{"id":3641,"date":"2025-11-14T15:49:05","date_gmt":"2025-11-14T15:49:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/2025\/11\/14\/what-to-watch-for-northwestern\/"},"modified":"2025-11-14T15:49:08","modified_gmt":"2025-11-14T15:49:08","slug":"what-to-watch-for-northwestern","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/2025\/11\/14\/what-to-watch-for-northwestern\/","title":{"rendered":"What to watch for: Northwestern"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>America\u2019s favorite pastime faded out of the national sports zeitgeist when the World Series ended earlier this month, but that won\u2019t stop the No. 18 Michigan football team from playing Northwestern in one of baseball\u2019s most historic parks Saturday.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The Wolverines <a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigandaily.com\/sports\/football\/with-singular-path-to-playoffs-michigan-doesnt-care-about-cfp-rankings\/\">need<\/a> to stay undefeated in their last three games to keep their College Football Playoff hopes alive, and the Wildcats are still looking for that sixth, bowl-clinching win after notching some early-season upsets. Michigan and Northwestern both run the ball well and pass the ball, well, less well.<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s what to watch for when the two teams battle it out at Wrigley Field:<\/p>\n<p><strong>After a bye week, can Michigan return some of its impact players?<\/strong><\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-1    \">\n<style><![CDATA[@media ( min-width: 300px ){.newspack_global_ad.scaip-1{min-height: 250px;}}@media ( min-width: 728px ){.newspack_global_ad.scaip-1{min-height: 90px;}}]]><\/style>\n<\/aside>\n<p>Due to how Labor Day has lined up on the calendar this season and last, every FBS team has been afforded the luxury of a second bye week on the schedule. You won\u2019t hear Michigan complain about that.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>All the way back in September, the Wolverines dubbed their first bye week \u2018opportunity week\u2019 and gave more snaps to second- and third-string players with the extra practice time. Coming out of that bye, freshman wide receiver Andrew Marsh emerged as a capable starter.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>If Michigan assigned a name to this bye week, it would probably go with \u2018rehabilitation week\u2019 or \u2018get-well-soon week,\u2019 neither of which quite roll off the tongue like \u2018opportunity week\u2019 does.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat was the number one goal,\u201d Michigan coach Sherrone Moore said Monday. \u201cWe wanted to make sure we got guys healthy. Obviously, get work in, do things to get us better, but trying to get guys back. We\u2019ll see what their status is as we go through the week, but feel good about where (sophomore linebacker Cole Sullivan) is. We\u2019ll see where they are, we\u2019ll see where (senior linebacker Jimmy Rolder) is, we\u2019ll see where (senior linebacker Jaishawn Barham) is, but feel like we\u2019re in a positive place with all of them, and I feel like we\u2019re just keep getting more guys healthy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Wolverines believe they go four deep at the linebacker position, but getting back any one of Sullivan, Rolder or Barham would immediately elevate Michigan\u2019s defense. On offense, Moore was optimistic that Hogan Hansen, the sophomore tight end who\u2019s missed the last three games, could return as well.\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-2    \">\n<style><![CDATA[@media ( min-width: 300px ){.newspack_global_ad.scaip-2{min-height: 250px;}}@media ( min-width: 728px ){.newspack_global_ad.scaip-2{min-height: 90px;}}]]><\/style>\n<\/aside>\n<p>Michigan shouldn\u2019t need to be at full health to beat Northwestern, but returning some starters wouldn\u2019t hurt.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Can Michigan match Northwestern\u2019s established offensive line and its running game?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>One of the best elements of the Wolverines\u2019 defense is their pass rush. Michigan produces 2.67 sacks a game, a stat that doesn\u2019t take into account the pressure and throwaways that the Wolverines generate against weaker offensive lines. Moore doesn\u2019t expect that to be the case against the Wildcats.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUp front, I\u2019m just telling you, their O-line works really, really well together,\u201d Moore said. \u201cThey\u2019re big, they\u2019re physical and they\u2019re all older, they\u2019re grads and one redshirt freshman. So they all play physical. They all play well together, and that back, No. 5 man, he\u2019s good. He\u2019s a really good player. He\u2019s got great vision, great speed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>No. 5 is Caleb Komolafe, Northwestern\u2019s primary running back who plays with burst and patience. Komolafe has gotten better every week, and his 5.1 yards per carry and eight touchdowns in nine games can\u2019t be mentioned without crediting the offensive line.\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-3    \">\n<style><![CDATA[@media ( min-width: 300px ){.newspack_global_ad.scaip-3{min-height: 250px;}}@media ( min-width: 728px ){.newspack_global_ad.scaip-3{min-height: 90px;}}]]><\/style>\n<\/aside>\n<p>Wildcats left tackle Caleb Tiernan is 6-foot-7, 325 pounds and consistently grades out as one of the best tackles in the Big Ten and the country, per <a href=\"https:\/\/bleacherreport.com\/articles\/25260738-nfl-draft-2026-scouting-report-northwestern-ot-caleb-tiernan\">PFF<\/a>. Like most of his fellow starting linemen, he simply doesn\u2019t make many mistakes.