Northwestern‘s offense, led by quarterback Clayton Thorson, has been scrutinized for its inefficiency most of the year. However, they woke up, in a big way at Iowa, putting up big points and chunk plays. Then came a bye week, which led to today’s 54 point explosion at Michigan State.
Clayton Thorson is a new man, and this offense has now come of age. They both ran and threw it all over the yard. NU tailback Justin Jackson set a career high for both carries (34) and yards (188). Thorson set a career high in completions (27) and rolled up 281 passing yards, his second most in a single game.
Northwestern football coach Pat Fitzgerald on Clayton Thorson’s improvement: “He’s maturing the offense. We’re six games in. He’s 19 games into his career. He’s starting to become comfortable. His confidence is building.”
We chronicled a couple weeks ago, the new low points reached by 2016 Michigan State football. Then the bottom dropped out again, and of course we discussed the new low. I still don’t think we’re at nadir. There’s still probably a rock bottom left below this level, and who knows when that’s coming. It’s hard to even venture a guess at this point.
MSU is pretty much eliminated from bowl contention now, while Northwestern has evened their mark at 3-3. Thorson is now finally living up to the high ratings he had as a recruit in the “dual threat” QB category. Paired up with Austin Carr, the Big Ten’s leading receiver, he’s doing a lot of damage now.
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“I can throw it to one of the best receivers in the country. I can hand it off to one of the best running backs in the country,” Thorson said.
“We’ve been working at this for a long time. The first two games, we weren’t playing like we felt we were capable. … We’re showing what we can do,” he said of the offense’s improvement. Jackson echoed Thorson’s sentiment: “We’re a completely different team.”
“I think everyone’s bought in, and it’s just a by-product of that,” concluded Clayton Thorson who finished 27-35 passing with three touchdowns.
This was the second homecoming game in a row on the road for NU, and the Wildcats ruined both of them for the home fans:
“It’s nice to hear the silence. Silence is a lot louder to us than loudness. Silence is deafening.”
“We were like, ‘Let’s make it our homecoming,” said Northwestern’s versatile defender Ifeadi Odenigbo.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network. and News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes regularly to the Chicago Tribune’s RedEye publication and Bold Global.
He also consistently appears on numerous radio and television talk shows all across the country. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram and Sound Cloud.