After months of uncertainty, Northwestern football proved it can figure it all out vs. Miami (Ohio)

EVANSTON, Ill. - Saturday’s season opener for Northwestern was a continuation of the last eight months, at first anyway.

There was much unknown hanging around the Wildcats: how would the new stadium look? How would the temporary field play out? Never mind that for a second, how would a new starting quarterback fare? 

Go back to July, running back Cam Porter described the first months of 2024 perfectly.

"We don't know really what's going on, you know what I mean?" Porter told me at Big Ten Media Days in July. "It was rumors that maybe the third stadium or maybe a different stadium."

But, Northwestern’s 2024 theme materialized as the afternoon warm lake air gave way to the brisk sun at Northwestern Medicine Field setting on NU’s 13-6 win.

They’re all just figuring it out one step at a time.

Throughout NU’s win over the Redhawks, the ‘Cats had plenty to figure out from a logistical standpoint and a football standpoint. It didn’t matter that it wasn’t pretty; what mattered was they found a solution.

"Thrilled to have an opportunity to celebrate a victory," Braun said. "In all three phases, I feel like we have a lot of improving to do."

Mike Wright got the nod at quarterback. He didn’t have a great day, by any means. He fumbled and lost two snaps to Miami (Ohio). 

One of those fumbles was on the literal one-yard line. He fumbled the snap from under center on a quarterback sneak. Wright had a good attitude about it, though.

"That was called being too excited to score a touchdown," Wright said. "That was completely Mike Wright dropping the ball, getting too excited. Like ‘oh, shoot, I’m going to score a touchdown.’"

Wright did make up for it all in the second half.

His legs were active, and he was moving the ball with his arm and his legs as the running game did the same. It didn’t take much to win Saturday from an offensive stand point, but the Wildcats needed to do enough. Wright and the new offensive line, to their credit, did enough. 

It was complimentary football that came from the team just taking a deep breath at halftime.

"We’re moving the ball. We got things going," Wright said. "Just self-inflicted wounds. Protect the football, keep moving the chains and things will take care of themselves."

Finding Bryce Kirtz often was the secret. Using AJ Henning as an offensive weapon – which needs to happen much more – helped to kick start the offense in the second half. Any first half sleepiness was shaken, but not completely eradicated.

"They were giving us the looks that we wanted," Wright said. "It was just about us capitalizing."

Thankfully, NU’s offense did not need to do too much.

The defense was stout. It never broke during a day where the pressure was firmly on their shoulders to keep the Redhawks at bay.

"It’s definitely a relief," receiver Bryce Kirtz said. "I know they’re going to hold up."

The Northwestern football team pays homage to its fans after a 13-6 win over Miami (Ohio) at Northwestern Medicine Field on Aug. 31, 2024, in Evanston, Ill. (Ryan Kuttler, Northwestern Athletics)

The ‘Cats defense took care of business. It allowed just 40 yards rushing, forced two turnovers and kept Brett Gabbert from getting into a rhythm when Miami starting driving into NU territory in a 10-3 game.

There were no touchdowns for Miami. Instead, there were four sacks, six pass break ups and six tackles for loss.

"There’s certainly some areas for us to continue to improve," Braun said. "You can sense that momentum in the second half where we’re starting to wear our opponent down. Our defense needs to continue to understand, when we get that sense, three and out, takeaway, we need to get it back to our offense."

That happened when Robert Fitzgerald intercepted a Gabbert pass that ended Miami’s best chance of scoring in the fourth quarter.

It brought the lake-side stadium of 12,023 to their feet.

Of all that went into figuring out where NU was going to play, the university had a smooth Saturday in terms of gameday operation. The staff on hand stressed how Saturday was going to be a learning curve, but there were no outstanding hurdles.

This was in such a stark contract to months ago, where the university was eying Seatgeek Stadium, Guaranteed Rate Field, Solider Field and other options to play as Ryan Field was torn down. The decision to build up the lakeside field in the span of two months was vindicated.

The smooth sailing, boat spectators included, fed into the crowd energy, which was energy the players used.

"I didn’t expect it to be jumping as much as it was," receiver Bryce Kirtz said. "It didn’t feel like a practice field at all. It definitely felt like a gameday field. It definitely got me hyped up for the game like I usually get."

After months of unknown, and trying to figure out so much, Saturday wasn’t a sigh of relief. There’s still an entire season to play. Duke comes to town in less than a week, too.

The ‘Cats learned they could roll with the punches Saturday. They also figured out the experience they have on their roster can help them adjust and find ways to win the games they need to.

"To come out of here with a win, that’s the goal," Braun said.