A mist hung over Northwestern’s final game at Martin Stadium on Saturday night, and it occasionally turned to rain pouring down on the crowd of 12,023.
It wasn’t ideal weather for the farewell to the temporary lakefront stadium that housed the Wildcats for two-plus seasons, but the sloppy setting played right into the hands of an opportunistic Northwestern defense in its litmus-test game against Colorado.
The Wildcats had three of their four takeaways in the first half to pull to a 21-point halftime lead and cruised to a 41-7 victory in Evanston.
Braden Turner and Ore Adeyi had interceptions, Robert Fitzgerald and Braydon Brus had fumble recoveries and the Northwestern defense stopped Colorado on all three of its fourth-down attempts. The Buffs totaled 348 yards but managed only one third-quarter score.
“A big part of our defense, we call it TNT,” Brus said. “Tackling and takeaways is really what is going to set you up to have those performances. We harp on it all week. We’re thinking about it during practice. We’re thinking ‘ball.’”
Meanwhile, Northwestern quarterback Aidan Chiles, in his second game in new coordinator Chip Kelly’s offense, completed 17 of 22 passes for 241 yards and three touchdowns and also rushed for two scores. Running back Joseph Himon II caught all three touchdown passes for 46 receiving yards and also rushed for 28 yards. Wide receiver Griffin Wilde had five catches for 85 yards.
More Top Picks Best Hands Free Magnifiers For Reading
Their sharp play helped Northwestern leave Martin Stadium on a high note before opening the new Ryan Field on Oct. 2 against Penn State.
A video captured by a Daily Northwestern journalist before the game appeared to show Colorado players, about to enter the stadium, using expletives to say the stadium sucked and sounded like a library. The Buffaloes were the ones who were quieted as the game wore on and became a blowout.
NU coach David Braun thanked the operations team that helped Northwestern stage the stadium while waiting for the new one to be built.
“We definitely sent it out the right way,” Braun said. “Everyone that was a part of supporting it, it’s been incredible. We talk about that bridge to the new Ryan Field, and it’s pretty cool to be close to getting to the other side of that bridge.”
The Wildcats have one major hurdle before then.
The game against a Colorado team that entered 2-0 was expected to be a good gauge of where Northwestern stood before it enters Big Ten play Friday at defending national champion Indiana. The Wildcats beat FCS power South Dakota State in their opener and then had a Week 2 bye.
“It tells us that we can play with anybody,” Braun said. “We’re built for the schedule that’s in front of us, as long as we take it one day at a time and truly don’t get ahead of ourselves.
“You can start to sense some things come together, and also you can really understand, like, gosh, we are far from being a finished product. I’m excited for the test that’s ahead. Indiana, defending national champs, on the road, Friday night — we’re going to find out a lot about our football team over the course of the next few days.”
The victory came after Northwestern announced a three-year contract extension through 2031 for fourth-year coach Braun on Thursday. He is now 21-19 in his tenure.
Braun said he is confident in the leadership at Northwestern under President Mung Chiang and athletic director Mark Jackson.
“There’s cohesiveness, there’s alignment, there’s passion for everything that’s Northwestern,” he said. “I’ll be really honest with you: I love being here and I want to be here for a long, long time, but I don’t want to be here — our players don’t want to be here — unless we’re truly committed to competing for championships.
“We talk about it all the time in recruiting. And with the leadership that we have right now, momentum in a new stadium on the way, there’s no doubt that we’re just getting started in that regard.”
Part of the momentum on this team is a revamped offense under Kelly that totaled 423 yards Saturday. Chiles said the Wildcats didn’t necessarily like the early bye week, but they practiced like they were going to have a game and it kept them locked in for Colorado.
Northwestern got on the board first when Chiles scored on a 1-yard run with 43 seconds to play in the first quarter.
The Wildcats started the drive on the Colorado 44 after Michael Kilbane forced running back Micah Welch to fumble and Fitzgerald recovered. Two defensive penalties helped Northwestern keep the drive alive despite an offensive line injury.
Northwestern lost guard Ezomo Oratokhai to a lower-body injury. He went down on a running play and rode off the field on a cart after being tended to for a while.
More Top Picks Best Standing Desks For Adhd Adults
The Wildcats recovered another fumble on Colorado’s next drive. On third-and-3 in NU territory, running back Damian Henderson II fumbled the handoff, and linebacker Brus recovered at the NU 20. The Wildcats had two penalties on the ensuing drive and didn’t capitalize.
But they did score after their third takeaway. Turner intercepted a Julian Lewis pass intended for Joseph Williams and returned it 22 yards to the Colorado 18. Two plays later, Chiles threw an 18-yard touchdown pass to Himon, who was wide open down the left sideline, for a 14-0 lead.
The Wildcats defense came up big on Colorado’s fourth drive when Brus recorded a tackle for a loss on fourth-and-2 at the NU 27.
The Northwestern defense came up with another fourth-down stop to open the third quarter, but the Wildcats gave the ball back when Caleb Komolafe fumbled at the Colorado 34. Four plays later, Williams caught a short pass from Lewis and raced 50 yards for Colorado’s only touchdown.
The Wildcats responded with an eight-play, 60-yard drive capped by Chiles’ 25-yard touchdown pass to Himon. Wilde came alive on the next scoring drive, catching three passes for 44 yards before Himon scored on a 3-yard catch.
“He was open,” Chiles said of Himon’s three touchdowns. “I missed him on one, but we got it back. We worked on it all week. We knew what we were going to get, and we came out and we executed it.”
Himon said the players are excited to get back to get into the new Ryan Field in two weeks.
“It’s been a special time playing out here on the lake,” he said. “But we’re ready to get back in a stadium and have all the support and fans come out to watch us.”