Northwestern
2-0
Eastern Illinois
1-1
Northwestern Runs Past Eastern Illinois, 42-21
9/10/2011 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 10, 2011
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Site: Evanston, Ill. (Ryan Field)
Score: Northwestern 42, Eastern Illinois 21
Records: NU (2-0), Eastern Illinois (1-1)
Next NU Event: Saturday, Sept. 17 -- at Army (West Point, N.Y.), 2:30 p.m. CT
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern turned a pair of first-quarter Eastern Illinois turnovers into touchdowns and never looked back as the Wildcats posted a 42-21 win in their home-opener Saturday afternoon at Ryan Field.
Sophomore quarterback Kain Colter completed 10 of 13 passes for 104 yards while rushing for 109 more with three touchdowns to lead NU offensively. It marked the second time in his career that Colter has rushed for at least 100 yards in a game (105 vs. Texas Tech, 1/1/11) and the eighth time in school history that a Northwestern quarterback has eclipsed 100 rushing yards in a contest.
In all, NU rushed 67 times for 320 yards. The 67 carries are the most by Northwestern since the 'Cats rushed 70 times against Illinois on Nov. 22, 2003. In addition to Colter, Treyvon Green (70), Jacob Schmidt (57) and Adonis Smith (55) also eclipsed 50 rushing yards in the contest.
The Wildcats pounced on the Panthers right out of the gate. Eastern Illinois received the opening kickoff, but Northwestern linebacker Bryce McNaul picked off EIU quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo on the fourth play of the game, giving the Wildcats the ball at the Panthers' 42 yard line.
Making his second consecutive start in place of the injured Dan Persa, Colter scampered for 25 yards to within a yard of the end zone on the third play of the series. He would finish the quick five-play drive with a six-yard scoring run two plays later to put NU in front just over three minutes into the contest.
Eastern Illinois drove down the field on the ensuing drive and faced a 3rd-and-1 from the Northwestern 26, but consecutive fumbles helped the Wildcats take over on downs.
A 16-yard run by Colter and a 21-yard completion from Colter to Drake Dunsmore on the Wildcats' next possession highlighted an eight-play, 65-yard drive capped by a one-yard rush by Schmidt that increased NU's lead to 14-0 with 3:41 left in the opening quarter.
A methodical 13-play drive by Northwestern early in the second quarter eventually stalled in Eastern Illinois territory and the Panthers took over at their own 28. It took EIU just one play to get back in the game as a breakdown in coverage resulted in a 72-yard pass from Jimmy Garoppolo to Kenny Whittaker that got the visitors to within 14-7.
However, it took the Wildcats just three minutes to get their 14-point lead back. NU started its drive at its own 42, thanks in part to a celebration penalty on the Panthers' touchdown that forced them to kickoff from their own 15. On Northwestern's seven-play drive, Colter had an 11-yard completion to Demetrius Fields and rushed five times for 35 yards, capped by a four-yard rush for his second score of the game.
A quick three-and-out helped NU get the ball back at the EIU 47 with 2:13 left in the opening half. Green, a true freshman, finished the drive off with a two-yard TD run, the first of his career, with 31 seconds remaining in the stanza as the Wildcats took a 28-7 lead into halftime.
Northwestern received the opening kickoff of the second half and Venric Mark returned it 49 yards to give the Wildcats the ball at the EIU 48. NU rushed 10 times on an 11-play drive as Colter capped off with his day with his third rushing touchdown of the game, this time an eight-yard scamper, to make it 35-7.
The Panthers cut the deficit back to 21 with 34 seconds remaining in the third quarter as AJ Woodson capped a drive that was aided by a pair of Northwestern pass interference penalties with a two-yard touchdown run.
The Wildcats finished off their scoring on the very next drive as Trevor Siemian hooked up with Tyris Jones on a one-yard scoring strike, the first touchdown of each of their respective careers as NU opened up a 28-point advantage.
EIU got a late touchdown with just seven seconds remaining on a three-yard run by redshirt freshman quarterback Taylor Duncan.
Northwestern returns to action at 2:30 p.m. CT Saturday, Sept. 17 when it travels to West Point, N.Y., to face Army.
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Team Stats
EIU 0, NU 7
NU - Colter, Kain 5 yd run (Budzien, Jeff kick), 5 plays, 42 yards, TOP 1:25
EIU 0, NU 14
NU - Schmidt, Jacob 1 yd run (Budzien, Jeff kick), 8 plays, 65 yards, TOP 2:22
EIU 7, NU 14
EIU - WHITTAKER 72 yd pass from GAROPPOLO (BERRA kick) 1 plays, 72 yards, TOP 0:11
EIU 7, NU 21
NU - Colter, Kain 4 yd run (Budzien, Jeff kick), 7 plays, 58 yards, TOP 2:59
EIU 7, NU 28
NU - Green, Treyvon 2 yd run (Budzien, Jeff kick), 8 plays, 47 yards, TOP 1:42
EIU 7, NU 35
NU - Colter, Kain 8 yd run (Budzien, Jeff kick), 11 plays, 48 yards, TOP 5:26
EIU 14, NU 35
EIU - WOODSON 2 yd run (BERRA kick), 9 plays, 80 yards, TOP 3:46
EIU 14, NU 42
NU - Jones, Tyris 1 yd pass from Siemian, Trevor (Budzien, Jeff kick) 8 plays, 27 yards, TOP 4:33
EIU 21, NU 42
EIU - DUNCAN 3 yd run (BERRA kick), 3 plays, 81 yards, TOP 1:20
