Clayton Thorson has played in just one college football game, yet the redshirt freshman knows he quickly needs to become wise beyond his years.
“I can’t behave like a freshman. … I have to lead this team,” said Thorson, who was honored Tuesday as the conference’s freshman of the week.
Thorson completed 12 of 24 passes for 105 yards, and rushed for 68 yards, including the game’s only touchdown on a 42-yard run as the Wildcats upset Stanford 16-6 on Saturday.
“We’re over the: ‘Hey, first-time starter thing,'” coach Pat Fitzgerald said on the weekly Big Ten teleconference. “It’s time to be a winning quarterback and do what winning quarterbacks do. And that’s taking care of the football, putting us in the right plays. It’s not putting our offense in any risk whatsoever. And he is just going to keep getting better.”
Fitzgerald said Thorson’s work ethic and focus are pluses as the Wildcats prepare for a visit from Eastern Illinois on Saturday.
My expectation is pretty simple for him: Just get 1 percent better every rep.” Fitzgerald said. “And if (he) can do that, he has a special career in front of him.”
Walker recognized: Northwestern linebacker Anthony Walker was named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week after his stellar performance.
Walker was credited with 10 tackles, including three for loss. He also broke up two passes, recovered a fumble and had a half sack.
On a good run: Justin Jackson, a sophomore from Glenbard North, ranked fourth in the nation among all Power-5 conference freshmen in yards per game at 98.9. He began this season with 134 yards rushing against Stanford.
“He played for a great high school football team and when we watched him on video he was just so tough, and the pile always moved forward when he got hit,” Fitzgerald said.
“He reminded me a lot of (former Northwestern standout) Darnell Autry. He had enough speed and burst to get in and out of the hole. He had enough speed to take it to the house. Probably wasn’t going to win the 100 meters in the track meet, but was going to out-tough everybody.”
Shorts story: Fitzgerald broke from tradition against Stanford when he wore shorts along the sideline.
“I was not trying to make any statements, not trying to do anything other than just beat the heat,” Fitzgerald said Tuesday.
Good approach: While Fitzgerald came out fairly critical of his team’s overall performance on Monday after looking at the video of the victory over Stanford, he was quite pleased with Tuesday’s upbeat practice in Evanston.
“We had an excellent practice,” he said. “We understand the thrust of our culture, the thrust of our success … it has to happen in the way that you prepare. Frankly, we didn’t have that type of maturity last year. Our leadership was working their tails off last year and just couldn’t get it accomplished.”
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