Northwestern QB Persa: I’m ready to go

Dan Persa sat on the sidelines for last year’s Northwestern-Illinois game because he ruptured his right Achilles’ tendon seven days before.

“I don’t know if the drugs had worn off yet from surgery,” Persa said. “I might have been a little woozy from that still. I was just sitting there, wasn’t feeling good to begin with. And then having that (48-27 loss) was tough.”

Persa plans to make amends for missing that Wrigley Field debacle — and soon.

When Northwestern travels to Illinois for a Big Ten opener on Oct. 1, the Wildcats’ senior quarterback expects to play for the first time since Nov. 13.

For the most part during Thursday’s practice, he looked like the guy who earned first-team all-Big Ten honors from the coaches last fall.

“I’m ready to go,” Persa said. “At this point I don’t consider myself injured anymore. I have the same percentage of getting injured as anybody else now because I’m cleared. I’m ready to go. I think the more I think like that, the better off I’ll be.”

While it’s relevant for Persa to stay those things, they don’t matter if Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald isn’t on board, too.

Fitzgerald, who has stuck to such phrases as “he’s getting close” and “he’s doing more and more” for the last six weeks, offered the green light on Thursday as well.

“I think he’s as close as he’s been,” Fitzgerald said. “I’d be shocked if he doesn’t play.”

Presuming Persa gets the start against Illinois, what might that mean for Kain Colter? The true sophomore has led the Wildcats to a 2-1 start.

“(Persa) still has got to show he can do some things in practice,” said offensive coordinator Mick McCall. “We’ve just got to see that and then we work him into a plan.

“But Kain is still going to play and Kain’s going to play a bunch. It’s kind of a two-headed monster, if you will.”

After Northwestern’s 21-14 loss on Saturday at Army, Colter came down hard on himself for not playing well.

Fitzgerald and Colter talked on Sunday to make sure the young man realized how well he has played in Persa’s stead.

McCall, who doubles as the quarterbacks coach, and Colter have had even more chances to discuss things.

“Knowing how highly competitive he is, he took it hard and he put a lot of stuff on himself,” McCall said. “Which he really didn’t need to do because it was a team effort. We didn’t play well in all three phases.”

Colter completed just 12 of 23 passes for 89 yards at Army before getting replaced by redshirt freshman Trevor Siemian in the fourth quarter.

“You understand how deeply competitive he is and how much he believes in his abilities,” McCall said. “He’s in a good place right now. It’s a learning process.”

With Persa back in the fold, Colter might add other learning processes to his daily routine. After all, he started at running back in the TicketCity Bowl on Jan. 1 and rushed for 108 yards and 2 scores.

“We haven’t really talked about that just yet, but I’m sure we’ll figure something out,” Persa said. “He’s too athletic to be sitting on the bench.”