Persa to Ebert helps Wildcats feast on Rice
Northwestern’s nonconference win over Rice would have been a yawner if not for a senior pitch-catch combination that produced a pair of career performances.
Quarterback Dan Persa, last seen scraping his left shoulder off the turf in Lincoln, Neb., bounced back from the injury to throw for a career-high 372 yards — to go with 4 touchdowns — in the Wildcats’ 28-6 victory on Saturday at Ryan Field.
He even made it through this one healthy. Persa missed the first three games of the season while recovering from last year’s torn Achilles tendon, left the Penn State game early with a turf toe injury on Oct. 22, then didn’t play in the second half against Nebraska.
“(The shoulder) is all right, hanging in there ... still attached,” Persa said. “It’s good not to have to go for an MRI or X-ray for once.”
Receiver Jeremy Ebert, meanwhile, would be a strong candidate for the track team, if Northwestern had one. He got the Wildcats on the board by turning a 15-yard pass into a 90-yard touchdown, the second-longest in school history.
This sprint came just a week after Ebert scored on an 81-yard touchdown pass last week against the Cornhuskers. The senior from Hilliard, Ohio, finished with a career-high 208 receiving yards on 7 catches against Rice.
“It was pretty awesome,” Ebert said of his extended sprints. “I haven’t been able to do that since high school. It’s a pretty surreal feeling to be out there and just see green grass in front of you.
“At Nebraska, I was kind of looking on the big screen as I was running. Today I didn’t have that. So I was just hoping I was fast enough.”
Ebert, who played quarterback in high school, stuck to a team-oriented theme instead of discussing whether he thinks about his chances of making an NFL roster. If the last two weeks are any indication, Ebert has the hands and wheels to deserve draft consideration.
His other highlight was a one-handed, waist-high catch while surrounded by two defenders. That one went for a 40-yard gain in the second quarter.
“I saw it, thought it was going to go over my other shoulder, so then I turned and I think the wind put it over the other shoulder,” Ebert said. “I just ended up being kind of a ballerina out there.”
“That was ridiculous,” Fitzgerald said. “It’s like playing 500 in the backyard and your buddy’s got your arm pinned down.”
The Wildcats have battled back from a 2-5 record to win three in a row. If they can beat rapidly-improving Minnesota at home next week, Northwestern will be bowl eligible for the fourth straight season.
“You better believe (becoming bowl eligible) is out there,” Fitzgerald said. “I was here back in the day when we didn’t do that. We stunk.”
After a pair of touchdown receptions by Ebert made it 14-0, Northwestern’s defense got into the act. Linebacker Ben Johnson hit Rice quarterback Nick Fanuzzi as he threw and the pass was intercepted by defensive end Tyler Scott with 1:05 remaining in the first half.
It took the Wildcats four plays to score on a 15-yard pass to Demetrius Fields, making it 21-0 at halftime. Rice’s Chris Boswell had a 60-yard field goal attempt hit the crossbar as the second quarter ended.
Northwestern lost the shutout with just 1:33 remaining when a long pass by Owls wide receiver Jordan Taylor set up a 9-yard run by Tyler Smith. The Wildcats’ last shutout was against Northeastern in 2007.
This result helped Ebert, Persa and the rest of the seniors set a school record for career wins over a five-year span with 35.
“In a year we had such high expectations, we don’t want to go home during the bowl season,” Fields said.