The Northwestern Wildcats, Led By QB Dan Persa, Are Off To an Impressive Start

The Northwestern Wildcats and junior quarterback Dan Persa are off to an impressive 2-0 start in the 2010 college football season.

During the preseason Big Ten media days coach Pat Fitzgerald made it known that he was going to run the ball no matter what. In Week 1 against Vanderbilt that meant relying heavily on Persa. He gained 82 of the teams 143 rushing yards while passing for another 222 yards and setting the school's single-game record for completion percentage.

Teresa M. Walker of The Associated Press quoted Fitzgerald saying "To see a guy come out in his first true start, go 19 for 21 in the passing game and carry the ball 17 times for (82) yards. I think it speaks volumes of who he is as a competitor".

Fitzgerald's game plan for Week 2 was to play fast and run the ball taking some carries off Persa's hands. The Wildcats executed that plan very well in route to a 37-3 victory over Illinois State Cardinals.

The hurry-up tempo led to some lineup problems for the Cardinals and Persa used it to his advantage, passing for 240 yards while completing 19 of his 23 passes. Persa has now completed a remarkable 86.4 percent of his first passes for five touchdowns.

Lindsey Wilhite reported Persa commenting about the hurry-up tempo.

"Right away they're not so much tired as they don't get lined up exactly right, so you can take advantage of little lineup problems. As the game wears on, it definitely wears on a defense" Wilhite said.

Sophomore Arby Fields took the burden of running the ball off Persa's hands, rushing for a career-high 96 yards on 22 carries. Fields credits hard work in practice and faith in his offensive line for the significant improvement in the running game.

"We knew what we had to do, everybody's talking about, 'Can we run the ball?' For me, I just went about it the same way I always went about it, work hard in practice, and I had faith in the offensive line." Fields said, according to Tribune reporter Chris Hine.

On Saturday Sept. 18 the Wildcats (2-0) head to Rice Stadium in Houston, Texas where they face the Rice Owls (1-1). Kickoff is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. and the game can be seen at riceowls.com