EVANSTON, Ill.— The Northwestern Wildcats begin their 136th season of football by welcoming defending champion and preseason Mid-American Conference favorite, Miami (OH) to the brand new temporary on-campus Northwestern Medicine Field at Martin Stadium. The Wildcats will call the lakeside stadium home for the next two seasons (2024-25) until the completion of the state-of-the-art new Ryan Field in 2026. Kickoff is slated for 2:40 pm CT.
VIEW: Northwestern Medicine Field at Martin Stadium A to Z Guide
The 2024 Wildcats return 14 starters (tied for third most in the Big Ten) from last season's team which went 8-5 and finished in second place of the Big Ten West Division (5-4) standings. Dan and Susan Jones Family Head Coach David Braun became the only first-year head coach in program history to achieve a bowl game berth and earned a 14-7 victory in the Las Vegas Bowl over Utah.
Braun, who also served as defensive coordinator in 2023, guided the 'Cats to year-to-year improvements recording 22.5 points allowed per game (+5.8), 341 total yards allowed per game (+34), 158 rushing yards allowed per game (+33) and 30 total sacks (+12).Offensively, for the first time in program history the Wildcats return three players who totaled 700+ all-purpose yards the previous season in WR A.J. Henning (927), RB Cam Porter (772) and WR Bryce Kirtz (719).
How to Follow
Watch on Big Ten Network: Action will be televised on Big Ten Network, with Lisa Byington (play-by-play) and Jared Thomas (analyst) in the booth, joined by Kylen Mills on the sideline. Thomas (Class of 2019) was a two-year start for the Wildcats, serving as team captain his senior year. Byington(Class of 1997) is also a Northwestern alum, playing both basketball and soccer for the 'Cats.
Direct Link to Watch Online (Sign-In with TV Provider)
Listen on AM 720 WGN: The Voice of the Wildcats, Dave Eanet, returns for his 35th season calling Northwestern Football. Eanet will be joined on the call by 31st-year analyst Ted Albrecht, along withLauren Withrowon the sideline.
Direct Link to Listen Online
Follow In-Game Updates (NUFBFamily): Stay tuned to Northwestern Football'sTwitterandInstagramchannels for live highlights, photos and reactions surrounding Saturday's game.
Five Things to Know
- Northwestern will christen itsnew temporary facility by opening the season with a three-game homestand for just the fourth time in the last 71 seasons. The Wildcats are playing their first home opener not at old Ryan Field/Dyche Stadium since shutting out Oklahoma, 24-0, on August 23, 1997 at Soldier Field.The Wildcats are 5-5 over their last 10 home openers and 3-2 over their last five.The Wildcats won their home opener last year against UTEP by a score of 38-7, withBraun becoming the first Northwestern head coach to win their home opener since John Pont in 1973.
- Five Wildcats were named captains ahead of this season,Coco Azema, Cam Porter, Bryce Kirtz, Xander Mueller, and former walk-on Carmine Bastone.Azema and Porter each become two-time captains for Northwestern, the 18th and 19th players in program history to earn the honor, respectively. This marks just the second season in program history in which Northwestern returns multiple two-time captains, joining the 2011 season with QB Dan Persa and OL Al Netter. Porter was alsoelected by his teammates to wear the honorary No. 1 jersey in 2024,becoming the third Wildcat tailback to be awarded the No. 1 uniform since the tradition began in 2011, joining Jesse Brown (2020) and Chad Hanaoka (2018).
- The Wildcats will debut a trio of new coordinators in 2024, with Zach Lujan taking over as Offensive Coordinator (and QBs coach), Tim McGarigle as Defensive Coordinator (and LBs coach) and Paul Creighton as Special Teams Coordinator (and TEs coach).Lujan comes to Northwestern after spending the last two seasons as offensive coordinator at South Dakota State where the Jackrabbits won back-to-back national championships and 29 straight games (third longest streak in FCS history).Creighton joins Northwestern as special teams coordinator and tight ends coach after spending the last two seasons at Washington as a special teams quality control coach where he helped the Huskies to a 25-3 record and a National Championship game appearance in 2023. McGarigletakes over asdefensive coordinatorafter spending six seasons as linebackers coach in Evanston. McGarigle has coached five All-Big Ten linebackers (including Xander Mueller and Bryce Gallagher in 2023). and, as a player, holds the school record and ranks second in FBS history with 545 career tackles.McGarigle is the first Northwestern alum to serve as DC since Jerry Brown from 1999-01
- Graduate student linebacker Xander Mueller is back for his final season in Evanston after earning All-Big Ten Third Team honors last season. Muellerstarted all 13 games and totaled 110 tackles, 10.5 tackles for loss, 5.0 sacks, three interceptions, two passes broken up and one forced fumble. He ranked fourth in the Big Ten in tackles and eighth in tackles for loss. Mueller has led the Wildcats in tackles for loss in back-to-back seasons and is looking to become the first player in program history to lead the team in tackles for loss in three straight seasons.
- Northwestern will have its fifth different starting quarterback in the season opener in as many seasons, as Mississippi State/Vanderbilt grad transfer Mike Wright and redshirt sophom*ore Jack Lausch battled for the job in fall camp.Wright brings game experience to the room as he has played in 38 career games and made 14 starts over his career at Mississippi State (2023) and Vanderbilt (2020-22).The Atlanta, Ga. product was one of the most experienced signal callers in the transfer portal this offseason and is one of just six active quarterbacks with 2,500+ career passing yards and 1,200+ career rushing yards.Lausch also competed for the starting job after playing in 10 games last season, headlined by a performance vs. UTEP which included four rushes for 56 yards andhis first career touchdown on a career-long 46-yard rush. Lausch was also a very accomplished prep baseball player and was rated the No. 1 outfielder in Illinois and the No. 23 outfielder in the country.
Up Next:Northwestern hosts Duke on a rare Friday night matchup for the 'Cats in what marks the second of three-consecutive home games at Northwestern Medicine Field at Martin Stadium to open the 2024 season. Kickoff is slated for 8pm CT.
Catch the 'Cats on the Lakefront This Season: Tickets On-Sale!
