Old demons come back to haunt Northwestern in Hat game loss to Illinois
Playing on the road in snowy and windy conditions better suited to Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Northwestern had a shot to beat Illinois and take the Land of Lincoln Trophy back home to Evanston as an early Christmas present.
Instead, the Wildcats couldn’t make plays with the game on the line and lost 20-13. Now this game can join the Nebraska and Michigan contests earlier in the season as ones that got away.
“Obviously very disappointed in the result…” said head coach David Braun. “We found ways to beat ourselves.”
Northwestern was down to its fifth-string running back and needed a strong game from quarterback Preston Stone to have a shot at pulling off the upset. But one week after playing his best game as a Wildcat to beat Minnesota, Stone had a horrific second half and wound up with three interceptions and a fumble as he went an inefficient 19-of-36 passing for 163 yards and one touchdown.
Northwestern (6-6, 4-5 Big Ten) will play in a bowl game this season, but no bowl reps would have been impressed with this performance by a Wildcat offense that scored just 13 points and turned the ball over three times in the second half – even in challenging weather.
Illinois (8-4, 5-4) didn’t play particularly well, gaining just 30 more yards than Northwestern (284-254). But Luke Altmyer threw for 174 yards and didn’t turn the ball over once, and the Illini did just enough to win the game.
The Wildcat defense repeatedly rose up to make stops when they needed them, and, in one case in the fourth quarter, set the offense up for what should have been an easy score. And nothing tells the story of this game more than that sequence.
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The Wildcats, trailing just 17-10, had just given up the ball on downs on the Illinois 10-yard line after Stone fumbled the snap and was stopped for no gain on fourth-and-1.
But three plays later, they got a break when Braydon Brus sacked Altmyer at the Illinois 6, and Altmyer fumbled. Anto Saka picked it up and returned it to the Illinois 1. So, even after a bumbling failure on their last series, the Wildcats needed just 36 inches to tie the game.
But on first-and-goal from the 1, Illinois’ Dylan Rosiek knifed in and dropped Robby Preckel for a three-yard loss on a run up the middle. On second down, Stone hit Hunter Welcing on an out pattern for a gain of just one yard. Then, on third down, Stone’s pass over the middle to Griffin Wilde was broken up by Scott Miles.
After losing two yards on three plays from inside the 5, Braun wisely decided to kick a field goal and Jack Olsen hit a 26-yarder.
That tells the story of this game and, in many ways, Northwestern’s season. Even after numerous mistakes, all they had to do was pick up one yard to get the game back to even and seize the momentum in the final period. They couldn’t do it, and that field goal turned out to be the last points of the game for the Wildcats.
Preckel began the season as the No. 5 running back and has primarily been used in short-yardage situations. Captain Cam Porter went down in Week 2 with a season-ending injury, and the Wildcats’ first three running backs were unavailable against the Illini. No. 1 Caleb Komolafe, a power back who would have been ideal in the snow, and Dashun Reeder were both out with injuries. Then No. 2 Joseph Himon II got hurt on his second carry and didn’t return. Preckel, responded, gaining a game-high 82 yards on 22 carries.
The game started with both offenses moving and throwing the ball remarkably well on a snow-covered field and blowing snow.
Illinois made the first big play of the with a 35-yard pass from Altmyer to Collin Dixon. The Illini reached the Northwestern 17 but, with swirling winds, decided to go for it instead of kick s field goal, and Altmyer’s pass fell incomplete.
With an already depleted running back depth chart, Himon went down on his second carry and didn’t return. With three backs out, the bell cow role went to Preckel, a true freshman and converted tight end.
Preckel, at 230 pounds, proved to be well suited to the elements. He broke a tackle to convert one fourth down on NU’s first possession, and Stone, who went 4-for-5 on the drive, hit Welcing for another. That set up Olsen for an ugly, knuckleball of a 38-yard kick that barely got over the crossbar to open the scoring.
Illinois then went right down the field on Northwestern like it was a clear, 70-degree day. They used some trickeration for the biggest play – a double pass where wide receiver Hank Beatty threw a 28-yard pass to Tanner Arkin to the NU 6. Ca’Lil Valentine ran it in on the next play to make it 7-3 Illini.
When Northwestern got it back, Stone went to work, even though the Wildcats were going into the teeth of 20-plus mile-per-hour winds. He threw long outs to Wilde and Hayden Eligon II for first downs as Northwestern reached the Illinois red zone. Then, on third-and-12 from the Illinois 13, he threw a frozen rope – an apt metaphor for this game – to a wide open Eligon for a touchdown to reclaim the lead at 10-7.
Northwestern got the ball back with 2:07 left and, instead of running the ball and trying to kill the clock with a 3-point lead when they were getting the ball first in the second half, they took a risk and threw the ball into the wind and paid a high price. A Stone pass was tipped by linebacker James Kreutz, then ricocheted off of wide receiver Frank Covey IV into the arms of Torrie Cox Jr. for an interception at the NU 48 with 1:44 left
It was the first turnover of the game and Illinois made the Wildcats pay when Keadin Feagin scored on a 1-yard touchdown to take a 14-10 lead with just 30 seconds to go in the half.
Northwestern’s offense seemed to lose its rhythm after the half as they went three-and-out on their first two possessions of the third quarter and put up -4 yards. In between, Altmyer went 4-for-4 passing to set up a 47-yard David Alano field goal and make it 17-10.
But the Wildcats forced a punt and the offense regained some of their mojo. Stone threw to Wilde for a first down, then he went long to Wilde again and picked up a pass interference call on Cox to get them to the Illinois 49. He threw a dart on the run to Eligon for another first down.
But then things suddenly fell apart as Stone’s ball security demons that plagued him early in the season returned. He threw an interception on an ill-advised throw that was overturned on review because his knee was down when he threw it. Stone then fumbled the ball, but it was recovered by Lawson Albright to retain possession.
Finally, he fumbled the snap on fourth down at the Illinois 10. The maddening thing was that Stone also made some clutch first-down throws on that series, too.
Even after the Wildcats’ failure, they had three more possessions and chances to at least tie the game. But Stone threw interceptions to Miles to end the first two of them – Illinois added another Alano field goal after the first one – and then turned it over on downs with 36 seconds left in their last gasp.
Just two weeks ago, Braun went on an emotional rant after a loss to Michigan two weeks ago, explaining how coming close wasn’t good enough and that his team expected to win and compete for Big Ten championships.
After a thrilling 38-35 comeback win over Minnesota last week, it looked like the Wildcats may have turned the corner. But after losing The Hat game on Saturday in frustrating fashion, their bad habits seemed to return.
