Cam Porter had what was shaping up to be a career night cut short in the third quarter Friday night against Western Illinois.
After an 11-yard carry, the veteran Northwestern running back was helped off the field. Once the drive ended (on a 35-yard Luke Akers field goal), Porter was carted to the locker room and did not return.
When asked about Porter’s injury after the game, Wildcats coach David Braun said he had no update.
“But one thing I know about Cam Porter, one of the toughest, most resilient guys I’ve ever been around,” he said. “Staying optimistic that Cam will be back with us at full strength here sooner than later.”
When he went down on the field, quarterback Preston Stone ran to speak with Porter. He was asked what he told the running back postgame.
“Yeah, I just told him I love him,” said Stone. “I mean, I speak for everyone on the team when I say that Cam Porter’s one of the best human beings you’ll ever meet.”
Wildcats run attack
Before Porter went down, he had racked up 91 yards on 12 carries to average 7.6 yards per carry. The bulk of his total came on the opening drive when Porter bounced off defenders and carried the ball 43 yards for the first score of the game.
It was the longest touchdown of his collegiate career.
Porter wasn’t alone in career rushing highlights as backup quarterback Ryan Boe stiff-armed a Western Illinois defender as he carried the ball 58 yards for his first career touchdown in the fourth quarter.
“That was awesome,” Stone said after the game about Boe’s score.
Caleb Komolafe carried the ball 11 times for 63 yards and Joseph Himon II had 40 yards on eight carries. In all, the Wildcats racked up 281 yards on the ground.
Defense rebounds
The Northwestern defense found its groove Friday after giving up 421 yards last week in a 23-3 loss to Tulane. Northwestern’s secondary tallied eight pass breakups (PBUs) and Mac Uihlein picked off the Roughnecks quarterback.
Defensive backs John Fussell and Fred Davis II each recorded three PBUs.
“Excited about where that group’s headed,” Braun said. “But that needs to be a trademark of what we do in the back half. If we’re going to play the brand of defense that we do, we need to begin our hands on footballs and turn those opportunities into takeaways.”
“We stuck to our game plan and we just focused on playing fast and making plays,” Fussell said. “And even the halftime when we came in, we was up by a little bit. We immediately said that the score was 0-0 and that we just had to keep their foot on the neck. So I think everybody was just playing fast, just focusing on their assignment and just doing their job. And that just led to success at all three levels.”
Ball security concerns
The Wildcats did a far better job of protecting the ball Friday, but it still wasn’t perfect.
After a week in which he threw four picks, Stone rebounded and did not throw any. He did, however, fumble the ball and although he recovered it, there was a moment of ‘not again.’
Northwestern did turn the ball over once, however, on a fumble in the opening quarter. Stone threw a pass to wide receiver Chase Farrell who fumbled at the Western Illinois 35-yard line, allowing the Roughnecks to recover.
