A Get-Right Game: Quick takes from Northwestern football's rout of Western Illinois

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EVANSTON, Ill. - It was just the medicine Northwestern football needed.

After falling flat in Week 1 against Tulane, the Wildcats took care of business against Western Illinois.

Here are our quick takes from Northwestern's home opener, a 42-7 rout of Western Illinois, on Friday night at Martin Stadium.

'Get-Right Game':

After getting outclassed by Tulane last weekend, Northwestern had a chance for a classic get-right game.

NU was playing an FCS opponent, at home and on a short week. This isn’t to downplay Western Illinois; plenty of FBS teams have overlooked an FCS opponent, like Northwestern did in a 9-7 loss to FCS Illinois State on Sept. 10, 2016.

Northwestern was in a take-care-of-business game. Illinois did it last week with a 52-3 win. The Wildcats got right.

Preston Stone had some dangerous passes, but his receivers came to get the ball. The connection was there and chemistry took a step. Should some of those passes been intercepted? Maybe, but NU’s receivers made the right plays to make sure that didn’t happen.

There was a connection between Stone and Griffin Wilde, too. The first play of NU’s second drive was a 47-yard toss to Wilde that would’ve been a touchdown if Stone had led him a bit more.

Stone threw his first two touchdowns as a Wildcat, his first going to Hayden Eligon II on the second drive of the game. His second was more impressive, as he tossed a touchdown pass to Hunter Welcing with just under 30 seconds left at the end of the first half. 

It was a perfectly placed ball that was either Welcing or no one, but Welcing made a great play to extend and snag the ball out of the air for a score. It was the result of a balanced offense that had over 200 passing yards and 200 rushing yards on the day. 

At that point, 22-0 felt like all NU needed. They were able to pile on and crack the 40-point barrier on a 58-yard touchdown run by Ryan Boe where he stiff armed a poor Western Illinois defender into the turf.

Sometimes, just seeing it click in a real game can go a long way to helping a team get over a clunker like NU had in New Orleans.

Aggressive Defense:

Northwestern didn’t win the turnover battle Friday night. The defense wasn’t ball hawking, but they held the Leathernecks in check all night.

The offense put up the points. The defense kept points off the board. It’s complimentary football at its finest.

It wasn’t flashy by any means. But, Northwestern’s defense needed to get back on track after allowing big plays against Tulane. The Green Wave only scored 23, but a 69-yard touchdown run by Jake Retzlaff was a breakdown that can’t happen against a defense that prides itself on discipline like NU does.

By the end of the third quarter, Northwestern’s defense allowed just one third-down conversion. WIU was 2 for 12 on third downs. 

One reason for the low conversion rate was because of how Northwestern’s cornerbacks were aggressive in closing on short passes. The ‘Cats’ defensive backs had seven pass break-ups. Most of them came on quick passes that Western Illinois was trying to complete to get its offense going. The ‘Cats didn’t make it easy.

Fred Davis II and Josh Fussell both had multiple pass breakups. They only let up when they were taken out of the game in the second half, and the reserves couldn't preserve the shutout with 2:47 left in the game.

NU Injuries:

The one way for Northwestern to have an unscathed evening was to get the win, and get the win without losing any players to injury.

The second part didn’t happen, as Northwestern’s offense lost arguably its best offensive player. 

Cam Porter got twisted up on a nine-yard run in the third quarter. He was helped off the field and was carted off after an extended stay in the injury tent. He was ruled doubtful to return and was ruled out for the game before the fourth quarter began.

In NU’s offense. Porter was the thunder in the running game to Joseph Himon’s lightning. His 43-yard touchdown run was a statement NU had the bigger and better players on the field.

It remains to be seen how long Porter will be out. It’s never a good sign to see a player carted off the field. He had 91 rushing yards on 12 carries and a touchdown.

Linebacker Nigel Glover was also shaken up, too. That’s an injury that hurts depth on the second level for NU.