Ryan Field’s Debut Delivers a Major Moment for Northwestern Football

“We’re making magic.”

Those were some of the first words you could hear inside the press elevator just after 3 p.m. Friday at the new Ryan Field.

A bespectacled barrel-chested man, sweat glistening on his brow and moustache, was leading a pack of stadium workers.

The group shuffled away hastily, covering an extra 520,000 square feet than they were used to, before pleasantries could be exchanged. The magic was out there.

For Northwestern Wildcats head coach David Braun, the magic hit at 7:07 p.m., right before NU (3-1, 1-1 Big Ten) ran roughshod over Penn State (3-2, 0-2 Big Ten), 34-13.

AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck” playing over the PA, pyrotechnics going off at midfield, fireworks shooting from the canopy, and an announced sellout crowd of 35,000 raining down cacophony. Braun applauded his team’s resolve to embrace the new home environment and handle business against a preseason top 25 team in the Nittany Lions.

“I don’t know how our guys did it,” Braun said. “I felt like I was in the best dream of my life. Then the re-shift and re-focus was remarkable.

“This blew the top off. I had high expectations, but you couldn’t draw it up better.”

The 1926 Ryan Field – opened as Northwestern Stadium and formally Dyche Stadium a month later until 1996 – had a certain magic to it. Born in college football’s first golden era, the Gothic-inspired concrete end towers, majestic arches and modest façade fit well as America fell in love with the game. It felt antiquated in later years, what with the temporary lights and extended bleacher seating on the visitor side, nosebleed seats and all.

On the centennial of the old Ryan Field’s first game, it’s worth reflecting on how the game has changed. Amateurism and meritocracy ruled the day back in 1926. Navy claimed a national championship that year (ironically, after capping an undefeated season vs. Army just 16 miles away at Soldier Field).

100 years later, neither Red Grange nor Bill Ingram would recognize college football in its NIL landscape. Nor would they recognize the futuristic, sleek cathedral that is Ryan Field 2026.

“The whole plan all along has been to strive for excellence in everything the university does,” benefactor Pat Ryan told reporters after Friday’s ribbon-cutting ceremony, his wife Shirley by his side. “There was a point in time in our history where we didn’t strive for excellence in athletics. That’s been reversed, because a great university has to strive for excellence in everything it does.”

A lot has been made of the continuous, canopy roof that is designed to both protect fans from the elements and retain sound. It succeeds on both those fronts (though, a patch of upper-level seats behind either end zone were vacant Friday – and it would be reasonable for fans in the back rows of those zones to expect rain to hit them if wind was blowing from behind.)

“It was different,” quarterback Aidan Chiles said. “This isn’t the biggest stadium I’ve played in, of course, but it’s one of the loudest. When the crowd’s in it, the crowd’s in it. … You could hear everybody.”

Spacious is an accurate descriptor for New Ryan Field. While the old, open-concept stadium stacked its grandstand high and held 47,130, the new incarnation has a capacity of 35,000. Yet the concourses, seemingly inspired by the Chicago White Sox's Rate Field, feel wider. The university says the stadium grounds are about 520,000 square feet larger than the previous Ryan Field. The seats are roomy.

“This is on another level,” Becky Wang '19, visiting from Chicago, said. “I hope it’s a place that fans and students and alumni can gather and feel a sense of connectedness. It’s clear that there is that spirit and pride.”

The student section, which Braun addressed directly after the game and called the country’s best, had to be shushed on the Cats’ opening drive as NU was driving into Penn State territory.

“After explosive plays, down in the red zone and towards our student section, they’re going crazy as they should be," Braun said. "For the first time, [our players] had to literally learn how to help manage our crowd. Pretty cool.”

Braun was seen gesturing toward the student section to get louder in the third quarter when the Nittany Lions had the ball deep in their own zone.

The raucous bunch had plenty to celebrate. They first broke loose after Joseph Himon II’s 47-yard run to the four-yard line; two plays later, Aidan Chiles’ keeper marked the first touchdown in new Ryan Field history, fireworks blasting into the 57-degree night. Braydon Brus’ sack of PSU quarterback Rocco Becht sent the Wildcat Wall into a roar.

Same for when PSU kicker Ryan Barker missed wide right on a field goal attempt, ending the Nittany Lions’ 10-play drive and guaranteeing a 24-7 NU lead at half.

“I’ve never seen school spirit like this before,” Jeremy Tam ’29 said.

Tam and his girlfriend, Gillian Ho '29, had been kicking the aluminum backs to the standing-room-only student section before breaking to the concession stand.

"I didn't really choose Northwestern because it was a big football school," Ho said. "This stadium has really made me think differently about it, really see the benefit of college sports, especially Big Ten sports, in a college life."

One stop before that first magic man came in the elevator, another worker carrying a crate of Frio Gelato (there’s enough to eat this stadium – full stop) smiled while expressing a nervous excitement, unaware of the special night that would take place hours later.

“We’ll see how things flow,” he said of the new stadium’s first game.

1-0.  No better way to open a stadium.

“Nights like tonight are nights you pray for,” Braun said. “God, do we have something special to build upon.”