Northwestern sinks like a Stone at Tulane
There’s no putting lipstick on this pigskin: Preston Stone’s first game as quarterback for Northwestern was a nightmare.
The grad transfer from SMU threw four interceptions – double the number he’d thrown in any gave in his career – and lost a fumble as the Wildcats were drubbed 23-3 by Tulane in the season opener on Saturday in New Orleans.
Stone, who many saw as the program’s savior this season, had three interceptions in the first half that led to 17 Tulane points as the Green Wave took a 20-3 lead at the break. It was a shocking performance from a quarterback that had thrown just eight interceptions in 28 games over the last four years.
In all, Stone finished 19-of-36 for 161 yards through the air. He had five giveaways, as well as another fumble that was recovered by Northwestern.
Those five turnovers were more than enough for Tulane, a Group of Five powerhouse which looked to be in midseason form. Jake Retzlaff, a grad transfer playing his first game with the Green Wave, was cool and efficient, racking up 152 yards and a touchdown passing, as well as 113 yards and another score on the ground.
The writing was on the wall for what kind of day it was going to be for Stone on the first snap of the game. On his initial drop-back as a Wildcat, he was sacked for a seven-yard loss by Harvey Dyson III, who beat Northwestern’s best offensive lineman, Caleb Tiernan, to the outside. Stone fumbled the ball, but it was recovered by Tiernan.
Then, on third down, Stone’s first pass as a Wildcat was intercepted by Jaheim Johnson. Tulane took advantage, moving right down the field to take a 7-0 lead.
On their first two possessions, the Wildcats ran six plays for three total yards and looked every bit like the 128th-ranked scoring offense they were last season.
In the second quarter, Stone made a questionable decision to try to squeeze the ball into a well-covered Frank Covey IV, and his throw was intercepted by Kevin Adams III in NU territory. The Green Wave turned that turnover into a 41-yard Patrick Durkin field goal.
Stone threw his third interception late in the half when, under heavy pressure, he just chucked a pass down the sideline to Griffin Wilde, in what looked like an attempt to throw the ball away. But the throw didn’t make it out of bounds and Javion White jumped up to pick it off at the NU 13 with just 1:52 left in the first half.
That was plenty of time for the Green Wave as Retzlaff took a quarterback draw right up the middle for a 69-yard touchdown to make it 20-3 at the break.
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Stone, who had a 35-to-8 TD-to-INT ratio coming into the game, had never thrown three interceptions in a game, let alone a half. He went into halftime 7-of-13 for 71 yards.
Tulane put the game away on the first possession of the second half. The 16-play drive resulted in just a field goal but ate 7:38 of game clock to provide the final margin. That was a mountain too high for an offense that managed just 107 yards and as many turnovers as points in the first half.
Stone threw his fourth pick early in the fourth quarter, when an underthrown long ball to Wilde was picked by White for his second interception of the game.
Stone added a fumble in the waning minutes when he was a bit careless with the football under pressure, and Trevon McAlpine recovered it at the NU 42.
There were precious few bright spots for Stone. The offense found a rhythm late in the first half, when Stone went 4-for-5 for 46 yards and the Wildcats pulled to within 7-3 after a 69-yard drive. There were some isolated throws that showed off his arm strength.
He didn’t get much help from his teammates, either. The Wildcats’ retooled offensive line had trouble protecting him; he was sacked three times for 30 yards in losses and was harassed throughout the game. Northwestern’s receivers weren’t getting a lot of separation against Tulane’s defensive backs.
To make matters worse, Retzlaff, who just arrived on campus from BYU about a month ago, looked like he’s been in New Orleans his whole career. He had 216 yards of total offense and two touchdowns in his first two quarters. If not for a couple of glaring dropped passes, the Green Wave could have had more points.
Northwestern came into this game with a lot of new players to assimilate, including an unprecedented 15 transfers. That can explain some of the bumps they experienced.
But that excuse loses some validity when you consider that Tulane came into this matchup with even more offseason upheaval. The program lost its quarterback, running back and four of its top five receivers from a year ago, and had 60 new players on its roster.
Yet the Green Wave looked polished, while the Wildcats were in disarray and generally looked unprepared. Even head coach David Braun made a questionable decision to decline a holding penalty and essentially give Tulane a field goal in the second quarter, when he could have accepted it for a third-and-29 from the Tulane 38 that would have given them a chance to keep the Green Wave out of field-goal range.
That was one of many head scratchers for the Wildcats. It’s just one game and there is a lot of football left to be played this season. Stone will be better because it’s difficult to be much worse.
But Northwestern has a lot of problems to fix in a short week before they kick off against Western Illinois on Friday night in Evanston.
