made up for it on a roll-out pass to Dakorien Moore despite heavy pressure from Saka. Perry caught a short one on the next play and was brought down behind the line by Stevens Jr. on first down, as Fitzgerald made a potential touchdown-saving tackle on Limar the next play. Dante Moore tried Fussell again, this time targeting Dakorien Moore, but the pass was broken up, bringing on Atticus Sappington for a 42-yard field goal attempt. He drilled it through the wind to give the Ducks a 10-0 lead with 9:28 left in the first half.
Sappington kicked it into the end zone for a touchback as the Northwestern offense re-took the field. Stone threw it short to Himon in the flat for a gain of seven. That gain was immediately wiped away by a false start, pushing the ‘Cats back to a second-and-eight. Himon gained it right back, though, with a 9-yard first-down scamper up the middle. Stone faked the handoff to Himon on the next play and rolled out to his right, finding Hunter Welcing for a first down. The yards gained by Welcing were lost after Stone fumbled the ball, losing 18 yards before recovering it himself. Himon ran for nine on the next play, but Stone was sacked by Matayo Uiagalelei to bring out Akers for a second time. The punt was almost blocked, but he sailed it 54 yards before it was downed at the Oregon 11-yard line.
To open their next drive, Moore handed to Limar for a gain of one, followed by a 1-yard TFL courtesy of Hubbard. However, Dante Moore was kept clean in the pocket on third down and found Dakorien Moore across the middle for a gain of 20 yards. He followed that up with another strike, this time a 12-yard reception for Benson and another first down. The ‘Cats would call their first timeout of the half with 2:42 to go. After the stoppage, Jordon Davison carried it for a gain of one as the clock wound down to the two-minute timeout. Oregon started its two-minute drill with a Moore scramble for a yard, followed by another throw over the middle to pick up the first down, this time to Benson for 20 yards on third-and-8 as NU took its second timeout of the half. Limar took the first-down handoff for a 7-yard gain, the second-down carry for no gain, and converted on third-down with a 4-yard run before the Ducks took their first timeout. Moore found Sadiq in the seam on first down for a 24-yard touchdown, bringing the Oregon lead up to 17-0 with just 31 seconds remaining in the half.
Stone took a knee on the next drive to run out the first-half clock. Oregon led 17-0, with Moore 13-of-16 for 125 yards and a touchdown. Stone, on the other hand, was only 4-of-7 for 21 yards and an interception. Limar led the way on the ground for the Ducks with 33 yards and a touchdown on 10 attempts, while Himon and Komolafe combined for 52 rushing yards on nine carries.
The defense for Northwestern was holding up until Oregon’s two-minute drill resulted in a touchdown. Fitzgerald and Uihlein each had seven tackles as the ‘Cats allowed 194 yards to the No. 4 team in the country. On the flip side, Oregon gave up just 52 yards, intercepted Stone once and sacked him once.
Gage Hurych’s kickoff sailed through the back of the end zone for a touchback as the ‘Cats got the ball on their own 25-yard line to start the second half. Stone started in a pistol look and handed to Komolafe for a gain of two. He took the next handoff for three yards, giving NU a third-and-5 from the 30. Stone found Wilde on the crossing route as he picked up eight yards and a first down. The next play, Stone threw into tight coverage for Frank Covey IV and was nearly intercepted off the deflection. Komolafe carried it on the next play for a gain of five, setting up another third-and-5. Stone found Wilde on an out route near the Northwestern sideline to move the chains.
Stone hit Welcing for a gain of seven off the play-action before he handed the ball to Komolafe for a gain of seven and another first down. Himon came into the game and took the handoff around the left side for another gain of seven, followed by a 2-yard rush to give NU a third-and-1. Stone faked the handoff and dropped back to pass, but was sacked by Bear Alexander and Teitum Tuioti for a loss of eight. On fourth-and-9, the offense stayed out there as Stone and Ricky Ahumaraeze were unable to connect for the first down.
Dierre Hill Jr. took the carry on first down to open Oregon’s next drive all the way to the end zone for a 66-yard rushing touchdown. The Ducks led 24-0 with 7:44 to go in the third quarter.
Another Hurych touchback brought the NU offense back out to its own 25-yard line. The ‘Cats started the drive with a handoff to Komolafe that went for only a yard. On the next play, Stone found Wilde deep in between the Oregon safeties for a gain of 31. The offense moved quickly to the line as Stone scrambled for a gain of six on the next play, followed by a first down Himon rush. On second-and-10, Stone was picked off by Jerry Mixon to halt any momentum for the ‘Cats. Mixon returned it 39 yards, giving the Ducks the ball in plus territory.
Oregon’s next drive began with a 17-yard catch-and-run for a first down. Two plays later, Moore found McClellan in the flat as the Ducks picked up another first down to set up a first-and-goal situation from the 4-yard line. A pass interference penalty gave Oregon the ball at the 3-yard line, which it took advantage of as Davison powered his way into the end zone. The Ducks led 31-0 with 2:56 to go in the third quarter.
The ‘Cats got the ball back, but quickly went three-and-out despite a deep shot to Wilde. Akers punted it back to the Ducks as Moore found Benson on the sideline for a gain of 27. They ran it with Harris for a gain of seven before letting the third quarter clock run out. Oregon led 31-0 with just one quarter left to play. On the first play of the fourth quarter, Dante Moore took a deep shot down the middle for Dakorien Moore, but Uihlein jumped in front and picked it off.
NU started the next drive at its own 4-yard line. Deep in their own territory, the ‘Cats went for it on a fourth-and-1 but were unsuccessful, giving the Ducks the ball in the red zone to start their next drive. Luke Moga came in at quarterback for Moore with a 31-point lead. He couldn’t get Oregon into the end zone on his first drive, but Sappington came on for an easy field goal to put the Ducks up 34-0 with 11:27 to go in the game.
Northwestern saw its biggest play of the day as Stone hit Drew Wagner deep down the middle for a 40-yard gain. The ‘Cats got the ball down to the 1-yard line following the completion to Wagner, as Komolafe crossed the plane to give them their first points of the day and his first career rushing score. Northwestern trailed 34-7 with 6:20 left in the game.
Brock Thomas entered the game at quarterback for the Ducks as they chewed the clock down. Kyler Kasper had his first reception of the day. After converting two first downs, Oregon stalled out and was forced to punt it back to Northwestern. The ‘Cats got the ball back and found the end zone for the second time today off a Reeder 79-yard touchdown run.
That touchdown had little effect on the outcome as time wound down, and Oregon won 34-14. The Ducks now stand at 3-0 (1-0 B1G) on the season while the Wildcats fall to 1-2 (0-1 B1G). Oregon heads back home next week to play in-state and former Pac-12 rival Oregon State, while Northwestern has a week off before UCLA comes to Evanston.
