Week Four: Northwestern Wildcats
Date & Time: Friday, September 25 at 8 pm ET
Venue: Memorial Stadium, Bloomington, IN
TV: FOX
Wildcats at a Glance
Head Coach: David Braun
Entering his 4th season as Northwestern head coach
Record at Northwestern: 19-19 (11-16 in Big Ten)
Overall Record: 19-19
Last Season: 7-6 (4-5 in Big Ten Won Game Above Bowl)
Series History vs. Indiana
Record: 47-36-1
Last Meeting: Indiana 41 Northwestern 24 in Evanston
Wildcats Returning Leaders
Passing: Ryan Boe (2-7, 17 yards, 0 TD 1 INT)
Rushing: Caleb Komolafe (190 rushes, 941 yards 11 TDs)
Receiving: Griffin Wilde (71 catches, 880 yards 8 TDs)
Tackles: LB Braydon Brus (81 tackles, 4.5 TFLs, 2.5 Sacks 2 Forced Fumbles)
Wildcats Names to Know
Aidan Chiles, Quarterback
Caleb Kmomolafe, Running back
Griffin Wilde, Wide Receiver
Haydon Eligon II, Wide Receiver
Braydon Brus, Linebacker
Jackson Carsello, Center
Wildcats Preseason Predictions
Athlon: 14th in the Big Ten
Lindy’s: 12th in the Big Ten
Phil Steele: T-12th in the Big Ten
Sporting News: 14th in the Big Ten
SP+: 49th nationally
Impact Newcomers for the Wildcats
Quarterback Aidan Chiles (Transfer from Michigan State)
Linebacker Kobie McKinze (Transfer from Oklahoma)
Tight End Luke Dehnicke (Transfer from Minnesota-Duluth)
Biggest Questions Facing the Wildcats
Can Chip Kelly, yes, that Chip Kelly, harness Aidan Chilles talent?
Can the Wildcats Build Momentum Early?
Who did they upset for a Week 2 bye?
Program Preview
2026 is a big year for the Northwestern Wildcats as they are moving into their new Ryan Field in October after two seasons splitting home games between their lakefront stadium and Wrigley Field. The pressure is on to put an exciting brand of football on the field after spending $862 million.
Northwestern brought in former Oregon and UCLA head coach Chip Kelly, who should ignite a Wildcat offense that has not averaged more than 24 points per game since 2020. Kelly will get a chance to see if he can unlock the talents of Michigan State transfer quarterback Aidan Chiles.
Northwestern’s offensive line got a bit of good news recently when 2025 starting center Jackson Carsello was granted an injunction, making him eligible for the 2026 season.
The schedule does Northwestern no favors as they have a bye in Week Two after opening up against South Dakota. Then a run of 11 games in a row. The Wildcats play Colorado in week three before opening Big Ten play in Bloomington before opening the new Ryan Field on October 3rd against Penn State. Northwestern rounds out the non-conference slate against Ball State.
The Wildcats have trips to Michigan State, Oregon, Ohio State and Minnesota in addition to Indiana. Going 2-3 on the road would be a heck of an accomplishment. Penn State, Rutgers, Iowa and Illinois all come to Evanston in 2026.
The expectation is for Northwestern to struggle in 2026, but there is a path to a bowl game. It would be a nice boost for the program to give its fans a reason to head to their brand new stadium.
Offensive Preview
The Northwestern offense will look different in 2026 as Chip Kelly brings his uptempo offense to Evanston. The Wildcats bring in former Michigan State quarterback Aidan Chiles who has all the talent in the world, but has not put it all together yet. In three years between Oregon State and MSU, Chiles has 4,116 passing yards, 27 passing touchdowns, 14 rushing touchdowns, but has thrown 14 interceptions. Chiles was benched at Michigan State last year and really has not lived up to his potential. Kelly is familiar with Chiles as he recruited him while the head coach at UCLA.
The Wildcats have an insurance plan if Chiles struggles, as they brought in redshirt senior Nicco Marichiol from West Virginia who has 21 games of experience.
Whoever starts at quarterback will be boosted by a running game that should be in the top half of the Big Ten. The Wildcats return both Caleb Komolafe and Joseph Himan II who combined for 1,427 yards and 12 touchdowns in 2025. Komolafe serves as the workhorse back, while Himan is a change of pace, but they are both very good. If Chiles can use his legs as well, 226 yards and six touchdowns on the ground last year, the running game will be even better.
On the outside, senior Griffin Wilde returns after posting 880 yards and eight touchdowns last year. He led the team with 71 receptions, which was nearly 40 more than the next leading pass catcher. Junior Hayden Eligon made 37 catches in 2025 and will need to be more productive and fellow junior Rickey Ahumaraeze has big play ability, totalling 200 yards on just 10 catches. The Wildcats have the potential to have a very solid receiving room.
