Preview: Northwestern Wraps up Non-Conference Play This Season Against Ball State on Saturday
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Northwestern Football is back in action on Saturday as they take on Ball State. It is the Cats final non- conference game of the season, after an electric win last weekend against Penn State, where they hosted their first game in the new $875 million Ryan Field.
The Wildcats will celebrate homecoming this weekend as they look to build on their strong start to the season and carry that momentum forward.
Northwestern displayed an impressive offense last week, rushing for over 400 yards, to eventually help secure the 34-13 victory, its first conference win of the season.
The next task is to handle the visiting Cardinals who have only one win on the season thus far.
Ball State enters the matchup coming off a loss to Mid-American Conference rival Toledo last weekend. The Cardinals will be searching for their first road win since the 2024 season and first win against a Big Ten opponent since defeating Indiana during the 2012 season.
The Ball State offense features red-shirt quarterback Keldric Luster at the helm, who has thrown for over 600 yards this season. He will face a tall task against a formidable Northwestern defensive front that has consistently demonstrated its ability to pressure and disrupt opposing offenses.
The Wildcats have posted more than 30 points in each of their wins this season. With offensive coordinator Chip Kelly as the play caller for quarterback Aidan Chiles, they have delivered mightily.
Chiles, the transfer from Michigan State, has thrown for over 900 yards this season and has helped guide the Cats to an explosive offense. The move to Evanston appears promising.
The Northwestern receivers have also been having explosive seasons. Wide receiver Griffin Wilde has notched 281 receiving yards on the year, while tight end Luke Dehnicke has tallied 208 receiving yards, despite missing last week’s matchup with Penn State due to an injury.
The running back duo of Caleb Komolafe and Joseph Himon II, who each had career highs in rushing last week, will be key to continued success on the ground for the Wildcats this season, as they both led the charge against Penn State, combining for 350 rushing yards.
Saturday’s matchup will mark just the second time that Ball State and Northwestern have met, with the Wildcats winning the first matchup in 2015.
Northwestern will head on the road next week to East Lansing for a conference matchup against Michigan State.
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Gabriella Egozi is an accomplished journalism student at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, passionate about sports media, writing, and broadcasting. She was born and raised in Miami, Florida, thus her passion for sports reporting originated from watching the Miami HEAT in the NBA Bubble. Gabriella has had experiences working as an intern for the digital team at NBC6 and Telemundo 51, as well as with CBS Sports at live sporting events, including the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. Gabriella most recently was an intern at CNN on NewsNight with Abby Phillip in New York, assisting with production and content creation roles. At Northwestern, Gabriella serves as a sideline reporter, color analyst, writer and play-by-play commentator for Big Ten sporting events. Gabriella is a reporter for WNUR Sports, NNN Sports Night, The Daily Northwestern and BigTen Network StudentU Productions. Gabriella wants to pursue a career within sports media and hopes to continue to further propel her passions for storytelling and connecting communities through her work.