Northwestern Opened Its $875 Million Ryan Field by Running Through Penn State, 34-13, on 413 Rushing Yards
The Wildcats christened their rebuilt stadium on Friday night with a season-high 506 yards, and Matt Campbell's Penn State fell to 0-2 in the Big Ten after a second straight loss.
Saturday, October 3, 2026/2 min read
Northwestern could hardly have scripted a better first night in its rebuilt home. On Friday 2 October, in the first game at the new Ryan Field, the Wildcats beat Penn State 34-13, running for 413 yards and gaining 506 in total, both season highs. The Chicago Sun-Times notes that it was the most rushing yards Northwestern has gathered in nearly 23 years.
A game decided on the ground
Two backs did most of the damage. Caleb Komolafe and Joseph Himon II each ran for more than 160 yards, with Himon scoring twice and Komolafe once, and quarterback Aidan Chiles gave the Wildcats an early 10-0 lead with a two-yard keeper in the first quarter. Himon had set that score up with a 47-yard run. Northwestern led 24-7 at the break and 31-7 late in the third quarter after a Komolafe touchdown from a yard out.
Chiles himself described the rushing attack to the Sun-Times as, for lack of a better word, easy. Penn State's offence never found an answer. Quarterback Rocco Becht finished 26 of 41 for 243 yards with one touchdown, according to Penn State's own game report, but the visitors were outplayed for most of the night.
The building
The new Ryan Field cost $875 million, which the Sun-Times calls the most expensive college football stadium ever built, and holds 35,000, down from more than 47,000 before. It sits on the same site as the old ground, and the night carried a coincidence of its own: exactly a century earlier, on 2 October 1926, Northwestern had beaten South Dakota 34-0 in the original stadium's debut.
Coach David Braun was suitably moved. He told the Sun-Times: "I felt like I was in the best dream of my life." After the game he praised the home crowd, saying of the student section and the wider community, "We have something special."
Penn State in trouble
For the visitors it was a second consecutive defeat. They are now 3-2 overall and 0-2 in the Big Ten, a long way from the team that opened the season ranked 18th in the AP poll. It is Matt Campbell's first season in charge, and ESPN quoted him as not hiding from the result: "The standard of what this program plays football with, the attitude, the effort, the toughness. We lacked it in every way."
Northwestern moves to 3-1, 1-1 in the conference. A rebuilt stadium and a convincing win over a team of Penn State's pedigree give the Wildcats a rare moment of momentum at home.
For Penn State, the question is whether the season can be steadied. Two conference defeats this early do not end a campaign, but they take the margin for error away, and the way the Wildcats ran through them will be in the film room all week.
Published in The Outspoken Digest
Newsletter
The Digest, in your inbox
One edition, sent when it is ready. No noise, and your address is never passed on.
Read Next
More Sports →
The Brewers Beat Mason Miller in the Ninth to Take a 2-0 NLDS Lead Over the Padres
Oct 5, 2026/2 min read
Max Verstappen Won a Rain-Delayed Bahrain Grand Prix at Sepang as George Russell's Power Unit Failed Late On
Oct 4, 2026/2 min read
Case Keenum Threw Two Touchdowns as the Bears Stunned the Eagles 27-7 With Caleb Williams Sidelined
Oct 1, 2026/2 min read
