Northwestern's Dan Persa Throws for 307 Yards in 30-13 Victory Over Rice

Dan Persa continues his impressive start, leading the Northwestern Wildcats to a 30-10 victory over the Rice Owls.

Persa entered Saturday nights game with the nations best pass-efficiency rating (212.1), He started slow Saturday, but ended strong, completing 24 of his 32 attempts for 307 yards.

Tina Akouris of the Chicago Sun-Times reported Persa saying "I wasn't really pleased with my effort in the first half, and I missed a lot of throws. I think our defense picked us up in the first half, then I thought I played a little bit better in the second half."

Linebacker Quentin Davie sparked the defensive attack, earning the Big Ten's Defensive Player of the Week. He grabbed his third interception of the season. late in the first half, returning it 11 yards for a touchdown.

"It's a great feeling when the ball hits your hands, and all I saw was the end zone," said Davie according to Akouris. He also led the team in tackles with 10.

This weeks match-up against Central Michigan will be a tough test. Northwestern head-coach Pat Fitzgerald believes it to be the biggest test yet.

Tribune reporter Teddy Greenstein reported Fitzgerald said Saturday's game against Central Michigan "will be our stiffest test of the year (so far), no question."

A key to the game will be stopping Central Michigan tailback Paris Cotton. CMU's head-coach Dan Enos describes Cotton as short and powerful with a very strong lower body.

Greenstein reported NU linebacker Davie commenting "as soon as we turned on the film, he stood out to me. He's an explosive back."

The game can be seen at 11:00 a.m. on the Big Ten Network.