Remember the television series “NFL Turning Point?” It was a TV program that chronicled the single moment in which a given National Football League game was utterly defined and decided. We had that moment, last night, in Northwestern’s 41-7 boat-racing of Colorado in their final game at Northwestern Medicine Field at Martin Stadium. NU offensive coordinator Chip Kelly was absolutely on a heater, with his play-calls on Saturday night, and this is best exemplified by the play that resulted in the Wildcats’ fourth touchdown.
Northwestern players hitting the Prime dance 💔 pic.twitter.com/MddS2QDBVu
— BuffBoy 🦬 (@skobuffss) September 20, 2026
After getting dominated 21-0 in the first half, Colorado finally scored, and at 21-7, early in the third quarter, we were in a situation where it could have actually been, game on.
After the half, Colorado quarterback Julian Lewis hit Joseph Williams on a screen pass, to make it a two score game.
Then came the NU response.
On a mid third-quarter drive into the south end zone, Northwestern quarterback Aidan Chiles and running back Joseph Himon II had a missed connection that easily could have been another touchdown.
The play was drawn up perfectly, but the execution wasn’t there. It did not matter, because shortly there after, on the same drive, Chiles tossed a 25-yard touchdown to Himon, making the score 28-7 with 6:27 remaining in the third quarter.
Himon could not have been anymore wide open.
And if Chiles had not connected with Himon, he also had wide receiver Carson Grove wide open on a slant route in the middle of the field, with no Colorado defenders between him and the end zone.
That touchdown put this game to bed, and it was indicative of a pattern that we saw all night- Chiles had more than one receiver wide open, on many plays.
Coach Prime says hats off to Northwestern for how well they played. Credits them but attributes the lopsided score to the turnovers and penalties pic.twitter.com/gQOQqL344h
— Paul M. Banks (@PaulMBanks) September 20, 2026
“My old buddy Chip Kelly, we shared some uh some tremendous moments before and after the game, called a heck of a game,” Coach Deion Sanders said after the game. “Flat out buttkicking.
“I’m going to try my best to explain everything that I need to explain to you in the most polite manner I can at this point.”
Sanders lamented all the wheel routes that Kelly’s offense ran to perfection on Saturday.
He said they knew they were coming, but could not do anything to stop them.
Himon had three touchdown receptions, 74 yards from scrimmage on seven touches and 54 kick return yards. He became the first Big Ten running back to rack up 100 all-purpose yards and three receiving touchdowns in a single game since at least 1995.
“Joe’s special,” Northwestern coach David Braun said.
“He’s always been a leader, but he’s such an extraordinary captain. That captain role has really pushed him to another level in being an active leader.”
Colorado has a first year defensive coordinator in Chris Marve, and he absolutely got schemed up on last night. He was clearly dominated by a Chip Kelly master class. You knew this OC hire was going to pay off in big dividends for Northwestern.
However, Colorado had much bigger issues that went beyond scheme last night. This video, of Colorado players mocking NU’s smaller, very unique lakeside facility went crazy viral:
Colorado players talking trash about Northwestern’s temporary stadium ahead of this evening’s game:
“This place f*cking sucks”
“Sh*t sounds like a f*cking library.” pic.twitter.com/dU07Kr4YaR
— Kamran Nia (@kamran_nia) September 19, 2026
You just can’t do that, and then not back it up with your play on the field. This was a classic “and then what happened” for Colorado. Additionally, Coach Sanders has to deal with some of his players yucking it up afterward, being in way too good of a mood for just having lost by 34 points.
Sanders addressed this in postgame:
Deion Sanders says he had to address Colorado players after seeing them laughing following the 41-7 loss to Northwestern. pic.twitter.com/EQ6sihjrXG
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) September 20, 2026
Coach Prime will take care of it, but for one night, his team was indeed that bad, and Northwestern was truly that good. Colorado certainly beat themselves via turnovers and some players with terrible atittudes.
But even if they didn’t have those problems, Chip Kelly, Tim McGarigle and David Braun absolutely owned them when it came to the game plan.
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to USA Today’s NFL Wires Network, Ratings and RG. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes and the Washington Post.