Two points, and then not
Northwestern led South Dakota State 20-18 with 8:16 left on Saturday night in Evanston. An FCS side was two points from an opening-weekend upset at Ryan Field.
Aidan Chiles ended that argument with his legs. The quarterback kept the ball, went left, and covered 14 yards for a touchdown that made it 27-18 with 4:34 on the clock. Joseph Himon II then broke an 80-yard run with 1:15 remaining, and Northwestern had a 34-18 win that looked far more comfortable on the final scoreboard than it had felt for three quarters.
Chiles finished 14 of 24 for 273 yards and a passing touchdown, adding 18 rushing yards and the score that mattered. The Wildcats open the season 1-0 under a reshaped offence.
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Twenty-four completions, twelve points
The gap between the sides was efficiency, not effort. Chase Mason threw 48 times for South Dakota State and completed 23 for 285 yards with an interception. Chiles threw half as often for almost as many yards. That ratio is the whole game.
Josiah Johnson ran for 79 yards and a touchdown for the Jackrabbits, who fall to 1-1. Tristan Alvano kicked field goals from 27 and 26 yards in the third quarter to keep the deficit at five, and Johnson’s 2-yard plunge early in the fourth brought it down to two.
Seventy-one yards on the first throw
Northwestern needed two plays to score. Chiles opened the game by finding Griffin Wilde over the deep middle for 71 yards, down to the South Dakota State 11, then hit Alex Honig across the middle for the touchdown.
After that the Wildcats stalled. The Jackrabbits steadied and trailed only 10-6 at the break. Caleb Komolafe bounced left and dragged a defender over the line for a 7-yard score to make it 17-9 midway through the third, and Jackson Kleather’s 38-yard field goal opened the fourth at 20-12.
South Dakota State have made a habit of troubling FBS opposition and they did it again for three quarters here. Northwestern got out of it with a quarterback who could pick the moment to run.
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