Thorson leaves behind blueprint for success at Northwestern
Former Northwestern quarterback Clayton Thorson made his NFL debut on Thursday, completing 2 of 9 passes in mop-up action for the Philadelphia Eagles.
Fifth-year senior T.J. Green is competing with transfer Hunter Johnson to become Thorson's successor. Green was asked this week what he learned while being a four-year teammate of Thorson, a Wheaton North graduate.
"Clayton's a huge film guy," Green said. "He was always prepared for everything. Anything they threw at him, he would have kind of a plan for it, whether it was changing an offensive line call, changing a play, anything like that.
"He always knew what was going to come. Nothing ever surprised him. I think that's probably the biggest thing I can take away from him is there's never enough film you can watch, never enough preparation you can do."
Challenge begins early:
There will be no easing into this season for the Wildcats. Starting with the Aug. 31 opener at Stanford, they'll essentially play ranked opponents in six of their first seven games.
Stanford is ranked No. 23 in the preseason coaches' poll. After a home game against unranked UNLV, Northwestern will open Big Ten play at home against No. 20 Michigan State, followed by No. 17 Wisconsin and No. 26 Nebraska on the road, then No. 5 Ohio State and No. 19 Iowa, both at home.
"What I talk to our guys about is, 'What an incredible opportunity,'" coach Pat Fitzgerald said. "I'm not sure any team in our program's history has had that type of opportunity coming out of the gate to start the season. If you want to be a champion, you've got to go earn it and you want to earn it by playing the best teams you possibly can. I think it's great motivation for the offseason."
Northwestern is ranked No. 25 in the coaches' poll. The Wildcats have a relatively veteran team, with the key losses being quarterback Clayton Thorson, top receiver Flynn Nagel and three starters on the offensive line.
Keeping it close:
Northwestern has had a good run when it comes to winning close games. The Wildcats are 8-2 over the past two seasons in games decided by 7 points or less, and 4-0 in overtime.
"You go back over my 14 years and probably even longer, there weren't a whole lot of Northwestern 50, our opponent 0," coach Pat Fitzgerald said. "There were a lot of close games. We've been much more consistent in winning those close games, I think for a number of reasons. No. 1, I think our guys are very well conditioned and prepared by (director of sports performance) Jay Hooten and his staff. Our guys in the fourth quarter have a lot left in the tank.
"(No. 2) I think we're an incredibly disciplined football team. We were the lowest penalized team in the country last year.
What I'm getting at is when the heat's up, when the plays are on the line, we don't panic, we don't flinch, we don't beat ourselves. When you beat us, then we tip our hat, we shake your hand, we congratulate you because we know that you beat us."
The Wildcats averaged less than 3 penalties per game last season, best in the nation.