PLAYERS TO WATCH
–QB Clayton Thorson had a season-high four touchdowns in Saturday’s win at Michigan State, throwing for 372 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions, as well as a two-yard touchdown run with 2:51 remaining to seal the Wildcats’ first victory since their season-opening 31-27 win at Purdue on Aug. 30. Thorson appears to be regaining confidence just in time for the thick of Northwestern’s conference schedule and will look to make an impact Saturday against Nebraska in his final homecoming outing.
–LB Blake Gallagher continued his impressive sophomore season Saturday with a team-high 11 tackles, including one for a loss, and is tied with Maryland’s Tre Watson for the conference’s leading tackler. Gallagher’s role will be even more important against Nebraska if senior Nate Hall is unable to return to action after missing Saturday’s game against Michigan State with an undisclosed lower body injury.
–RB Solomon Vault was named the starter for Saturday’s homecoming despite only managing six yards on 10 carries against Michigan State’s FBS-leading run defense. The Wildcats have amassed only 36 rushing yards on 54 carries in their two games since losing leading rusher Jeremy Larkin to medical retirement, so the spotlight will be on Vault to right the ship against Nebraska.
–LB Chris Bergin started in place of the injured Hall against Michigan State and played well, totaling eight tackles and one quarterback hurry. If Hall is unable to play, look for Bergin to fill the void left by Hall’s absence as he did against the Spartans.
SERIES HISTORY: Nebraska leads Northwestern 7-4 but the Wildcats won the most recent matchup 31-24 in overtime last season in Lincoln.
QUOTE TO NOTE: “We’ve got a lot of young guys who don’t necessarily understand how it hard it is to win every week. Every week is its own season, and that’s our job as coaches is to continue to help those guys come along and understand that you have to earn success. And they’ve practiced hard. I haven’t had an issue with their effort level in practice but it’s been more our execution on game day that’s hurt us … just the sense of urgency, the attention to detail … we’ve got to do a better job of explaining that obviously as coaches with young guys.” — Pat Fitzgerald on handling success with young players
