A new era of Northwestern football has dawned, but, as some things change, others stay the same.
The Wildcats opened the 2024 season at their new temporary home, Northwestern Medicine Field at Martin Stadium, along the lakefront on campus. In front of a sold out crowd the ‘Cardiac Cats’ won a hard-fought victory over Miami University, 13-6.
Defensively, the Wildcats looked solid. They held the Redhawks offense to just 40 yards rushing, forcing quarterback Brett Gabbert to throw for 227 yards and two interceptions.
“Really proud of our defensive effort, proud of our ability to be supper efficient against the run game,” Wildcats coach David Braun said in the postgame press conference. “Proud of our ability to get after the quarterback. I think we even left a couple of opportunities out there in terms of setting those guys back.”
Offensively, it was another story as the Wildcats coughed up two fumbles in second quarter, including one on the goalline in what should’ve been Northwestern’s first touchdown of the day.
After trading field goals in the first quarter (a 45-yard kick from Jack Olsen before Miami responded later with a 43-yard field goal), had possession into the second quarter. At their own 40 less than a minute into the second, quarterback Mike Wright fumbled the snap which was recovered by Miami. The Wildcats defense held them to a 50-yard field goal attempt that went just wide.
“The first fumble we have, we’re not aligned right and the snap comes up early,” Braun said.
Later, with 7:36 left in the half, Northwestern took over at their own 40 and killed more than five minutes in a 59-yard drive down to the Miami 10-yard line. After Cam Porter rushed for nine yards, Wright took the snap and tried to haul it in for the score, just to fumble and give the ball to Miami against the goalline.
“I liked coach (Zach) Lujan’s call down near the goalline to tempo and try to get the ball in the endzone, but we don’t take a clean snap,” said Braun.
The game was tied, 3-3, at the half.
After holding Miami 3-and-out to start the half, Northwestern was powered by a 25-yard catch by Thomas Gordon that was capped off by a 13-yard rush into the endzone by Wright. Editor’s note: My tickets for the season are right behind the goal post, so my child was ecstatic at that score.
The Wildcats added another field goal, 38 yards, at the start of the fourth to take a 13-3 lead.
After Miami drove to about midfield on their first drive of the fourth, Evan Smith intercepted Gabbert’s pass at the Northwestern 33-yard line. Later, Miami would score a second field goal to cut into the score, 13-6.
With 2:56 left, Olsen missed a 45-yard field goal that then resulted in Robert Fitzgerald picking off Gabbert with less than a minute left at the Northwestern 25.
Wright finished the game 18-of-30 with 178 yards through the air and led the Wildcats on the ground with 65 yards and the touchdown.
“The thing that I think we have to be really aware of is in terms of designed runs for the quarterback, Mike’s a competitor so if you give him a gray area, he’s probably going to pull the ball and put it in his own hands,” Braun said. “That’s something we have to do a great job of managing. We are not going to identify our offense as a primary quarterback run team.
“It’s got to be strategic, it’s got to be well thought out. But in certain situations, it can be an incredible weapon.”
The Wildcats gained 328 yards of offense, 150 of that on the ground. Porter carried the ball 13 times for 63 yards. Bryce Kirtz led the receivers, catching six balls for 91 yards.
Braun and the Wildcats will look to clean up those offensive mistakes this week and improve across the board before they welcome Duke on Friday at 8 p.m. CST.
