In some respects, following a team like the Minnesota Golden Gophers with Northwestern is more of the same. Like Minnesota, Northwestern football teams tend to be more than the sum of their parts. With PJ Fleck and the Gophers, they just play harder (or just row harder). But with Northwestern, the Wildcats play smarter as well as harder, both under Pat Fitzgerald and now David Braun. Refer to the Wildcats as “Just Northwestern” (or jNWu) at your own risk; you’ll probably regret it in the end.
Northwestern has a solid roster of returning players, and has upgraded their weakest position last season: Quarterback. Junior Jack Lausch (6’2” 209 lbs.) completed nearly 54% of his passes last season for 1,714 yards and seven touchdowns, but with eight interceptions. He also rushed for 213 yards and a touchdown as well. But he’s likely to be supplanted by SMU graduate transfer Preston Stone (6’1” 214 lbs.), a third-team All-ACC honoree in 2023 after completing 60% of his passes for 3,197 yards, 28 touchdowns with just six interceptions before suffering a season-ending injury. This should be a serious upgrade for Northwestern, though there has been a tendency for talented quarterbacks to struggle after transferring to Evanston.
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Senior Cam Porter (5’10” 213 lbs.) returns at running back for Northwestern after leading the Wildcats in rushing three out of the last five seasons; he’s still eligible due to a COVID year in 2020 and an injury in 2021. Last season he rushed for 501 yards and six touchdowns, averaging 4.0 yards per carry, and is also Northwestern’s leading returning receiver, catching 23 passes for 174 yards last season. Junior Joe Himon (5’9” 185 lbs.) rushed for 257 yards and two touchdowns last season.
The receiver room is a complete rebuild, with the top returning receiver is sophomore Frank Covey (6’1” 193 lbs.), who caught 10 passes for 98 yards last season. South Dakota State transfer Griffin Wilde (6’2” 200 lbs.) caught 70 passes for 1,147 yards last season. If the passing game improves for the Wildcats, it’s going to be because of the quarterback throwing the ball, not the receivers catching the ball.
On the offensive line, two starters return: senior center Jackson Carsello (6’4 294 lbs.) and junior left tackle Caleb Tiernan (6’7” 329 lbs.). But through the transfer portal, the Wildcats are adding second-team FCS All-American right guard Evan Beernsten (6’4” 300 lbs.) from South Dakota State, right tackle Xavior Gray (6’8” 340 lbs.) from Liberty, and left guard Martes Lewis (6’7” 335 lbs.) from Minnesota. This should be a better line in 2025, and that should improve the rushing game quite a bit.
Northwestern’s defensive line has two starters returning with senior defensive tackles Carmine Bastone (6’2” 297 lbs.) and Najee Story (6’2” 288 lbs.) Bastone was a two year starter who missed five games last season due to injury. Junior defensive end Aidan Hubbard (6’4” 260 lbs.) led the Wildcats with seven quarterback hurries and six sacks last season. Hopes are high with junior defensive end Anto Saka (6’4” 247 lbs.) having a big year.
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At linebacker, junior Mac Uihlein (6’1” 235 lbs.) led the Wildcats with 85 tackles last season. Purdue transfer Yanni Karlaftis (6’3” 235 lbs.) was third on the Boilermakers with 57 tackles last season. Junior weakside linebacker Braydon Brus (6’1” 228 lbs.) is expected to play a much bigger role in 2025.
The Wildcats’ secondary is going to be really young, with four sophomores surrounding journeyman transfer cornerback Fred Davis (6’1” 192 lbs.), who has bounced from Clemson to UCF to Jacksonville State before landing at Northwestern. “Star” nickel backs Braden Turner (5’11” 191 lbs.) and Robert Fitzgerald (5’11” 208 lbs.) along with safety Damon Walters (6’1” 185 lbs.) will be the foundation of the Northwestern secondary in 2025 after combining for 125 tackles last season. The other sophomore, cornerback Josh Fussell (6’0” 189 lbs.) had 39 tackles and five pass-breakups.
A new talented quarterback should give NW fans a reason to hope, especially with an upgraded offensive line. But the big question is who going to catch those passes, other than former Jackrabbit Griffin Wilde? If the offense makes a big jump, then we’ll have to see if the defense can hold up to get the Wildcats to bowl eligibility. The schedule makers did Northwestern no favors with games against Oregon and Penn State before a rugged November slate at Southern Cal and then games at Wrigley Field against Michigan and Minnesota before closing out against Illinois. Would not be surprised if four Northwestern opponents end up in the College Football Playoff in December.
