Pat Fitzgerald is searching for a quarterback in hopes of returning to a bowl game.
By Danny Payne
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Since 2012, when Northwestern went 10-3, finished third in the Big Ten Legends Division, and won the Gator Bowl, the Wildcats haven’t had an easy time on the football field.

Pat Fitzgerald’s squad has gone 10-14 overall, including a 4-12 record in the Big Ten, and has failed to appear in a bowl game.

So how do the Wildcats fix the downward trend? Northwestern will try to find a solution this year and will do so with a fresh quarterback. Because of Trevor Siemian’s graduation, the Wildcats will trot out either Zach Oliver, Matt Alviti, or Clayton Thorson.

“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,” Fitzgerald said at Big Ten media days. “I think they’re all in really good shape, and now we’re going to roll the ball out and let it play.”

Oliver is the eldest of the trio and has only one season of eligibility left. Alviti, a sophomore, was a highly touted recruit from Maine South High School in the Chicagoland area and poses just as much of a threat with his legs as his arm. Some have dubbed Thorston, a redshirt freshman from Wheaton, Illinois, the “quarterback of the future” for Northwestern, which could be the case.

But as is on par with most quarterback battles during this time of year, teams are keeping their options close to the vest.

“We’ve got to take it play by play,” Thorson told nusports.com. “Once you take it play by play, the rest will take care of itself … You’ve got to know the situation.”

Defensively, the Wildcats will miss a linebacker with one of the best names in the Big Ten, Chi Chi Ariguzo, who led Northwestern with 107 tackles last season. He and Jimmy Hall are both out of eligibility and no longer on the team, so there are some question marks at linebacker.

But above all else, Northwestern would like a season more like 2012, and less like 2013 and 2014. And for superback Dan Vitale, winning games is a matter of simplifying things.

“I think the biggest thing for our team over the course of the last two years has been consistency and that consistency factor,” Vitale said. “We’re in every single game. We’re right there. It’s a very thin line between winning a game and losing a game; a couple turnovers will do that to you, one missed play can change a game.

“Being more consistent, taking control of football games … we have to take control and be consistent, and we’ll win games.”

Northwestern is scheduled to host Iowa on Oct. 17. The Hawkeyes downed the Wildcats last season, 48-7.

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