Northwestern postmortem

After Northwestern sophomore quarterback Dan Persa finished his media responsibilities on Saturday night, he stepped into the Nicolet Center lobby and quickly was surrounded by family and friends.

Some wore Northwestern purple. Some wore Penn State blue. That’s how it goes when you’re a Bethlehem, Penn., native playing for another Big Ten team other than the one from State College.

Perhaps in the future, Persa will make his Penn State pals weep.

But on Saturday, flung into his first real collegiate test when starting quarterback Mike Kafka hurt his left hamstring midway through the second quarter, Persa couldn’t make it happen.
Here’s the breakdown between Kafka’s time and Persa’s time on the field during Penn State’s 34-13 win.

(Keep in mind, Penn State entered the day as the national leader in scoring defense (8.9 ppg) and No. 3 nationally in total defense (240.3 ypg)).

Kafka played the opening 21 minutes and 45 seconds. During that stretch, he ran 31 plays for 176 yards and produced 10 points.

Persa took over with 8:15 left in the first half and handled things the rest of the way as NU’s only other dressed QB who’s not being redshirted. He ran 48 plays for 186 yards and produced 3 points.

(Punter Stefan Demos’ Hoosiers-esque chest pass to Mark Woodsum for a first down shortly before Kafka’s injury accounted for Northwestern’s other 9 total yards).

But Persa’s numbers during the relevant time weren’t as good.

During Northwestern’s first four second-half drives, when Penn State turned a 13-10 halftime deficit into a 34-13 blowout, the Wildcats managed 37 total yards.

NU had just 2 first downs during those four possessions _ the first when a Penn State DB drilled Zeke Markshausen for no reason after a short third-down play when the Wildcats were going to have to punt.

Persa finished 14 of 23 for 115 yards, no interceptions and 4 sacks. He rushed 14 times for 42 net yards. Kafka was 14 of 18 when he left for 128 yards. He rushed 8 times for 42 net yards and NU’s lone score.

Penn State coach Joe Paterno, when asked how big of a turning point Kafka’s injury happened to be, offered this answer:

“Big. Kafka’s a heck of a football player, but we played a little more aggressively in the second half. Did a better job with the pass rush, regardless of whether Kafka was in there or some other kid. So I think we played better defensively in the second half. I don’t think we had quite realized how good they are offensively and it took us some time to speed up the tempo.”

Persa, who had 2 career passing attempts and 13 career rushing attempts on his resume entering the day, refused to use inexperience or anything else as an excuse. He claimed he needs to make better decisions and not take such large sacks.

Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald, meanwhile, noticed Persa didn’t have a ton of time to throw -- especially as Penn State zoomed ahead and knew the Wildcats needed to throw.

“I think (Mike and I) have a similar style of play,” Persa said. “I think he’s a little better thrower than me, but that’s something I’ve got to grow on. Because right now I’m probably thinking of running a little bit too much. I’ve just got to sit back in there.”

Northwestern doesn’t know whether Kafka will be able to play on Saturday at undefeated Iowa. In fact, Fitzgerald claimed he wouldn’t know anything about Kafka’s injury until Tuesday.

PHILLIPS ON PENN STATE’S BIG PLAYS

Penn State led 20-13 when it regained possession of the ball on its own 47 with 10:25 to go.
Two offensive snaps later, the Nittany Lions led 34-13 as two deceptive plays shredded NU’s defense without so much as a scratch on the TD scorers.

First, Daryll Clark hit Derrek Moye with a 53-yard play-action bomb. Moye flew down the right sideline against NU’s Cover 2, faked a down and out briefly and then got behind safety Brian Peters.

Then Clark faked a quick wide-receiver screen and handed off up the middle to Evan Royster, who never had a Wildcat within a yard of him as he sprinted 69 yards for the clinching score.

Here’s senior safety Brad Phillips’ take on the plays:
“I feel like when we broke down in the fourth quarter, that couple plays when they scored over the top of us, we broke down as a defense and a couple guys were in the wrong hole here and there.
“You know, Peters was a little aggressive and the ball got thrown over the top of him.”

Fitz’ take:
“I thought we had a pretty good performance outside of those two plays, but those two plays were what cost us the game.”

LW