[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he Northwestern Wildcats (2-0) ran all over the Eastern Illinois Panthers (0-2) defense on Saturday in Evanston, IL. The Wildcats tallied 344 yards on the ground as running back Justin Jackson led the team with 78 yards and 1 touch down. A balanced attack helped keep the Panthers defense on their heels all game as the Wildcats had four rushers total 50 or more rushing yards.
The Wildcats combined for 496 total yards of offense in the 41-0 rout of the Panthers. Kicker Jake Mitchell added a pair of field goals for Northwestern.
Freshman quarterback Clayton Thorson tossed his first career touchdown pass and scampered in for another score. Thorson completed 11 of his 16 passes for a total of 152 yards and the one touchdown pass. With the high powered ground game Thorson wasn’t asked to throw when it wasn’t needed.
Head Coach Pat Fitzgerald watched his defense stymie the Panthers all game while holding them to 138 yards of offense and blanking them on the scoreboard. The Cats defense held the Panthers to only 8 first downs. Cats defensive back Matthew Harris picked off Eastern Illinois’ Jalen Whitlow twice including a 71- yard touchdown return late in the third quarter.
The Stanley Cup arrived for the pre-game on the field as Northwest grad and owner of the Chicago Blackhawks Rocky Wirtz brought the Cup for all to see and admire.
Next on the schedule, Northwestern takes their early undefeated record to Duke next week for a showdown with the Blue Devils.
