By Charlie Spungin, NUSports.com
EVANSTON, Ill. — Searching for its best start to a season through four games since 2020, Northwestern opens New Ryan Field in its Big Ten home opener against Penn State on Friday, October 2. Kickoff in the first-ever game at the state-of-the-art facility is set for 7 p.m. CT.
“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for an entire program and athletic department to open a facility that I would say is the best football stadium in the world,” Dan and Susan Jones Family Head Football Coach David Braun said. “This is transformational for the university and for the football program. It’s an honor to be in a position to lead and serve this program and also a unique challenge in terms of making sure myself, our staff and our players focus on the main thing, and that’s preparing for a very talented, very well-coached Penn State team.”
The game will air on FOX, with Connor Onion doing play-by-play, Robert Griffin III as the analyst and Alexa Landestoy reporting on the sidelines. It can be heard on WGN Radio 720 or SiriusXM Channel 257, with The Voice of the Wildcats, Dave Eanet, in his 37th season calling Northwestern football, and 33-year analyst Ted Albrecht.
Stay tuned to Northwestern football's X and Instagram channels for live highlights, photos, and reactions throughout the historic game.
LAST TIME OUT
Northwestern’s comeback effort at No. 5 Indiana last Friday night (Sep. 25) fell just short, as the Wildcats fell 29-23. The Wildcats outscored the Hoosiers 23-17 in the second half, including scoring 16 fourth-quarter points.
Fourth-year quarterback Aidan Chiles led the Wildcat offense to 325 total yards, the program’s most yards against an AP Top-5 team since 2020. Chiles completed 75.9% of his passes (22-of-29) for 293 passing yards and two passing touchdowns, while also rushing for a score. He became the first Northwestern quarterback to post these numbers against a ranked opponent since Brett Basanez in 2005. Third-year tight end Luke Dehnicke hauled in seven receptions for 140 receiving yards, the most receiving yards by a Wildcat tight end against a Big Ten team since at least 1995. Fourth-year wide receiver Griffin Wilde tallied six receptions for 56 receiving yards and two receiving touchdowns, making him the first Northwestern player to tally 2+ receiving touchdowns against an AP Top-10 ranked team since Sam Simmons in 2001.
Fifth-year defensive back Robert Fitzgerald had a game-high 13 tackles, bringing him to 38 tackles on the season. His 38 total across the first three games of a season are the most by a Big Ten player through the first three games of a season since 2015. Fifth-year linebacker Kobie McKinzie added nine tackles and one pass breakup, while fellow fifth-year linebacker Braydon Brus had five tackles, two tackles for loss and one sack — becoming the first Wildcat to record these numbers against a ranked opponent since Earnest Brown IV in 2020. Fifth-year defensive lineman Jamaal Johnson registered the first sack of his Northwestern career.
NUMBERS TO KNOW
The Wildcats received a vote in this week’s AP poll, their first time receiving at least one vote in the AP poll since the 2023 postseason poll.
It has been three seasons since Northwestern last won its Big Ten home opener. In 2023, the Wildcats defeated Minnesota, 37-34, in overtime after trailing by 21 points at the start of the fourth quarter.
Northwestern is one of 13 teams nationally to have one turnover or fewer this season. This marks just the second season that the Wildcats have had one turnover or fewer in their first three games of a season since 1995, joining the 2011 season (1).
On Oct. 2, 1926, exactly 100 years before the Wildcats’ Oct. 2 game against Penn State, Northwestern played its first game at Dyche Stadium, which was renamed Ryan Field in 1997, and defeated South Dakota 34-0.
Come Friday, it will be 1,049 days between the final game at the Old Ryan Field, when Northwestern defeated Purdue, 23-15, on Nov. 18, 2023, and Friday’s contest against Penn State.
1. Braydon Brus: Brus has started the season hot, tallying 20 tackles, four tackles for loss, two sacks, one pass breakup and one fumble recovery this season. The fifth-year linebacker and team captain, who is tied for fourth in the conference in tackles for loss, is the first Wildcat to have 4+ tackles for loss in the first three games of a season since Jeremy Meiser in 2021.
2. Aidan Chiles: Chiles has had an incredible start to his time with Northwestern. The fourth-year quarterback and transfer from Michigan State is the first Wildcat signal caller to have 225+ passing yards in each of the first three games of a season since QB C.J. Bacher in 2007. In addition, he’s the first Big Ten quarterback to have 800+ passing yards, 6+ passing touchdowns, 4+ rushing touchdowns and zero interceptions in the first three games of a season since at least 1995.
3. Kobie McKinzie: Playing next to Brus, McKinzie has been critical to the Northwestern defensive unit that is allowing just 18.0 points per game this season. An every-down presence for the Wildcats, McKinzie is tied with Brus for the most snaps (234) among all Big Ten linebackers this season. McKinzie has 22 tackles (3rd on team), two tackles for loss (2nd on team), two pass breakups and one sack this season.
4. Alex Honig: Honig is coming off a contest against the Hoosiers where he posted three receptions for 54 yards, tying his career high in receptions while falling just one yard short of tying his career high in receiving yards. The sixth-year tight end ranks third on the team in receiving yards this season (79).
