Northwestern University Athletics
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Youthful Backfield Powers Wildcats Past Western Illinois, 24-7
9/20/2014 12:00:00 AM | Football
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern earned its first win of the 2014 season Saturday against Western Illinois, receiving a trio of rushing touchdowns from true freshman tailbacks Solomon Vault (two) and Justin Jackson in a 24-7 Wildcats victory.
Jackson racked up a career-best 92 ground yards with a 4.4-yards-per-attempt average for the Wildcats, while Vault's touchdowns were the first of his young career. The duo of newcomers accounted for 123 of NU's 166 rushing yards on the day. Defensively, sophomore D-end Ifeadi Odenigbo filled the stat sheet with three forced fumbles, a fumble recovery and one sack.
Northwestern opened the scoring on its first series of the game with an efficient nine-play scoring drive, highlighted by Treyvon Green's season-long scamper of 25 yards. The Wildcats advanced to the 1-yard line, where they handed it off to Vault for the rookie's first career touchdown
Western Illinois responded with a 10-play touchdown series, culminating in a four-yard QB rollout pass to wideout Joey Borsellino that leveled the score at seven.
After a defensive stop later in the quarter, redshirt freshman Keith Watkins II provided a spark when he came free on punt coverage and blocked a Western Illinois punt, providing a short field for the Wildcats offense. But the WIU defense came up with a stop on the sudden change, forcing a sack and forced fumble on a third-down pass attempt by Trevor Siemian.
With the score still even in the second quarter, Northwestern again had a short field to work with thanks to a sack and forced fumble by Odenigbo, who now boasts 6.5 sacks in his young career. The play set up a brief two-play scoring drive for Northwestern, which gained six yards on an end-around to Miles Shuler before Vault covered 11 yards on his way to a second touchdown on the afternoon.
Northwestern maintained a seven-point lead at halftime thanks to a blocked field goal by defensive end Max Chapman on the final play of the second quarter.
After intermission, Jackson followed his classmate Vault into the end zone, doing so on a nifty 21-yard run that featured a lethal juke past a Western Illinois defender at the 15-yard line.
Northwestern's defense kept the WIU attack at bay for much of the remainder of the game, with Odenigbo and Deonte Gibson providing regular pressure off the edge for the Wildcats. The duo teamed up to get the ball back for the 'Cats with 4:22 left to play. Odenigbo forced his third fumble of the game on a third-down play and Gibson pounced on the ball to turn it back over to the offense.
Kicker Jack Mitchell put three more points on the scoreboard for the home team 2:13 later when he drilled a 28-yard field goal with a shade over two minutes left to play.
Next week, Northwestern heads away from Ryan Field for the first time this season when it opens Big Ten play against Penn State. Kickoff at Beaver Stadium is slated for 11 a.m. CT with live television coverage provided by the Big Ten Network.
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