Northwestern took a look to the lower levels for a playmaker at tight end in Luke Dehnicke. A transfer from Minnesota-Duluth put up huge numbers in Division II. He made 61 catches for 1,119 yards and 14 touchdowns in 2025.
Alex Honig, a transfer from UConn, will be in the mix at tight end as well. He does not project as dynamic in the passing game, but is 6’6” and 275 pounds, so he serves as a great blocker and an extra offensive lineman. He did have a career-high 13 catches for 162 yards last season for the Huskies.
The Wildcat offensive line received a huge boost when Jackson Carsello was granted an injunction and deemed eligible for the 2026 season. Carsello was graded as the fourth-best center in college football according to Pro Football Focus and started all 13 games last season.
His return gives Northwestern a second returning starter on the line, which was a concern heading into the summer. He will allow Ezomo Iratokhai (6’4” 310lbs.) to move back to left guard, where he earned All-Big Ten honorable mention as a redshirt freshman in 2025.
The Wildcats will still need to break in three new starters along the line, however. Senior Duece McGuire has 22 games and two starts under his belt. The 6’5”, 310-pound Chicago native has the inside track to start at right tackle. Redshirt junior Anthony Birsa (6’5” 310 lbs) would slide into the right guard spot and 6’7” 320-pound junior Grant Seagren comes in from Oklahoma State to battle for the left tackle spot.
Defensive Preview
The Northwestern 4-2-5 defense will be spearheaded by its secondary. Redshirt senior Braden Turner leads the group at the nickel corner position after an All-Big Ten honorable mention season in 2025. He is a playmaker with two forced fumbles, a pair of fumble recoveries and an interception to go along with 56 tackles.
Along with Turner, the Wildcats return starters, Josh Fussell at cornerback and Robert Fitzgerald at safety. Fussell is another All-Big Ten honorable mention player after a big 2025 season. In 10 starts, he had nine pass breakups. Fitzgerald earned Second-Team All-Big Ten honors last season after starting all 13 games. He led the Big Ten in solo tackles (69), had 114 total tackles and made six tackles for loss.
Damon Walters returns from an injury that cut his 2025 campaign short after just three games. He has 13 games of experience under his belt and should be able to grow into the safety position alongside Fitzgerald.
Central Michigan transfer Brenden Deasfernandes can play either corner or safety, but will start the year outside opposite Fussell. With the Chippewas in 2025, he made nine starts and had two interceptions and eight pass breakups.
The front six of the Wildcat defense has plenty of question marks, but two known commodities on both the defensive line and linebacker.
Northwestern plays just two linebackers and that group is led by Braydon Brus, who will start at the Will spot. In 13 starts last season, Brus made 81 total tackles, including 4.5 tackles for loss. Alongside Brus, will be Oklahoma transfer Kobie McKinzie. After four seasons with the Sooners, McKinzie brings the ability to get into the opponents’ backfield with 6.5 tackles for loss last season.
The defensive line is led by senior defensive tackle Brendan Flakes. The 6’4” 291-pound redshirt senior looks to buld upon last season when he made 16 tackles. The projected starting line is made up of all seniors, but most of them are unproven.
Migo Jackson (6’ 295 lbs) is in his second year after transferring from Utah State in 2024. However, he only played in four games in 2025 and four in 2024.
The ends in this defense should be Jameel Johnson who comes over from UCF. With the Knights, Johnson made 24 tackles in 12 starts last season. Opposite Johnson should be Michael Kilbane (6’5” 270 lbs) who was an honorable mention All-Big Ten selection in 2025. Last year Kilbane made 43 tackles including 7.5 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks.
Special Teams Preview
The Wildcats will be breaking in a new kicker and punter. If Northwestern wants to take the next step in the Big Ten, they will need to perform well in the third phase of the game.
Northwestern brings in field goal kicker Jackson Kleather from Bowling Green. With the Falcons Kleather hit 19-22 field goals with a long of 56 yards. Nikola Dugandzic should take over the punting duties after handling some kickoffs last season. He was the top rated punter in his recruiting class and averaged 43.7 yards per punt as a senior.
Something to keep an eye on in the kicking game will be the effect of the wind kicking in two different home stadiums.
Running back Joseph Himon should handle the kick return duties. He is dynamic with the ball in his hands. Last season the Wildcats only returned 13 kickoffs and Himon had five of them for 131 yards.
The Wildcats did not return many punts either, just 15 all season. That may be due to the conditions of the lakefront stadium. Junior wide out Drew Wagner was the primary returner, but was not very productive, averaging under two yards a return.
2026 FIRST GLANCE PREVIEWS
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