Saturday, August 31
Stanford, Calif.
3 p.m.
Northwestern
0-1
7
at
17
Stanford
1-0
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
F
Northwestern
0
0
0
7
7
Stanford
0
10
0
7
17
Northwestern Stumbles in Season Opener at No. 25/23 Stanford
8/31/2019 6:49:00 PM | Football
PALO ALTO, Calif. – Northwestern's defense limited Stanford, but the Wildcats fell short to the Cardinal, 17-7, on Saturday afternoon in Palo Alto.
The Wildcats stonewalled the Cardinal attack, allowing their offense to put up only 10 points throughout the contest.
Juniors Travis Whillock and Chris Bergin led the Wildcats with 10 tackles each, for the third and second time of their career, respectively.
The 'Cats recovered two fumbles in the contest, with one recovery coming from senior Joe Gaziano and the other coming from sophomore Greg Newsome II.
Redshirt sophomore Hunter Johnson made the start for Northwestern. Fifth-year senior TJ Green also appeared and went 6-10 for 62 yards, but exited the contest early with an injury before halftime.
Northwestern orchestrated a touchdown drive to start in the fourth quarter to make it a one score game. Johnson moved the chains with his legs, rushing for 31 yards and three first downs to set up the ball at the one-yard line. John Moten IV punched in his sixth career rushing touchdown to make it 10-7.
The Wildcats came up with another stop on Stanford late in the fourth quarter, as Gaziano recovered a fumble on third down as the Cardinal were in field goal territory with 4:35 to go. The 'Cats could not capitalize and had to punt. They received the ball back with 30 seconds before Stanford's defense put the game away with a touchdown.
Northwestern has a bye next week before its home opener at Ryan Field against UNLV on Sept. 14.
The Wildcats stonewalled the Cardinal attack, allowing their offense to put up only 10 points throughout the contest.
Juniors Travis Whillock and Chris Bergin led the Wildcats with 10 tackles each, for the third and second time of their career, respectively.
The 'Cats recovered two fumbles in the contest, with one recovery coming from senior Joe Gaziano and the other coming from sophomore Greg Newsome II.
Redshirt sophomore Hunter Johnson made the start for Northwestern. Fifth-year senior TJ Green also appeared and went 6-10 for 62 yards, but exited the contest early with an injury before halftime.
Northwestern orchestrated a touchdown drive to start in the fourth quarter to make it a one score game. Johnson moved the chains with his legs, rushing for 31 yards and three first downs to set up the ball at the one-yard line. John Moten IV punched in his sixth career rushing touchdown to make it 10-7.
The Wildcats came up with another stop on Stanford late in the fourth quarter, as Gaziano recovered a fumble on third down as the Cardinal were in field goal territory with 4:35 to go. The 'Cats could not capitalize and had to punt. They received the ball back with 30 seconds before Stanford's defense put the game away with a touchdown.
Northwestern has a bye next week before its home opener at Ryan Field against UNLV on Sept. 14.
••••••
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Team Stats
NU
STAN
Total Yards
210
365
Pass Yards
117
233
Rushing Yards
93
132
Penalty Yards
67
78
1st Downs
15
21
3rd Downs
5
7
4th Downs
1
0
TOP
21:48
38:12
2nd Quarter
NU 0, STAN 7
STAN - Wilson,M 2 yd pass from Costello,K (Toner,J kick) 15 plays, 90 yards, TOP 8:22
NU 0, STAN 10
STAN - Toner,J 51 yd field goal 5 plays, 33 yards, TOP 0:40
4th Quarter
NU 7, STAN 10
NU - Moten IV, John 1 yd run (Kuhbander, C kick), 12 plays, 50 yards, TOP 4:26
NU 7, STAN 17
STAN - Fox,J 0 yd fumble recovery (Toner,J kick)
Game Leaders
Passing Leaders
CMP
6
TD
0
YDS
55
INT
2
Players Mentioned
LB
/ Football
DL
/ FootballQB
/ Football
RB
/ Football
DB
/ Football
DB
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