By Skip Myslenski
NUsports.com Special Contributor
It was the first October Saturday of 2015, and the redshirt first-year quarterback Clayton Thorson was experiencing his inaugural Big Ten game. It was at home against Minnesota and, he remembers, "It was 3-0 until Miles Shuler ran a punt back to about the 10-yard line and we scored on the next play. After that we laid it on in the second half (eventually winning 27-0). But I remember in that first half, our offense was playing fine. But we had only three points to show for it just because it was so back-and-forth. They would get quality stops. We weren't shooting ourselves in the foot. I don't think we had any turnovers. But the margin for error is so small, if you have any missteps, the other team's going to bounce on it and be ready to go.
"I remember thinking when we scored, 'Finally. We finally got a touchdown.'
"We piled it on in the second half a little more. But that's when I realized, 'Wow. All these games are going to be like this.' But it made it more fun. It's fun playing in close games. Way more fun. Way more exciting."
Saturday, the final day of this September, the 2-1 'Cats will kick off their Big Ten season at raucous Camp Randall against undefeated-and-No. 10 Wisconsin, with whom they've split their last dozen games.
"Everyone kind of knows what you're going to do on either side of the ball," Thorson will say when asked the difference between conference and non-conference play. "Not a ton of surprises. There's always a few wrinkles here and there. But it's going to be a hard-hitting game, and most games aren't decided until the last half of the fourth quarter. Last year we saw a lot of those games go the other way. We didn't get a few Ws that we should have, including our Wisconsin game. They finished it better than we did, they won the game. Credit to them.
"But it's fun. Every game is a lot of fun. Arguably the best conference in the country. It's an honor to play in this conference. It's just a joy to play in this conference against all these great players, and everyone seems to do it the right way. That makes it a lot of fun as well. It's one-on-one battles . . . So we know what we're getting. Looking forward to it. There are a few places you really look forward to playing at. It'll be fun to play at Camp Randall. Just a great atmosphere."
"It's why you come to Big Ten schools. It's to compete," Pat Fitzgerald says of the nine Saturdays now looming in front of his 'Cats. "You want to compete against the best. The best players. The best fan bases. The best venues. The best coaching. That's why you choose to come to a place like Northwestern. So, yeah. I think they're ready. They were born ready. That's why they chose to come here.
"Now you've got to go make it happen. You've got to take all your preparation into game day, and you've got to go play. That's my job. To get them ready to go this week. Then their job's to go out there and play. Cut it loose and have fun."
Clayton Thorson, annealed by experiences, is most-certainly prepared for the journey ahead of him, and that is certainly true too of the senior running back Justin Jackson and the senior safeties Godwin Igwebuike and Kyle Queiro. But, on the flip side, the 'Cats have rolled out tackle Rashawn Slater, defensive end Samdup Miller and place-kicker Charlie Kuhlander and 10 other true first years this fall, and this will be their maiden voyage into the shark-infested waters of Big Ten play. Now, Fitzgerald often avows, is when the heavy lifting begins, and so he is asked just how his newbies can be prepared for that.
"It's like when you learn how to ride a bike or go swimming," he says. "You don't know how to do it when you first start. Then you practice, you get reps, and you feel pretty good about what you're doing. Then you go out and ride the bike for the first time on your own, and you usually fall down. Or you go in the water, and start treading water, and panic a little bit. I've seen some of those moments not only from our true first years, but some of our redshirt first years as well. And then you learn and grow from those experiences, right? This will be another learning and growing opportunity. Our last road test (to Duke) was obviously not a very good performance by us (as they fell by 24). At all. But. Second time on the road for some guys. How do we do it? How do we travel? Obviously we're going to one of the great cathedrals of college football. What comes along with that? We'll be better next time we go on the road and play Maryland (Oct. 14). It's just a process."
Does he depend on his senior leaders to help the newbies through the process?
"I do. Yeah, I do," he says. "But I'm not going to lie to you, man. I'm not spending a whole hell of a lot of time on those guys. I need to get the guys who are going to play a majority of the reps to go execute. Then those (younger) guys, as they fill in— some of the redshirt first years are already there. They're already there. They're playing at a very-high level right now. They're playing consistent. Can they play better? Yeah. But they're there.
"The other guys? We've got to be sure we put them in the right situations to get them the experience knowing that, probably mid-October-ish— you've been on the road a couple times, you've been in Big Ten venues, you've played Big Ten games, you're no longer a first year, quote, unquote. That's the process. But if I lean too much on the older guys, I'm going to take away from what they need to do (while they're) babysitting guys. Do I expect them to lead 'em? Absolutely. Do I expect them to be great teammates? No doubt. And they've been awesome. But at the same time, if a (younger) guy is going to be late to a meal, you better not be late too. Get your rear end where it needs to be."
AND FINALLY, QUICKLY NOTED: Both the 'Cats and the Badgers are coming off a bye-week, which left Fitzgerald free to chill last Saturday. But, he remembered with a smile, "I kind of felt cheated. It was fun watching games. But I was like, 'Man, I wish I was out there coaching now.' It's great spending time with the kids. I went to a youth hockey game. It was fun. Then I watched a lot of ball. It was fun. I could see why people tailgate. I'm not in any rush. But it's going to be fun someday."