The Northwestern Wildcats football program not only has a brand new, state-of-the-art, premium quality stadium. They have a cutting-edge, high-octane offense that makes watching football there fun and enjoyable.
For all that is right with new Ryan Field, the best part about seeing a game there is the fact that Chip Kelly is the offensive coordinator, calling plays.
Kelly was absolutely in his bag, and cooking, last night as Northwestern thrashed Penn State 34-13 on the new stadium’s opening night.
We saw quarterback Aidan Chiles execute an offense that employed a lot of misdirection hand-offs, play action and other assorted trickeration that had most observers asking, “is that a reverse?” “an end around?”
“No, it’s actually an inside hand-off.”
Kelly utilized the play-fakes on Friday night, with a level of precision and efficiency that rivaled the effectiveness and success of his employing the wheel route against Colorado.
Chiles summed up his role, for this specific game, perfectly: “I’m going to do whatever the team needs to succeed, and today it was handing the ball off to Himon and Komo.”
Northwestern racked up 413 yards rushing on Friday night, with Caleb Komolafe (10 carries, 162 yards, 2 TDs) and Joseph Himon II (12 carries, 188 yards, TD) leading the way.
More new Ryan Field pics pic.twitter.com/lgq1IZLjxY
— Paul M. Banks (@PaulMBanks) October 3, 2026
“Really good plan, really good execution by the offense,” Northwestern head coach David Braun said in postgame.
“When you have different tempos and different styles, it can be like fastball, curveball, those two guys (Himon, Komolafe) play off each other really well. That’s a special running back room.”
Thunderstruck intro for Northwestern at the new Ryan Field pic.twitter.com/kJ3FEgc0Ad
— Paul M. Banks (@PaulMBanks) October 3, 2026
When you see Chiles working out of the shotgun, and the running game clicking out of the inside and outside zone read, it is reminiscent of Kelly’s days with the San Francisco 49ers, or Oregon Ducks.
It’s a NFL offense for a miniature NFL stadium.
There are design elements here that are reminiscent of Reliant Stadium in Houston, Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Lucas Oil Field in Indianapolis, SoFi Stadium in Inglewood and AT&T Stadium in Arlington.
“This place has the opportunity to become the most deafening environment in the Big Ten, in the country,” Braun said.
“Where we can continue to redefine our standard is our student section is the heartbeat but we need every person in this stadium to be a participant…I know when can crank the volume up more than we did tonight.”
It’s a great place to watch a game, and there is a fun brand of football being played within it.
“Today the ball happened to be in our hands, and we happened to make the most of it,” said Komolafe of Northwestern elite level rushing attack.
“Coach Kelly always preaches starting fast, and that was something we put emphasis on,” Komolafe said of his team racing out to 24-7 first half lead.
“It’s continuing to grow.”
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.