Scouting the Wildcats: 5 questions, prediction with a Northwestern reporter

No. 4 Oregon plays its first road game of the season at Northwestern on Saturday (9 a.m., FOX) at Martin Stadium.

The Oregonian/OregonLive reached out to Northwestern beat reporter Gavin Dorsey (@gjdorsey7 on X) of Roundtable Network to pose five questions about the Wildcats and get a prediction.

How to watch streaming live without cable: There are several options to watch this game and more football games this season.

• You can watch this game live for FREE with DirecTV (free trial) or by signing up for Fubo (free trial).
• Another great option might be to get a Sling “Season Pass” ($199) and buy an HDTV antenna. This pairing would give you nearly every channel showing college football this season.
• If you already have cable, you can also watch this game live on FOX Sports Live with your cable or satellite provider login information.
• Stream: DirecTV (free trial) or Fubo (promotional offers). Streaming broadcasts for this game will be available on these streaming services locally in Oregon and Washington, but may not be available outside of the Pacific Northwest, depending on your location.

1) How much was staff continuity expected to help the Wildcats entering this season?

Dorsey: “Especially on the offensive side of the ball, continuity was expected to provide a big boost this year. The players spoke this offseason about being more comfortable within offensive coordinator Zach Lujan’s scheme, and Lujan himself said the players have a better understanding of how the offense works going into his second year at Northwestern. Overall, David Braun is still a relatively young head coach, and after spending a lot of time self-reflecting this offseason on the heels of a 4-8 record, he seems to be more confident at the helm.”

2) What was the assessment of Preston Stone during the spring and fall camp and how did the first two games change that, if at all?

Dorsey: “Preston Stone was definitely the most accomplished quarterback the ‘Cats have signed in the transfer portal era, and he was expected to add a downfield passing threat that Northwestern seriously lacked a season ago. His four-interception performance in the Tulane game was certainly surprising, given what we heard about him and saw in limited summer practices, but he had a much better game last week against Western Illinois. Because of how good Oregon’s defense is, it’ll be hard to truly gauge what Stone is capable of until Northwestern faces UCLA in two weeks.”

3) How will losing Cam Porter alter Northwestern’s offense?

Dorsey: “Northwestern struggled to adequately balance the amount of carries between Porter, Joseph Himon and Caleb Komolafe over the first two games, as Braun and Lujan believed all three were worthy of touches. Porter’s bruising run style will be missed, but Komolafe showed he could lower his shoulder and break tackles in relief last week as well. He appears to be the likely candidate to step into Porter’s role, and I’d expect a 50/50 balance of Himon and Komolafe against the Ducks.”

4) What will be success for Northwestern this weekend and this season, particularly with its next three home games?

Dorsey: “Northwestern has a very deep defensive line room, bookended by All-Conference candidates Anto Saka and Aidan Hubbard on the outside. Saka hasn’t quite had the statistical start many expected out of him, as he’s logged just three QB pressures so far. The Wildcats’ secondary is talented, but they’ll need more production out of their front seven in order to climb out of the Big Ten’s basement.”

5) How do you see it playing out and what is your score prediction?

Dorsey: “I would love to see a close game, but I think the ‘Cats are outmatched. The score I’m going with is 45-10 in favor of Oregon. I expect Northwestern’s defense to actually hold up surprisingly well against the Ducks at first, but an inability to score on offense will consistently put NU’s defenders on their heels and wear them down over time.”

— James Crepea covers the Oregon Ducks and Big Ten.