EVANSTON, Ill. (September 14, 2014) – Jack Lausch threw for a pair of touchdowns in his first career start, while the Wildcats piled up 203 yards on the ground as Northwestern (2-1) eased past Eastern Illinois (1-2) by a final score of 31-7 in its non-conference finale on Saturday evening at Northwestern Medicine Field at Martin Stadium.
Lausch finished 20-of-31 for 227 yards in his first appearance as the starting signal caller, also adding 62 yards on seven rushing attempts. A.J. Henning quickly established himself as one of Lausch’s top targets, reeling in seven catches for 117 yards, both career high marks. The Chicago native was excellent in the second half, completing all 11 of his pass attempts.
In addition to Lausch’s efforts on the ground, Cam Porter found the end zone for the second time in as many games as he totaled a team-high 77 yards on 15 touches, averaging 5.1 yards per carry. Joseph Himon II added 49 yards on his five carries, 32 of which came on a touchdown run late in the waning moments of the first half.
Devin Turner snagged his second career interception to lead the ‘Cats on the defensive side of the ball, also adding a tackle for loss. Aidan Hubbard, Dylan Roberts, and Michael Kilbane were each credited with a sack.
Northwestern made the most of its three trips into the red zone on Saturday, converting for touchdowns on all three, while limiting Eastern Illinois to just seven points on three red zone trips of its own.
DUB CLUB! ?? pic.twitter.com/iLcmWfgqUI
— Northwestern Football (@NUFBFamily) September 15, 2024
How It Happened
After struggling to sustain a drive early on in the evening, Lausch sparked a 11-play, 80-yard march across 4:57 to get Northwestern on the board. The redshirt sophomore ripped off runs of 26 and 17 yards, respectively, the second of which set the ‘Cats up with 1st and goal from the Eastern Illinois one-yard line. Porter took a direct snap and coasted in on the next play as Northwestern surged in front, 7-0, with 1:22 remaining in the opening frame.
Eastern Illinois answered back, pulling even at 7-7 on a 13-yard touchdown pass from Pierce Holley to Eli Mirza with just over four minutes gone in the second quarter. With the Panthers driving again approaching halftime, the Wildcat special teams unit provided a spark when Najee Story blocked Drew Schiller’s 36-yard field goal attempt with 1:47 to play.
Northwestern made the most of its final drive of the half, as Lausch went 5-for-7 for 48 yards ahead of a 32-yard drive-capping dash from Himon II that sent the ‘Cats racing into the locker room with a 14-7 halftime advantage.
Lausch went right back to work on Northwestern’s opening drive of the second half, connecting with Henning for a 45-yard catch-and-run that set the Wildcats up in Panthers’ territory. Jack Olsen connected from 46 yards out shortly after, extending the lead to 17-7 with 8:18 remaining in the third quarter
On the ensuing Eastern Illinois drive, Holley saw his attempt on 1st and 10 deflected by Xander Mueller into Devin Turner’s hands, setting the ‘Cats up at the Panthers’ 42-yard line. Lausch went on to engineer a seven-play drive over the next 4:10, punctuated by his first career touchdown pass, a three-yard completion to Henning, that stretched the gap to 24-7 heading to the fourth quarter.
Riding high following a stop on fourth down by its defense, the Northwestern offense continued to operate at a red-hot clip, covering 79 yards over six plays, 46 of which came on another completion to Henning. Following a 19-yard pass to Calvin Johnson II that put Northwestern in the red zone, Lausch closed his night with a nine-yard touchdown completion to Marshall Lang, putting the exclamation point on a 31-7 victory.
Game Notes
» Northwestern outgained Eastern Illinois by a dominant 450-207 margin.
» The ‘Cats were even more impressive on the ground, outrushing the visitors, 203-40.
» Northwestern’s 203 rushing yards are its most in a game since it put up 207 yards against Ohio State on November 5, 2022.
» Henning is the first Wildcat to surpass 100 yards receiving in a game since Cam Johnson (124 yards) against Illinois on November 25, 2023.
» Holley paced the Panthers through the air, completing 17 of his 31 attempts for 167 yards with one touchdown and one interception.
Up Next
Northwestern opens Big Ten Conference play on Saturday, September 21 when it visits Washington for a 6 p.m. (CT) kickoff on FS1 and WGN Radio 720.