5. Ore Adeyi: Adeyi posted a career-high eight tackles, including a career-high six solo stops in Friday’s setback at Indiana. The sixth-year defensive back has started every game for the Wildcats this season and has 15 tackles, three pass breakups and one interception.
WHAT BRAUN'S SAYING
On the emotions of the first game at Ryan Field finally arriving…
- “There’s just a lot of gratitude. It was pretty neat [when] we went over there [Sunday] to practice. There’s this initial moment where players get a chance to step out on the field in their cleats, in their helmets, and they’re taking it all in. But then, you've got to shift your focus. We got work to do. It’s even the little moments with staff. Whether it be a new face like [Offensive Coordinator] Chip [Kelly], [Tight Ends Coach Bob Bicknell] or someone like [Wide Receivers] Coach [Armon] Binns, that he and I have been doing this together now for four years, [Special Teams Coordinator] Coach [Paul] Creighton [too], to be able to be look at one another and [be] like, ‘How lucky are we that we could get to do this here at Northwestern?’ We’ve always felt fortunate to be in this situation, but now to do it in the best facility in all of college football, there’s a moment of you pinch yourself, and you just take it all in.”
On reconciling fans’ happiness with the performance with Indiana while still losing…
- “Even in the messaging with our team, we can acknowledge that there’s things we did well: our resiliency, our response in the second half, our ability to put ourselves in a position where we left the field feeling like we should have won that football game. Ultimately, it was things within our control that we dropped the ball on that didn’t [let us] close out the way we wanted to. Where I’ll be really honest is we can’t fall into that trap. I think you can sometimes allow yourself, as a competitor, or as a person, to gain comfort from people saying, ‘Good job, you tried your best,’ almost making an excuse for yourself that it’s okay that you didn’t finish with the result that you were looking for. My hope is that we continue to build this program, we continue to find the right young men to be a part of this football program, that down the road, when we go on the road against a top five team that if we come up short that the narrative is, ‘Northwestern should win those football games, and they better get back to work and get the ship corrected.’ The one thing I will say too that I think is really important is winning matters. Winning is fun. Our guys came here to win football games and win championships, but it’s also important for us to do a good job of focusing on the things we can control.”
On the offense’s ability to take care of the football…
- “I think it’s Aidan. I think it’s Jerry. I think it’s Chip in terms of the coaching, then I think it’s being really focused on being process-driven, not outcome-driven. If you go back and look at the tape, Aidan needs to do a better job of protecting the football with his ball security. We don’t want to take the playmaker or natural instinct out of him, but there’s times that he needs to do a better job securing the football, and he knows that. To this point, he’s done a good job. That needs to continue. We talk a lot [about] for us to play winning football here, you have to value the ball. When we have it, we need to continue to possess it, and when we don’t have it, better be attacking it. That’s a trend that needs to continue.”
SCOUTING PENN STATE
Penn State (3-1, 0-1 Big Ten) started its season going undefeated in its nonconference slate with wins over Marshall, Temple and Buffalo. Last week, the Nittany Lions had their first loss of the season, falling to Wisconsin, 24-20. Coach Matt Campbell’s squad was ranked as high as No. 13 in the AP poll this season.
Penn State is averaging 36.8 points per game through four games, a top-40 mark nationally. Like Northwestern, the Nittany Lions only have one turnover on the season. Quarterback Rocco Becht has 865 passing yards with nine passing touchdowns this season.
The Nittany Lions’ defense has been incredibly strong this season, as they allow just 11.5 points per game (8th nationally) and 239.5 yards per game (9th) while forcing eight turnovers (12th) this season. Penn State ranks third in the nation in three-and-out percentage, holding opponents to a three-and-out in 40.8 percent of their possessions.
“I’ve been so impressed with Coach Campbell over the years, whether it be in his time at Iowa State recruiting in this area,” Braun said. “I thought it was a phenomenal hire by Penn State and the way he goes about things.”
SERIES HISTORY
Last season, the Wildcats defeated the Nittany Lions, 22-21, in Beaver Stadium to secure their first victory over Penn State since 2015. Quarterback Preston Stone threw for 163 yards, with wide receiver Griffin Wilde hauling in seven catches for 94 yards and a touchdown. The Northwestern defense limited the Nittany Lions to their lowest total yardage (274) to that point in the season.
The Wildcats are 6-16 all-time against Penn State, but the teams have split the last six meetings dating back to 2014. Northwestern is eyeing its first victory versus the Nittany Lions at home since a Nov. 7, 2015 victory (23-21). The Wildcats are hoping to defeat Penn State two straight times for the first time since 2014-15. Friday’s contest is the fourth meeting between the two squads in the past five seasons.
Northwestern is hosting a Friday night game against a Big Ten opponent for the first time since Sep. 3rd, 2021, when it hosted Michigan State. The Wildcats have won three of their last five games on a Friday. A win would move Northwestern to 9-10-1 all-time on Fridays, and it would be the Wildcats’ fifth-straight on-campus night game win.
UP NEXT
Northwestern wraps up its nonconference schedule by hosting Ball State for its 115th Homecoming game on Saturday, Oct. 10. Kickoff from Ryan Field is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. CT on Big Ten Network and WGN Radio 720.