Northwestern finally did it.
After going two weeks without scoring a touchdown through the air, the Wildcats (2-1, 0-0 B1G) found success in the pass game when redshirt sophomore quarterback Jack Lausch tallied two scores in Saturday’s 31-7 victory over Eastern Illinois.
Lausch, who was named starting quarterback on Monday, finished his first collegiate start with 227 yards on 20-of-31 attempts and no interceptions. He added another 62 yards on the ground. But it wasn’t smooth sailing, as he started the game slow.
“I think you just saw in the first half a first-time starter,” said Northwestern head coach Dave Braun. “Just a little amped up and aiming the ball at little bit — you see him coming up short on some throws that he typically is spot on with.”
For much of the first half, Northwestern relied on the run game as they’ve been doing, with Cam Porter scoring a 1-yard touchdown in the first quarter. Lausch tallied just around 30 yards in the air when Northwestern received the ball inside the final two minutes, tied 7-7 with the Panthers. That urgency helped him find his pace.
“I think that two-minute drill allowed Jack to get into a rhythm — (to) just be reacting and trusting his instincts,” Braun said “I (was) really excited to see how that rhythm carried over into the second half and really excited for how we distributed the ball and spread it around as well.”
With 14 seconds left in the half, Joseph Himon II broke away on a 32-yard run to give the Wildcats the 14-7 advantage at the break.
Lausch opened up a new game in the second half. In the third quarter, he connected with AJ Henning for a 3-yard score and found Marshall Lang in the fourth on a 9-yard touchdown in the south endzone.
“It’ll be fun to go back and watch the film, but even early in the first half, there’s a throw to Marshall Lang that doesn’t result in a completion but its on time in a tight window — trusting his reads. You just saw some confident throws which is exciting to see.”
“It was awesome,” Lausch said. “It was so much fun to go out there and just compete with my teammates.”
Lausch credits finding his second half success to getting into a groove during the two-minute drive at the end of the first half.
“Just taking a breath, slowing down my feet and just trusting my reads downfield,” he said. “You know, I think early my feet were a little crazy. I had guys open I was kind of passing up. I think just taking my breath — that two minute drive helped a lot, getting into tempo and playing fast.”
When asked about Lausch’s play and maintaining it against a non-FCS opponent, Braun cracked a joke.
“Man, I take offense to that FCS opponent,” he said with a laugh. “But no, I understand what you’re saying. At the end of the day, the rhythm, the confidence, the ability to come out in the second half when things weren’t easy in the first half, are things that are really encouraging. We understand what’s ahead of us. We’re going to have to play four quarters of complimentary football and winning tight games, winning the margins.
“But I think you saw some things out of Jack today that are showing reasons for a lot of optimism moving forward.”
Special teams
The Wildcats and Panthers traded blocked field goals in the second quarter. Jack Olsen had a 42-yard attempt blocked with 4:02 left in the half. Eastern Illinois’ Drew Schiller had his own 36-yard attempt blocked on the following drive, keeping the score deadlocked at 7-7. Olsen notched a 46-yard field goal in the third half that pushed the Wildcats lead to 17-7.
Pass coverage
With 6:50 left in the third, Devin Turner picked off Panthers quarterback Pierce Holley, which ultimately led to Henning’s touchdown catch.
“The coverage that we were in allowed me to just have all vision on the quarterback, so just seeing the quarterback looking and helping out my MIKE with that throw,” Turner said. “It fell right in my arms.”
100+ yards receiving
Henning led all receivers with 117 yards on seven receptions, marking the first time a Northwestern receiver has eclipsed 100 yards in a game since Cam Johnson did it against Illinois in 2023.
“I think just trusting the game plan,” he said. “Trusting the work that we put in and the connection that we built. At any given game, it could be anybody in that receiving room that has a big game and who comes out and has a dominant performance. It just happened to be me tonight.”
Run game
Porter led out of the back field with 77 yards on 15 carries, including a big 46-yard run, but it was Himon who had the most explosive play from that group on his 32-yard score near the halftime break. He credited Calvin Johnson with a block on the safety that allowed him to score. Himon finished with 49 yards on five carries.
“My mentality every time I’m in there is I am trying to score a touchdown,” he said. “That’s been my mentality ever since I started playing the game. It’s just a credit to my o-line and my receivers blocking. They did a wonderful job getting me through the holes.”
Northwestern opens conference play next weekend with its first road game of the year at Washington.
