Cats dominate Purdue wire-to-wire for fourth straight win
EVANSTON-On a day that Northwestern celebrated the 30th anniversary of its 1995 Rose Bowl team, the Wildcats turned in the kind of dominant, suffocating performance worthy of that legendary group.
The Wildcats, coming off of an emotional upset over Penn State last week, took care of business against Purdue, leading from wire-to-wire to post a 19-0 win in their last game at Martin Stadium.
It was the fourth straight win for the suddenly surging Wildcats (5-2, 3-1 Big Ten), who are now one win short of six and an automatic bowl berth. They are also in a logjam at fourth place in the conference standings.
Preston Stone was 11-for-25 passing for 132 yards and two touchdowns and one interception on an ill-advised threw in the fourth quarter. The Wildcats did most of their damage on the ground, however, rushing for 235 yards on a whopping 50 carries. Joseph Himon II ran for 87 yards, while Caleb Komolafe had 67 yards before leaving the game with an injury in the third quarter.
Wide receiver Griffin Wilde finished with four catches for 47 yards and a touchdown, marking his fourth straight game with a touchdown catch.
The Wildcats went 4-for-5 in the red zone, while Purdue didn’t reach the Wildcat 20-yard line until midway through the fourth quarter, when they eventually gave it up on downs. Northwestern’s defense recorded the program’s first shutout since 2017 and came up with three takeaways, two on fumble recoveries and an interception by linebacker Mac Uihlein, his third of the season.
The Wildcats ended any drama early in the second half, when Stone hit Wilde for a 12-yard touchdown with 4:01 left in the third quarter to make it 19-0.
Purdue starting quarterback Ryan Browne couldn’t get much going for the Boilermakers and went 5-for-10 for just 31 yards passing before he was injured on the first drive of the second half. Backup Malachi Singleton, more of a dual-threat, had better stats as the Boilers were forced to throw it while trailing by three scores. He finished with 187 yards passing but also had an interception and a fumble.
The Wildcats completely dominated the first half, outgaining the hapless Boilers 203-57 and running 46 plays to their 16. If not for a couple drives that fizzled out in the red zone, the Wildcats could have led by much more than the 13-0 lead they took into the break.
Northwestern set the tone on the first drive of the game, when they marched 66 yards in 14 plays. The Wildcats had a first down at the Purdue 13, when they tried to get a little too cute. They brought in Himon as quarterback and snapped the ball to him twice for six yards rushing. Then, they inexplicably brought in backup Ryan Boe on third-and-4, and he was stuffed for no gain, leaving the Wildcats to settle for a 27-yard Jack Olsen field goal.
No worries, though. Purdue went three-and-out and Northwestern went on another 14-play trudge through the Boilermaker defense that required three third-down conversions and a fourth-down try that they made because of a pass-interference penalty against Purdue. This time, they converted in the red zone with Stone hitting Hunter Welcing for a three-yard TD.
However, the red zone bugaboo popped up again on the Wildcats’ third possession, when they reached the Purdue 20 and hit a wall, running three plays for zero yards before Olsen hit a 38-yarder.
Purdue couldn’t do much more than spin its wheels, and a lot of their yards came in the fourth quarter, with the game already in hand. In an indicator of what kind of day it was for Purdue offensively, their biggest play by far, a 48-yard pass from Singleton to Corey Smith early in the fourth quarter wound up in Northwestern’s hands as Braden Turner forced Smith to fumble on the tackle that was recovered by Robert Fitzgerald.
Northwestern will play its final two home games at Wrigley Field, meaning it was the last game at the Wildcats’ intimate, temporary home on the banks of Lake Michigan. The Wildcats played 10 games at Martin over the last two seasons, winning six.
The Wildcats are scheduled to play their season opener next year at the new Ryan Field, their rebuilt $862 million stadium.
