Northwestern Pulls Away from South Dakota State Late
South Dakota State kicked four field goals and scored one touchdown, and it was still a game for most of the evening. Tristan Alvano hit from 21, 33, 27 and 26 yards, and those four kicks kept the Jackrabbits within five points (17-12) after three quarters. Then Northwestern's backs ran out of patience.
The Wildcats scored first, on an 11-yard pass from Aidan Chiles to Alex Honig, and never gave up the lead (no lead changes, no ties). The cushion was thin for a long stretch, though. Jackson Kleather's 38-yard field goal early in the fourth made it 20-12, and Josiah Johnson's 2-yard run at 8:16 cut it to 20-18 when the two-point try failed. That was as close as South Dakota State got.
Chiles answered with a 14-yard touchdown run at 4:34 for 27-18, and then Joseph Himon II took a handoff 80 yards to the house with 1:15 left to make it 34-18. Himon had four carries all day and one of them went for 80 of his 87 yards. Efficient.
Northwestern finished with 497 total yards (273 passing, 224 rushing) on just 31 rushing attempts, which is 7.2 a carry. They also turned it over zero times and sacked the quarterback twice. Take away Himon's 80-yarder and it is 27-18, a nine-point game, so call it a good night for one play.
Northwestern is 1-0 and South Dakota State is 0-1. For fantasy purposes, Chiles opened with 24.7 points and the Wildcats' backfield looks like a committee that scores.