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Wildcats have high hopes, big dreams for season

Don't rule out anything when it comes to Northwestern's quarterback situation. Even the most unlikely of possibilities.

"We've done the two quarterback thing, why not three?" Northwestern head coach Pat Fitzgerald said with a laugh. "Maybe we'll have a lot more cameras around me than (Michigan coach) Jim (Harbaugh) did. We've got to win football games. And we're going to do whatever it takes to win football games."

There will be a quarterback competition between senior Zack Oliver, sophomore Matt Alviti and redshirt freshman Clayton Thorson when Northwestern opens up camp a week from Monday. Oliver has played in 12 games in his career and Alviti, a Park Ridge native, has been in three games this year.

"We've got a pretty good blueprint on how we go about doing the evaluation," Fitzgerald said at Big Ten Media Day at McCormick Place. "At this point, we're not ready and prepared to inject right now and be forceful either, because all three guys have had a good summer from a leadership standpoint. I think they're all in really good shape, and now we're going to roll the ball out and let it play."

While it may seem like a problem, the Wildcats, who finished last season 5-7 and 3-5 in the Big Ten, feel having a quarterback competition is beneficial for the team as a whole.

"They all complement each other and they all have different things that they're good at," senior wide receiver Christian Jones said. "I think that helps, because a lot of them work to build on their strengths, as well as their weakness, and that makes us better as a team, because we have better quarterbacks as a whole. I think that's just a huge positive for us."

And the competition gives the defense new challenges when they go up against a certain quarterback.

"If you have a running quarterback like Alviti, obviously you're thinking that he's going to leave the pocket a lot more," senior cornerback Nick VanHoose said. "You have Zack Oliver, who is definitely a pocket passer, pro-style quarterback. And Clayton, he's kind of like a dual threat. He's kind of like a balance of both."

Regardless, Northwestern will have to improve in the fourth quarter. Last season, 10 of Northwestern's 12 games were within two possessions heading to the fourth quarter. The Wildcats were 4-6 in those games.

"It's definitely all mental," VanHoose said. "You got to be prepared and ready to go."

Maybe Northwestern will be able to use Jones as an example to bounce back.

Jones missed all of last season after tearing his ACL in training camp.

"When everybody's tired and everyone's thinking about taking or not taking the next rep, you got to be able to push through," Jones said. "That's where you win the game. You keep your foot on the gas."

That may help Northwestern fulfill their lofty goals.

"I'm aiming to go to a Big Ten Championship and a Rose Bowl," Jones said. "We've got high dreams and big dreams. High hopes and the fact that if we fail, we still set the bar really high in what we do."

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