[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he Northwestern Wildcats went into Saturday’s battle against No. 21 Stanford Cardinal as a 10 point underdog at home. Head Coach Pat Fitzgerald and his squad wanted to prove a point and played an error-free game as the Wildcats pulled off the 16-6 upset in the season opener.
Coach Fitz named freshman Clayton Thorson the starter and he didn’t disappoint in his debut.
Thorson scampered for a 42-yard touchdown down the left side as the Cardinal defenders tried unsuccessfully to track him down. Thorson finished the game completing 12 of his 24 pass attempts for 105 yards and zero turnovers. He tallied 68 total rushing yards on 8 carries and the one TD to finish off his Wildcat debut.
Wildcat running back Justin Jackson added 134 yards rushing on 28 carries. Kicker Jack Mitchell nailed three field goals, including a 49-yarder.
The Wildcat defense was solid and gave Cardinal quarterback Kevin Hogan fits.
Hogan had a rough afternoon, completing 20 of his 35 attempts for 155 yards and one big interception late in the game. Hogan was sacked three times in defeat. The big interception came with a minute left as Hogan tossed a duck that Wildcat defender Kyle Queiro intercepted in the end zone to seal the win.
“It was probably one of the best performances I’ve seen our D play top to bottom against a ranked team maybe in my time,” coach Fitz said.
The Cats started the season on a winning note for the first time against a ranked team since 1995 when they beat Notre Dame. This victory was the Wildcats first win over the Cardinal since 1958.
Next up for Northwestern is a home game on 9/12 against Eastern Illinois. Kickoff is a 3:00pm CT.