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTheir offensive line is a very experienced group of guys,\u201d Michigan senior defensive linemen Damon Payne said Monday. \u201cThey work really well together, very well together. It\u2019s a great challenge this week, because they\u2019re aggressive. That\u2019s what I feel like we come to Michigan for, to play in big games against a great group of guys like them. So, excited for the challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For an early barometer of how Saturday\u2019s game will unfold, look to the trenches.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Wait a second\u2026 that doesn\u2019t look like a football stadium!<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>You\u2019re right, it\u2019s not. Northwestern\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/rebuildryanfield.com\/\">new<\/a> stadium is under construction and its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/college-football\/story\/_\/id\/40540624\/inside-northwestern-new-temporary-football-stadium-david-braun\">temporary<\/a> stadium, beautifully set beside Lake Michigan, is too cold and windy in November. So, the Wildcats are hosting Michigan at Wrigley Field, the historic home of the Chicago Cubs. This comes with some quirks.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-4    \">\n<style><![CDATA[@media ( min-width: 300px ){.newspack_global_ad.scaip-4{min-height: 250px;}}]]><\/style>\n<\/aside>\n<p>The home dugout of \u2018The Friendly Confines\u2019 is removed for one of the end zones, the warning tracks, pitcher\u2019s mound and everything else with sand is covered up with grass. As of last year, there\u2019s additional space for the two teams to gather on separate sidelines.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The temporary football field will stretch from around the on-deck circle to deep right field. The home locker room is reserved for 75 of Northwestern\u2019s players, while the remaining Wildcats set up in the Cubs\u2019 batting cages. The Wolverines will be in the visiting locker room, and walk onto the field from the visiting dugout.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think it\u2019s awesome,\u201d Moore said. \u201cIt\u2019s a historic venue. We\u2019re really excited about going there, but again, it\u2019s just the place we\u2019re playing. We can\u2019t really worry about that too much. We talked about it and showed them what it looks like, but we gotta go play football on a blade of grass.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As much as Michigan wants to tune out any external factors, the unconventional setting does bring one additional element to consider.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe biggest thing will be the wind,\u201d Moore said. \u201cWe\u2019ll be seeing how the wind is in Chicago and what way that\u2019s traveling, which way that\u2019s going, because that\u2019ll alter and change what you do a little bit, from how you attack their defense and offensively, what they\u2019re going to do. So that\u2019s the thing we\u2019re gonna have to definitely not be concerned about, but have an eye for.\u201d<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-5    \">\n<style><![CDATA[@media ( min-width: 300px ){.newspack_global_ad.scaip-5{min-height: 250px;}}]]><\/style>\n<\/aside>\n<p>Saturday\u2019s forecast predicts moderate winds blowing west, gusts of up to 28 mph and 60 minutes of physical Big Ten football.<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">***<\/p>\n<p>After two weeks of no football, the Wolverines are hoping to return some key starters while continuing to apply pressure on both sides of the ball. Playing in a historic ballpark, Michigan will hope to establish its physicality over Northwestern to stay ahead in the count.<\/p>\n<aside>\n<div class=\"newspack-popup-container newspack-popup hidden  newspack-inline-popup      \" role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" style=\"background-color:#FFFFFF;color:#000\" id=\"id_162162\" data-segments=\"\" data-frequency=\"0,0,0,month\">\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">Please consider donating to The Michigan Daily<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p><h3 class=\"jp-relatedposts-headline\"><em>Related articles<\/em><\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>America\u2019s favorite pastime faded out of the national sports zeitgeist when the World Series ended earlier this month, but that won\u2019t stop the No. 18 Michigan football team from playing Northwestern in one of baseball\u2019s most historic parks Saturday.\u00a0 The Wolverines need to stay undefeated in their last three games to keep their College Football [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3642,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[3643,1825],"class_list":{"0":"post-3641","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-northwestern","9":"tag-watch"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3641","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3641"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3641\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3643,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3641\/revisions\/3643"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3642"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3641"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3641"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3641"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}