Northwestern Football Returns Home to Host Rutgers on Saturday

EVANSTON, Ill. — Returning home after a resilient road win last weekend, the No. 24 Northwestern football team is set to host Rutgers on Saturday, Oct. 24. Kickoff from Ryan Field is set for 11 a.m. CT, as the Wildcats (5-1, 2-1 Big Ten) welcome the Scarlet Knights (2-4, 1-4 Big Ten) to Evanston for the first time since 2021.

“Our mission this week is number one: to speak truth, number two: identify areas we need to improve upon, and lastly: for us to stay on the attack,” Dan and Susan Jones Family Head Football Coach David Braun said. “The truth is we’ve got a special football team — a group that is humble, is hungry, knows they’re not a finished product. [I] truly believe that this team can beat anyone in the country.”

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 also be heard on WGN Radio 720 and SiriusXM Channel 85, 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. 17, the Wildcats (5-1, 2-1 Big Ten) notched a 24-21 comeback victory over Michigan State at Spartan Stadium. Fourth-year kicker Jackson Kleather drilled a 34-yard field goal with two seconds remaining to claim the victory, Northwestern’s first game-winning play in the final five seconds of regulation since at least 2002. The win marked the Wildcats’ first time claiming a road contest after trailing by 8+ points in the fourth quarter since defeating Notre Dame in 2014 and the first time winning a game as a ranked team since the 2021 Citrus Bowl.

Fourth-year quarterback Aidan Chiles led the Northwestern offense 68 yards down the field over the span of seven plays in 58 seconds to set up Kleather’s game-winning kick. Chiles finished the game with a 66.7-percent completion percentage (18-of-27), throwing for 226 yards while rushing for a touchdown. Fourth-year running back Caleb Komolafe had 15 carries, 67 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown, alongside four receptions and 51 receiving yards. Fourth-year wide receiver Griffin Wilde hauled in six receptions for 57 receiving yards. Third-year wide receiver Hayden Eligon II and sixth-year tight end Alex Honig added 47 and 42 receiving yards, respectively. The contest marked the first time that Northwestern had four players with 40+ receiving yards since 2023.

Fifth-year defensive lineman Brendan Flakes blocked a Spartan field goal attempt with just over a minute remaining in the game before the Wildcats’ game-winning drive. It marked the first blocked kick for Northwestern since 2024. Fifth-year linebacker Braydon Brus made plays all over the field, tallying a career-high 15 tackles and 1.0 tackle for loss in the NU win. Second-year defensive back Jon Jon Stevens Jr. also registered a career high in tackles with 10, the most by a Wildcat underclassman since Damon Walters in 2024. Additionally, fourth-year defensive lineman Michael Kilbane registered a strip sack early in the first quarter to set up Northwestern’s first points of the contest.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

1. Caleb Komolafe: Against Michigan State, Komolafe became the first Northwestern player to post 50+ rushing yards and 50+ receiving yards in a game since Evan Hull against Duke in 2022. He also tallied his 15th career touchdown in East Lansing, the most rushing touchdowns by a single player in the Braun era. This season, the fourth-year running back has 75 carries (10th in Big Ten), 401 rushing yards (9th) and four rushing touchdowns while also hauling in 11 catches for 132 receiving yards.
2. Braden Turner: Turner made his return from injury against the Spartans, totaling five tackles, one tackle for loss and one pass breakup. The fifth-year defensive back has a 79.1 PFF defensive grade (11th among Big Ten defensive backs), 88.8 run defense grade (2nd), and 84.8 tackling grade (10th). Through three games this year, Turner has 20 tackles, three pass breakups, two tackles for loss and an interception.
3. Alex Honig: The tight end already has 187 receiving yards this season, the most he’s had in a season in his six-year collegiate career. That figure also ranks as the third-most on the team. Honig has recorded 48 and 42 receiving yards in his past two games, making him the first Wildcat tight end to notch 40+ receiving yards in consecutive games since Drake Dunsmore in 2009-10.
4. Jackson Kleather: Kleather has been impeccable in the 2026 season, nailing 22-of-22 extra points and 11-of-13 field goal attempts. His 1.83 made field goals per game ranks third in the Big Ten and eighth nationally. The fourth-year kicker is just the second player in program history to make two 50+ yard field goals in a season (Sam Valenzisi, 1994), including making a 52-yard kick against Ball State, the second-longest made field goal in program history.
5. Kobie McKinzie: In his first season at Northwestern, McKinzie ranks third on the team  in both tackles (42) and tackles for loss (3). The fifth-year linebacker also has two pass breakups and a sack. Before this season, McKinzie had one career game with 7+ tackles. This season, he has four such games. McKinzie’s 42 tackles already are his most in a season, and his 7.0 tackles per game rank 13th in the Big Ten.

