A brief reprieve from Big Ten play finds Northwestern nowhere close to resting on its laurels.
Coming off a rout of Penn State at the new Ryan Field in Evanston, Ill., last week after losing to reigning national champion Indiana by only six points on the road, the Wildcats view Saturday afternoon’s visit from slumping Ball State as a defense of their conference.
Northwestern coach David Braun joined the discussion as the Big Ten placed six teams in the most recent AP Top 25 poll, Northwestern excluded, compared with nine SEC teams.
“You want to talk about being built for a playoff run? If you make the playoffs coming out of this league, you’re going to be built for that opportunity,” Braun said. “What I know about this league is you better bring it every single week.
“It’s real easy to say we’re playing Ball State; they’re not a Big Ten team. Well, you better bring it every single week. That’s our focus right now. Let people chatter, and the Big Ten will settle it on the field.”
Northwestern (3-1) is riding high after topping Penn State 34-13. Caleb Komolafe ran for a career-best 188 yards and a touchdown as the Wildcats played the first game at their new $875 million venue.
Joseph Himon II added 162 rushing yards and two TDs for Northwestern, which had 413 yards on the ground and 506 total yards.
Ball State, meanwhile, has lost three straight games since defeating Stony Brook on Sept. 12, a temporary salve from a 56-3 drubbing by then-top-ranked Ohio State in the season opener.
The Cardinals (1-4) will take a break from Mid-American Conference play after losing their first two league games — at Kent State and vs. Toledo — by 28 combined points.
Ball State yielded 352 rushing yards against Toledo, which averaged 6.9 yards per carry. Still, the Cardinals’ defense generated six tackles for loss.
On offense, Ball State quarterback Keldric Luster passed for 224 yards and two touchdowns, with one interception, while connecting with six different receivers. That’s the kind of versatility coach Mike Uremovich wants on Saturday.
“They have good talent, but they’re really, really schematically sound,” he said of Northwestern. “They play really disciplined football on defense, and then offensively, obviously, (coordinator) Chip Kelly is there doing a great job.”
