Wildcats Head to East Lansing for Showdown with Michigan State

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Returning to conference play and aiming to extend its win streak to three, No. 25 Northwestern football looks on to this weekend’s road matchup against Michigan State. Kickoff from Spartan Stadium is set for Saturday, Oct. 17, at 11 a.m. CT.

“The thing that I love most about this group of men that we get to work with and our staff is they have humility and they want truth,” Dan and Susan Jones Family Head Football Coach David Braun said. “The humility piece of that is an understanding that we’re a work in progress. We’re yet to really achieve anything… What an incredible challenge going into Michigan State, returning to Big Ten play, to go on the road in a hostile environment and prove to ourselves for these opportunities on the road with this group specifically.”

The game will air on Peacock, with Paul Burmeister doing play-by-play, Yogi Roth as analyst and Caroline Pineda reporting on the sidelines. It can be heard on WGN Radio 720 and 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 Homecoming game.

LAST TIME OUT
On Saturday, Oct. 10, in NU’s Homecoming game, the Wildcats (4-1, 1-1 Big Ten) dominated Ball State 45-14 to finish undefeated in nonconference play for the first time since 2015. Northwestern’s 45 points marked its most in a game since the 2023 season. Thirty-one of those points came in the first half, the most points the Wildcats have scored in the opening half of a game since 2018.

NU totaled 436 yards of offense, with fourth-year quarterback Aidan Chiles leading the way. Chiles earned a spot on the PFF Big Ten Team of the Week, completing 73.9% of his passes (17-of-23) for 272 passing yards and three passing touchdowns. He also added a score on the ground. Fourth-year wide receiver Griffin Wilde was also named to the PFF Team of the Week after he recorded eight receptions, 144 receiving yards and one receiving touchdown, the most single-game receiving yards by a Wildcat since 2023. Chiles also found third-year wide receiver Drew Wagner, who finished with four catches for 61 yards, and sixth-year tight end Alex Honig for touchdowns.

The Cardinals scored just 14 points against the stifling Northwestern defense. Fifth-year defensive back Robert Fitzgerald played his way to the PFF National Team of the Week with seven tackles, 0.5 tackles for loss, and a pick-six. He became the first ‘Cat to post these numbers in a game since 2014. Fifth-year linebacker Braydon Brus tallied a team-high eight tackles with 3.5 tackles for loss, the most by a Northwestern player since 2021. As a team, Northwestern had 9.0 tackles for loss, its most in a game since 2024. Fifteen Wildcats on the defensive side of the ball earned or tied a career-best mark.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

1. Aidan Chiles: Chiles’ 71.4 completion percentage leads the Big Ten, as he is looking to become the first Northwestern player to lead the conference in completion percentage since Dan Persa (73.4%) in 2011. The fourth-year quarterback is just the 11th FBS quarterback since 1995 to have a 70+ completion percentage, 1,000+ total passing yards, 15+ total touchdowns and zero interceptions through the first five games of a season.
2. Braydon Brus: The fifth-year linebacker has already made a leap this season, jumping out to 37 tackles, 8.5 tackles for loss (T-2nd in Big Ten, T-9th nationally), three sacks, one interception and one forced fumble this season. His 8.5 tackles for loss are the most by a Wildcat across the first five games of a season since Anthony Walker in 2015, and he is coming off a game in which he became just the second Big Ten player this season to have 3.5+ tackles for loss in a game.
3. Griffin Wilde: Coming off the most explosive game in his Northwestern career, Wilde has 24 receptions, 425 receiving yards (9th in Big Ten) and three receiving touchdowns so far this season. His 17.7 yards per reception rank eighth in the conference. In addition, the fourth-year wide receiver’s 85.0 receiving yards per game are the most by a Wildcat since Austin Carr in 2016 and the fifth-most by any Wildcat since 1956.

4. Jackson Carsello: The most experienced player on Northwestern’s offensive line, Carsello has helped lead the Wildcats to their historic offensive start. The sixth-year offensive lineman and team captain has allowed zero sacks or quarterback hits this season, and his 72.4 PFF run block grade ranks second in the Big Ten and 17th nationally among centers.

On facing former Northwestern head coach Pat Fitzgerald…

• “It’s this acknowledgement that coaching is this really neat, close fraternity where relationships matter. It’s acknowledging the level of gratitude I’ll always have for Coach Fitz in terms of the fact that I wouldn’t be here today without the opportunity he gave me and my family and then also acknowledging very clearly the game has nothing to do with that. It’ll be great to see him pre-game, but it’s so critical that I do a great job of modeling my level of focus for our entire team in terms of what really matters — and that’s that 60 minutes that we’re guaranteed where we’ve got to be at our best between the white lines.”

On the Wildcats’ +6 turnover margin, which ranks second in the Big Ten…

• “It needs to continue. There needs to be a mentality that it’s our football. When we possess it, we protect it, and when we don’t possess it, we’re attacking it. We all know this in the Big Ten — the margins are so thin. That turnover margin is such an indicator of success and winning football games, and we need to make sure that we’re always coming on the right side of that.”

SCOUTING MICHIGAN STATE
The Spartans (2-4, 0-3 Big Ten) host Northwestern in East Lansing, Mich., while on a four-game losing streak. Michigan State’s last contest was a narrow 38-37 loss to Illinois in overtime.

“The results may not be there for Michigan State right now in their recent games, but when you turn on the tape, you see a team that plays really hard, plays a really physical brand of football,” Braun said. “You can tell they’re aligned.”

MSU quarterback Alessio Milivojevic leads the Spartans’ offense and has a 65.8 completion percentage with 1,047 passing yards and five passing touchdowns this season. Running back Jaziun Patterson has 255 rushing yards and six total touchdowns this season, tied for the 35th-most nationally.

Michigan State’s defense has allowed just 197.8 passing yards per game, a top-55 mark nationally. Safety Devin Vaught leads the team in tackles with 38 and ranks third in the Big Ten with 27 solo tackles this season.

Running back and kick returner Kenneth Williams has posted 313 kick return yards this season, which leads the Big Ten and is the sixth-most nationally.

SERIES HISTORY
Saturday’s matchup will be the first time that the Wildcats and Spartans have faced off since the 2021 season. The teams have split the last eight games dating back to 2012, with Northwestern winning three of the last four games at Spartan Stadium. Northwestern is looking for its first win over Michigan State since 2018, which was a 29-19 victory on the road.

UP NEXT
The Wildcats return to Ryan Field to host Rutgers on Saturday, Oct. 24, at 11 a.m. CT. The game will be broadcast on Peacock and can be heard on WGN Radio 720.