Dominant First Half Leads Wildcats Past Redbirds, 37-3

Saturday, September 11

Evanston, Ill.

11:00 AM

Northwestern

2-0

Illinois State

1-1

Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Final F
Illinois State	3	0	0	0	3
Northwestern	14	16	0	7	37

Quentin Davie with one of his two interceptions on the day against Illinois State.

Dominant First Half Leads Wildcats Past Redbirds, 37-3

9/11/2010 12:00:00 AM | Football

Box Score

Sept. 11, 2010

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Northwestern 37, Illinois State 3
Site: Ryan Field - Evanston, Ill.
Records: Northwestern (2-0), Illinois State (1-1)
Up Next: at Rice - Saturday, Sept. 18 - 6 p.m. CT

EVANSTON, Ill. -- Behind a 30-point first half and an effective afternoon from quarterback Dan Persa, Northwestern earned a comfortable 37-3 victory over Illinois State in the home opener at Ryan Field. The Wildcats improve to 2-0 on the season, while handing the Redbirds (1-1) their first loss of the season.

Persa completed 19-of-23 passes for 240 yards and two touchdowns in the air while adding 13 yards and a touchdown on the ground despite playing just three plays in the second half.

Nine different Wildcat receivers caught a pass on the afternoon, led by Jeremy Ebert's three receptions for 67 yards. Drake Dunsmore had five catches for 30 yards and notched both of Persa's touchdown receptions for the first multi-touchdown game of his career.

On the ground, it was Arby Fields leading the way, totalling 96 yards on 22 carries with a touchdown. Mike Trumpy recorded 15 yards on seven carries and a touchdown in his Wildcat debut as well.

Dunsmore got the Wildcats on the board first, hauling in a four-yard pass from Persa to cap a 15-play, 89 yard drive midway through the opening quarter. The Redbirds would answer with a long scoring drive of their own, converting a 23 yard field goal to cut the deficit to four at 7-3.

But that was as close as Illinois State would get as Northwestern reeled off the game's final 30 points, including 23 in the opening half. Persa scrambled for a one-yard touchdown run to give NU a 14-3 lead after the first quarter, followed by a 39-yard field goal from Stefan Demos to put the 'Cats up 17-3.

The Wildcats would then strike twice within the final two minutes of the opening half with Fields pushing in a one-yard touchdown run with 1:51 remaining, followed by a five-yard TD reception for Dunsmore with 10 seconds left in the half.Trumpy would add a one-yard TD run late in the fourth quarter to cap the victory for Northwestern.

Defensively, the Wildcats were led by Quentin Davie, who recorded three tackles and a pair of interceptions, becoming the first Northwestern player to have two interceptions in the same game since Herschel Henderson at Michigan State in 2005.

Northwestern returns to action next Saturday in Houston, Texas, facing Rice at 6 p.m. CT. The Wildcats' next home game will be against Central Michigan on Saturday, Sept. 25.