WHAT BRAUN’S SAYING

On not being a finished product…

• “The thing that I appreciate about this group is I don’t think they’re ever going to feel like they’re a finished product. There’s always going to be areas where we can grow. There’s always going to be areas from us as a coaching staff that we’re evaluating where we need to be better. … It’s easy for me to stand up here and identify the issues, but how are we going to attack those issues? What’s the ‘how’ we’re going to get that fixed? The fun part about playing in the Big Ten is just when you put one fire out and you make one fix, something else can pop up. That’s why our preparation and practice matters so much, but excited for this group to really attack that opportunity this weekend.”

On Alex Honig’s level of play…

• “When Alex arrived, you knew his understanding of the game. Having a quarterback background certainly helps him with that in the passing game. He’s a big target. His straight-line speed is really good, and I think the level of trust that he’s built with the quarterback room, specifically Aidan, is showing up, especially in critical downs. It’s been really neat to see him step up in that role. You saw it plenty against Indiana before Luke [Dehnicke] even went down, but he’s been called upon more with Luke being down here for a couple weeks. In terms of the sets, one thing I appreciate about Coach Kelly is we’re going to find different ways with different personnel to maximize to get our best 11 on the field.”

On Braydon Brus and Kobie McKinzie playing off each other…

• “There’s just a standard on that defense and specifically in that room in terms of how you prepare. Obviously, Brus has been in this system for a long time. I think Braydon’s been a great resource to Kobie. You can really see, as the season goes along, Kobie starting to become more and more comfortable and really playing with instincts, no hesitation and cutting it loose. I think both bring a unique skill set, and at the end of the day, both are just such natural, instinctual players, especially when they’re in the box. That’s quite the tandem for sure.”

SCOUTING RUTGERS
The Scarlet Knights (2-4, 1-4 Big Ten) come to Evanston with wins in two of their last three games. Last week, they defeated Maryland, 37-30, on the road.

Head Coach Greg Schiano’s offense is averaging 31.2 points per game, led by wide receiver KJ Duff. Duff ranks sixth nationally with 741 receiving yards and tied for third nationally with nine receiving touchdowns. Quarterback Dylan Lonergan’s 14.41 yards per completion is the 13th-highest mark nationally, and his 10 passing touchdowns rank seventh in the conference.

Rutgers boasts the sixth-best red zone defense in the Big Ten, allowing a score on just 82.1% of defensive possessions in the red zone. Additionally, the Scarlet Knights average the fewest penalty yards per game nationally (28.67), as they average just four penalties per game.

“We have a great Rutgers team coming into Ryan Field,” Braun said. “Their record may not be where they want, but when you turn on the tape, this program is coached by one of the best head coaches in recent college football history.”

SERIES HISTORY
The Wildcats will face Rutgers for just the seventh time since the two teams matched up for the first time in 1919. The Scarlet Knights lead the all-time series 4-2, but Northwestern has won two of the three matchups since Rutgers joined the conference. The Wildcats are looking for their first victory over the Scarlet Knights since Oct. 16, 2021, 21-7. Saturday’s contest will be the first time Northwestern has been ranked when facing Rutgers.

UP NEXT
Northwestern takes a trip to the West Coast to face Oregon at Autzen Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 31, at 2:30 p.m. CT. The game will air on Peacock and WGN Radio 720.