Through three games, the Preston Stone that Northwestern fans expected under center is not the one they've gotten.
The SMU graduate transfer leads the Big Ten with six interceptions this season and has fumbled the ball four times — with two fumbles lost. Stone's 59.3% completion percentage is the second-worst in the conference, while Northwestern's scoring offense ranks 113th in the FBS so far.
Wildcat fans are getting impatient, as calls to give backup Ryan Boe a shot grew louder amid another lackluster performance from Stone against Oregon. But inside the program, Northwestern's confidence in Stone has not wavered. Head coach David Braun shut down any notion of benching his starting QB on Monday.
"Preston Stone's our quarterback," Braun said. "Are we really excited about Ryan Boe? Are there potential opportunities to utilize Ryan at some point? We saw what he did against Western Illinois carrying the football. Those are things that we, as a coaching staff, would be silly not to evaluate. But there has never been a consideration of making a change at starting quarterback."
Boe, a redshirt freshman, has yet to attempt a pass this season, but had a monster 58-yard rushing touchdown to close out the Wildcats' Week 2 win over the Leathernecks. In his collegiate debut against Illinois in 2024, Boe went 4-for-13 with 42 passing yards and an interception.
Braun raved about Boe's development during the offseason. Stone, however, still sits in the driver's seat, and his success is the single largest deciding factor in whether Northwestern reaches a bowl game this winter.
The Wildcats took just two weeks last year to make a quarterback change, going from Mike Wright to Jack Lausch after a 1-1 start. Because of the talent that Braun believes he has in Stone and has seen in practice, the leash is much longer for the former Mustang.
As for Stone's turnover troubles thus far, Braun was frank in saying the quarterback must do a better job of valuing the football and not forcing throws that aren't there. The Northwestern head coach called Stone's performance against Tulane "an extreme outlier" and chalked up one of his two picks against Oregon to a faulty route.
The team voted Stone as a captain for good reason, according to Braun. It doesn't seem like he, or the Northwestern coaching staff, is going to give up on their graduate transfer quarterback any time soon.
"Ultimately, Preston just needs to continue to make sure that what we see in practice is what shows up on game day," Braun said. "The things that make him great — his competitiveness, his ownership, his desire to do great things for his team — he just needs to make sure it doesn't turn into him trying to do too much for his team and take what the defense is giving him... His energy and competitiveness that he brings to practice is something that he needs to continue being incredibly consistent with."
Saturday's contest against 0-3 UCLA provides as good an opportunity as any for Stone to get back on track.
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