After a tough loss at Oregon on Halloween, Northwestern returns home to Ryan Field to face the Hawkeyes. Some of the cracks seen throughout the season resurfaced against the Ducks, raising questions about how the Wildcats will bounce back against No. 19 Iowa in the first College Football Playoff rankings.
Northwestern enters the game as a 2.5-point favorite against Iowa, according to DraftKings, despite the Hawkeyes coming off an impressive shutout of then-AP No. 25 Wisconsin.
Kickoff is slated for
6:30 p.m. CST on FOX. Here are three keys to Northwestern to remain unbeaten at the new Ryan Field on Saturday:
Preventing the long plays
It starts at safety. The ‘Cats gave up five plays of 30 yards or more against Oregon. That can’t happen against an Iowa team looking to squeak its way into the playoffs. Yes, they will be operating without star running back Kamari Moulton, but it proved itself last week, shutting out Wisconsin 30-0.
Robert Fitzgerald is likely to return from the injury he suffered against Ball State. Furthermore, defensive lineman Brendan Flakes has been cleared to return. He last played in the win over Michigan State, when he blocked the game-saving field goal.
The takeaway is simple: Northwestern must prevent explosive plays from Iowa. It will help to have some defensive stars back, but the lockdown, “bend don’t break” defense seen against Indiana and Colorado needs to return now that the personnel is mostly healthy.
Being creative and innovative
Chip Kelly is an offensive genius. Who else runs a triple stack out of the backfield, the famed wing-T and some CFL-style plays in the same game? When asked about it at his weekly press conference ahead of Iowa, head coach David Braun said, “That’s the type of stuff that makes it so fun working with this staff. I’m sometimes sitting in practice saying, like, what? That’s really hard to defend.”
And the ‘Cats had better hope it’s hard to defend. The most explosive play of last week’s game against Oregon, a 64-yard touchdown to Griffin Wilde, came out of that triple-stack formation. Kelly’s creativity and innovation are key to confusing opposing defenses. Confusing defensive backs allows receivers to spring open — a component of this offense’s success.
When asked about the offense at Big Ten media day at the start of the season, Wilde said, “We’re going to be fast, physical and explosive. Those three words. We’re going to play fast. We’re going to be assignment-sound.” This team is built on being creative. Creativity turns into explosiveness. Northwestern needs to find that spark to compete with this talented Iowa team.
Aidan Chiles needs to play
I wish I could write a more creative section, but Aidan Chiles must play. Full stop. He’s one of the best quarterbacks in the Big Ten, with Yogi Roth, the color analyst on the last three Northwestern football games on Peacock, called Chiles the “greatest reclamation story in college football this year.”
Chiles was listed as questionable on Wednesday’s initial availability report. The ‘Cats do have a solid backup quarterback in Nicco Marchiol, but Chiles is more comfortable, experienced and talented. He knows how to stay composed under pressure, knows when to run and knows when to throw it away. He is great at evading pressure, which is important against an Iowa team that is ninth in the country at 3.1 sacks per game.
Having Chiles available for this game is vital to the Wildcats prevailing.
