Colter leads Northwestern past E. Illinois 42-21

Kain Colter keeps hearing he needs to take a few more slides, and it's not just coming from teammates and coaches.

Joe Girardi made it clear he feels that way, too.

Colter wasn't doing much sliding on Saturday. He was, however, running wild.

Colter delivered again while filling in for star Dan Persa, rushing for a career-high 109 yards with three touchdowns and throwing for 104 more to lead Northwestern to a 42-21 victory over Eastern Illinois on Saturday.

And just to be clear, he was a little sore afterward.

"I realized it after the game," Colter said. "But during the game, especially in the red zone, when you smell blood you want to go in and score a touchdown."

His coaches and teammates would like him to slide. So does a certain Northwestern alum and Yankees manager.

Girardi left Pat Fitzgerald a message after last week's 24-17 win at Boston College and the coach played it during a meeting.

"He was congratulating us on the win at B.C.," Colter said. "He said, 'Tell Kain Colter he needs to slide.' He said, 'I taught Mark Sanchez how to slide. My 9-year-old son taught Mark Sanchez how to slide and we'd be able to teach you, too.' It was funny. It was a good little wakeup call."

With Persa in uniform but still not cleared to return from a ruptured Achilles tendon, Colter came through with another impressive performance after leading the Wildcats past Boston College in the opener.

The sophomore wound up with more than 100 yards rushing for the second time in his career. He took a big hit to the right shoulder from Nick Beard on an 8-yard TD run early in the third quarter but came back in after sitting out one series following a TD by Eastern Illinois.

"It was a three-score game. New Hampshire," Fitzgerald said, referring to a loss to another FCS school in 2006. "What else? I've been down that road before, and the minute you lose momentum, it's really hard to get back."

When he wasn't running by the Panthers (1-1), he completed 10 of 13 passes without an interception to lead Northwestern (2-0) to an easy win over an FCS opponent.

Bryce McNaul had an interception on the game's first possession, setting up Colter's first TD run, and the Wildcats never really looked back.

They racked up 437 yards in all and 320 on the ground even though running back Mike Trumpy missed the game with a head injury. Adonis Smith also suffered a leg injury during the game.

Northwestern paid tribute to the 9/11 attacks by painting the big "N'' at midfield and on its helmets red, white and blue instead of the usual purple. Flight crews from United and American airlines were on hand, as were members of the Evanston police and fire departments, and a large flag was unfurled on the field before a moment of silence.

Once the game started, it didn't take long for Northwestern to take the lead.

The only glitch came midway through second quarter, when Jeff Budzien missed a 45-yard field goal, and Jimmy Garoppolo connected with a wide open Kenny Whittaker on a 72-yard touchdown that briefly made it 14-7. Colter responded with a 4-yard touchdown run, and Treyvon Green made it 28-7 when he ran it in from the 2 with 31 seconds left in the half.

Garoppolo threw for 209 yards, but those early mistakes helped set the tone as Eastern Illinois fell to 0-6 against Big Ten teams — all in the last six years.

Colter simply tore through the Panthers after throwing for 197 yards and running for 71 with a TD against Boston College.

Persa's return, meanwhile, remains up in the air, with Northwestern visiting Army next week and Illinois after a bye for its Big Ten opener.

Touted by the school as a Heisman candidate, he hasn't played since he threw the winning touchdown against Iowa last November. He crumbled to the ground as he turned to run to his celebrating teammates and the Wildcats dropped their final three games to finish 7-6.

"I don't know how good Persa is, but this kid (Colter) was unstoppable," Eastern Illinois coach Bob Spoo said.