Northwestern Wildcats vs Illinois State Redbirds Football Recap

Northwestern 37, Illinois State 3

If Dan Persa continues to play the way he’s been playing, it’s going to be a very prosperous season on the field for the Big Ten’s foremost academic powerhouse.

Denard Robinson of Michigan might be creating spectacular plays in Ann Arbor – the youngster’s 502 total yards against Notre Dame were a sight to see, and it’s clear that Robinson is leading the Heisman Trophy chase just two weeks into the young season. However, with that having been said, there’s been no more accurate passer in the Big Ten after two weeks than Mr. Persa, whose pursuit of excellence is gaining notice from football pundits across the country.

It was Persa’s laser-like precision which powered Northwestern on Saturday afternoon and enabled the Wildcats to make quick work of FCS foe Illinois State, taking a 30-3 halftime lead on the way to a 37-3 victory.

Persa was once again efficient for the Wildcats, completing 19 of 23 passes for 240 yards and two touchdowns in his first start at Ryan Field. Persa was 19 of 21 the previous weekend at Vanderbilt, in yet another authoritative display at a school not known for cranking out big-time signal callers. In two games, Persa is 38 of 44 as a passer. Peyton Manning would be jealous of that composite scoreline – it’s amazing to realize that roughly 10 months ago, Persa was the plucky but still somewhat tentative backup for running quarterback Mike Kafka. Persa steadied the ship for Northwestern and did not make any big mistakes when the NU crew went into Iowa and scored a rousing 17-10 upset win, but the mere avoidance of huge blunders is very different from ringing up awesome numbers as a field general. Persa’s passing stats are off the charts in 2010, and that has to have NU coach Pat Fitzgerald extremely excited as September moves along.

Northwestern held the dangerous Illinois State offense to 253 total yards.  Redbirds quarterback Matt Brown managed to complete 13 of 22 passes for 138 yards, and was intercepted twice.

After struggling last week against Vanderbilt, running back Arby Fields carried 22 times for 96 yards and a touchdown against the Redbirds. Northwestern took a 7-0 lead on its first possession.  Persa’s four-yard touchdown pass to Drake Dunsmore capped a 15-play, 89-yard drive.  Persa’s one-yard rushing touchdown gave the Wildcats a 14-3 lead late in the first quarter.

Fields’ first touchdown of the season gave the Wildcats a 24-3 lead with 1:51 left in the first half, and Persa hit Dunsmore for a five-yard score with ten seconds remaining to put Northwestern ahead 30-3 at the break.

Dunsmore finished with five receptions for 30 yards.  Jeremy Ebert caught three passes for 67 yards, and Sidney Stewart caught four passes for 51 yards.

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