‘Cats lose to Iowa at Ryan Field

If you looked at the stats, you might conclude that Northwestern beat Iowa. The ‘Cats had more time of possession, more first downs, more passing yards, more total plays, and only trailed in rushing yards by 10. Ah, but there’s a little thing called points. Iowa had 24. Northwestern had 10. And, as is sometimes said, the game was not nearly as close as the score might indicate. Iowa led 14-0 at the half. NU struggled to move the ball for those first thirty minutes, with backup quarterback and West Virginia transfer Nicco Marchiol subbing for an injured Aidan Chiles, who was out with an upper body injury. The ‘Cats finally got on the board in the third quarter with a 45-yard Jackson Kleather field goal, only to see Iowa’s kick returner Braeden Jackson zoom by them on the ensuing kickoff for a 96-yard TD runback. Marchiol threw a two-yard touchdown pass to Joseph Himon II in “garbage time,” with less than two minutes to go, and NU nearly recovered an on-side kick after that, but the ‘Cats ended up losing their second consecutive game, and are now 6-3. Northwestern goes on the road next Saturday, to the Horseshoe in Columbus to face the Ohio State Buckeyes. Before the season, a road trip to OSU looked like the toughest challenge of the year. But the Bucks got smoked at home by Oregon, 41-28 on Saturday, and if Chiles can return from his injury, the ‘Cats might just have a decent shot. Ohio State was ranked #12 before Saturday’s loss …and will no doubt plunge in the AP Top 25, while #19 Iowa will likely move up. And, in high school sports: The Evanston Township High School boys’ soccer team took third place in the Class 3A state Final Four on Saturday. The ‘Kits had lost their semifinal round to East Aurora, and then defeated Lockport 3-0 in the third place game. Glenbrook South won the title over East Aurora. Related