Caleb Komolafe and Joseph Himon II combined for 350 yards and three touchdowns on the ground as Northwestern christened the new $875 million Ryan Field with a 34-13 rout of Penn State in Big Ten play Friday night in Evanston, Ill.
The bruising Komolafe, who posted just 7 rushing yards last week against Indiana, finished with a career-high 188 yards and one touchdown on 25 carries. Himon, an undersized backup with elite speed and elusiveness, added a career-best 162 yards and two scores on 10 carries as the Wildcats (3-1, 1-1 Big Ten) finished with 413 rushing yards.
Quarterback Aidan Chiles hit 10 of 14 passes for 93 yards and rushed for a score as Northwestern never trailed as it unveiled college football’s most expensive stadium to a national Fox audience.
Rocco Becht completed 26 of 41 passes for 243 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions for the Nittany Lions (3-2, 0-2), who have dropped their first two Big Ten games for the second year in a row.
Northwestern seized control from the start. The Wildcats marched downfield steadily on the game’s first possession, but Penn State sacked Chiles on third down to force Northwestern to settle for Jackson Kleather’s 50-yard field goal at the 10:09 mark of the first quarter.
The Wildcats delivered the first touchdown in the new field’s history on their next drive. On his first touch of the night, Himon burst up the middle on a trap for 47 yards to set up Chiles’ 2-yard touchdown sneak that made it 10-0 with 5:07 on the clock.
After Northwestern committed the first turnover — Chiles and Gavin Sawchuk muffed a basic handoff that was recovered by Josiah Zayas at the hosts’ 34 — the Nittany Lions capitalized for their first score. On third-and-1, Carson Hansen bounced outside for an 8-yard score to cut Northwestern’s lead to 10-7.
Himon responded with two touchdown scampers before halftime. After Penn State’s score, he took a handoff up the middle before swinging down the left sideline for a 38-yard touchdown. Then, after a punt return set up the Wildcats at Penn State’s 35, Himon sliced up the middle on a trap for an 11-yard score that made it 24-7 with 1:55 to go in the first half.
Komolafe pushed the lead to 31-7 when he plunged in from 1 yard out with 1:13 left in the third quarter.
Penn State snapped a streak of six scoreless possessions with Becht’s 16-yard strike to Chase Sowell with 7:53 to go, but the Nittany Lions’ two-point conversion pass failed.
–Field Level Media
