Off to its best start in a full season since 2012, Northwestern’s schedule is about to stiffen.
With three games against the Big Ten’s upper echelon looming, the 24th-ranked Wildcats know they cannot afford a letdown Saturday afternoon when they host Rutgers in Evanston, Ill.
Northwestern (5-1, 2-1 Big Ten) has not started 5-1 since 2020, when it played only nine games due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Coincidentally, that was the last season the Wildcats appeared in The Associated Press Top 25 poll.
To find the last time the Wildcats won five of their first six games before COVID, you have to go back to 2012 when they capped a 10-3 season with their first bowl win since the 1949 Rose Bowl.
“The truth is we got a special football team, a group that is humble, hungry and knows it’s not a finished product,” Wildcats coach David Braun said Monday. “I truly believe this team can beat anyone in the country and also believe this team if we’re not prepared and don’t execute at the level we need to, we can be beat by anyone in the country.
“I think there’s a level of humility that comes with that. We proved to ourselves that we can win close games, winning the fourth quarter, winning on the road — and the other truth portion to this is we have a ton to work on.”
Northwestern, among seven teams with one loss in conference play behind unbeaten UCLA and Ohio State, claimed its third straight win Saturday with a 24-21 victory at Michigan State thanks to Jackson Kleather’s 34-yard field goal at the buzzer.
With games against Oregon, Iowa and Ohio State the following three weeks, Northwestern hopes to restore its offense to the level that netted 23 points at Indiana — the most against the Hoosiers in their last 13 games — and piled up 506 yards in a 34-13 win over Penn State on Oct. 2.
Northwestern ranks fifth in the Big Ten with 191.5 rushing yards per game, which includes 711 yards on the ground during its three-game winning streak as offensive coordinator Chip Kelly has been maximizing multiple weapons.
Feature backs Caleb Komolafe (401 yards, 4 TDs) and Joseph Himon II (346 yards, 3 TDs, 11.5 yards per carry) play off dual-threat quarterback Aidan Chiles, who ranks as the Big Ten’s most accurate passer (70.5%) while posting seven rushing touchdowns and nine touchdowns through the air. He has yet to throw an interception since transferring from Michigan State in the offseason.
“He’s always been a great athlete,” Rutgers coach Greg Schiano said. “He can run, he’s got a strong arm, has a good understanding of the game. But the guys that were coaching him before are real good coaches too. Just looks like maybe this system suits him a little better.”
Rutgers (2-4, 1-2) hopes to end a 45-game skid against ranked opponents that goes back to a 31-0 win over No. 23 South Florida on Nov. 12, 2009. The Scarlet Knights have not earned a road win against a ranked team since claiming a 54-34 win over No. 17 Pittsburgh on Oct. 25, 2008.
The Scarlet Knights have experienced mixed results against Top 25 teams this year. They hung with USC in a 42-35 home loss on Sept. 19, but they endured a 47-15 rout at Indiana one week after Northwestern pushed the Hoosiers to the limit.
Rutgers earned a 37-30 win Saturday at Maryland and seeks another strong performance from standout wide receiver KJ Duff, who caught nine passes for 113 yards and two scores. Ohio State’s Jeremiah Smith is the only Big Ten player with more receiving yards than Duff’s 741.
Duff also has nine touchdowns and heads into Saturday as the reigning Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week.
“When the ball is in the air, you just got to make a play, any way possible,” Duff said.