Damarlo Belcher, Dan Persa pick up the pieces from their final plays against Iowa last year

CHICAGO - Nov. 6, 2010:  On 4th-and-10 from the Iowa 18, Indiana receiver Damarlo Belcher dropped a Ben Chappell pass in the end zone with 28 seconds left in the game, and the Hawkeyes escaped with an 18-13 win.

Nov. 13, 2010: Trailing 17-7 after three quarters, Northwestern's Dan Persa led touchdown drives of 85 and 91 yards to carry the Wildcats to a 21-17 upset of Iowa. It was perhaps the most-brilliant quarterbacking performance by an Iowa foe in the last few years.

That stuff about teams controlling their own destinies isn't always true. Sometimes the other team has a player who drops a pass at the worst possible time. Sometimes the other team has someone who plays magnificently and simply won't be defeated.

Belcher had the agony. Persa had the ecstasy. And then, Persa had agony of a different kind than Belcher's, which was pretty agonizing.

“It was horrible,” Belcher said recently at the Big Ten's media days. “It was probably my worst experience as a football player. Ninety-nine times out of 100, I'll make that catch.”

Belcher didn't meet with the media after that game. It's possible that had he made that catch, Indiana would have finished the regular-season 6-6 and gone to a bowl, Iowa would have the regular-season 6-6, and Bill Lynch might have kept his job as the Hoosiers' head coach.

It's also possible Belcher would have made himself eligible for the NFL draft as a junior. He said he would have had Indiana gone to a bowl. He said he was still pointed in that direction before the Hoosiers hired Kevin Wilson, an offensive mastermind, to become the new head coach.

Belcher led the Big Ten in catches last year with 78. Wilson, who coordinated Oklahoma's offense the last several years, will like the 6-foot-5 receiver.

“He's a great player,” said Indiana tight end Max Dedmond. “He's big, he has great leaping ability, great hands. There are so many different things he brings to the table.”

Belcher gets one more crack at Iowa, in Iowa City Oct. 22.

Persa didn't seem to make a wrong move in that fourth-quarter against Iowa in Evanston. He orchestrated a fast-paced attack that left some of Iowa's NFL-bound defensive linemen huffing to the sideline during play to regain their breath. Persa completed 32 of 43 passes for 318 yards and rushed 18 times for 50 yards even with three sacks included.

On his final play of the game, Persa connected with Demetrius Fields for a 20-yard touchdown pass with 1:22 left. It was glorious, but it ended painfully. Without getting hit by a Hawkeye, Persa landed the wrong way and ruptured his Achilles tendon.

“I knew I was hurt and in for a long rehab, longer than most,” Persa said. “Some of my teammates came to see me at the hospital that night. I was still pumped up from the game, until they left. Then it kind of set in that I wasn't going to be able to do anything for a long time.

“I woke up that next morning pretty down.”

Northwestern Coach Pat Fitzgerald suffered a broken leg against Iowa as a Wildcat linebacker late in the 1995 season and couldn't play for the Wildcats when they met USC in the Rose Bowl that season.

“In my office, under my Rose Bowl jersey,” Fitzgerald said, “is the pin and screw that were taken out of my leg.”

So the coach understands what his quarterback has endured. But he can't make the comeback for Persa.

“Doubt crept in sometimes,” Persa said. “When you can't walk or can barely get up on your toes, you wonder how you'll run again.

“I think I'm ready. It's tough to know for sure until you're in that team atmosphere, moving around with the guys around you.”

Said Fitzgerald: “Dan was just starting to hit his stride. (That Iowa game) was when the game was just starting to slow down for him.

“The thing that's the most encouraging to me is he's in such a different place mentally now than he was at this time last year.”

The Big Ten had difference-makers at quarterback last year like Michigan's Denard Robinson, Ohio State's Terrelle Pryor and Michigan State's Kirk Cousins. Yet, Persa was the league coaches' choice for first-team All-Big Ten.

Persa had a conference-record completion percentage of .735 a year ago, and rushed for 519 yards.

Northwestern has launched an “awareness campaign” (PersaStrong.com) to promote Persa as a Heisman Trophy candidate. Billboards touting Persa have been placed in high-traffic areas in Chicagoland, and in Bristol, Conn., the home of ESPN.

In Iowa City on Oct. 15, Iowa gets one more crack at Persa. And vice versa.