It’s action, not words that define Northwestern’s Persa

IOWA CITY - In what sounded as a coincidence in August now clearly is a vocabulary pattern for the Northwestern football team.

At Big Ten Media Days in Chicago, three times Northwestern Coach Pat Fitzgerald said the Wildcats were “fortunate” to beat Iowa in four of their last five meetings. Twice linebacker Quentin Davie said it was “luck” that help Northwestern beat Iowa recently.

This week, Northwestern quarterback Dan Persa fell into line with the company message.

“We've just been lucky the last couple of years,” Persa said. “A couple of things have went our way.”

Reverse psychology? Maybe. Humoring the Hawkeyes into submission? We'll see.

Whether the psychological advantage nets another Wildcat win against Iowa depends mostly on Persa, Northwestern's all-everything player. Persa leads the nation in completion percentage at 73.4 percent. He's on track to shatter the Big Ten single-season record of 67.4 percent, set by Wisconsin's Darrell Bevell in 1993.

But he's more than just an accurate quarterback. He's second in the Big Ten (behind Michigan QB Denard Robinson) and 12th nationally in total offense at 303.6 yards per game. He's Northwestern's leading rusher (469 yards) and has either thrown or rushed for 21 of the Wildcats' 28 scores.

Persa relieved an injured Mike Kafka last year against Iowa in a 17-10 upset. Persa completed 5 of 9 passes for 37 yards. He also rushed 17 times for 67 yards. But he threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Drake Dunsmore to give the Wildcats the lead.

“He's a little more experienced than he was last year, and he's doing a great job,” Iowa safety Tyler Sash said. “Last year when he checked in, it was more for the running situations and just to try to pick the first down. This year he can throw the ball down the field or he can run it.”

Persa's overall speed and numbers may not compare with Michigan's Robinson, who leads the nation in total offense. But Persa may mean more to the Northwestern offense, accumulating more than 74 percent of the Wildcats' yards, compared to Robinson's 66 percent.

“They're very similar, more similar than what people think just because they both command the offense very well,” Sash said. “They both know what they're doing. They get the plays in and out; they want to work quickly. They don't want to take their time out there.”

But the numbers don't show the disappointment Persa has felt in recent weeks. Persa, a junior from Bethlehem, Pa., has engineered second-half leads in every game for Northwestern. But three times the Wildcats have folded.

Against Michigan State, Northwestern led 17-0 in the second quarter, 24-14 entering the fourth and 27-21 with 2 minutes left before losing 35-27. Northwestern (6-3 overall, 2-3 Big Ten) led Purdue (a 20-17 loss) by four points with less than four minutes to play. Last week the Wildcats cruised to a 21-0 lead at Penn State before crashing 35-21.

“I think we're confident; we just haven't been able to finish games,” Persa said. “We've been struggling with that. Against Michigan State we lost the game in the fourth quarter, and last week we lost it in the second half. It's a flaw, but we've got to respond and get it right.”

If Persa gets it right this week, Northwestern's trend could continue against Iowa. It's more than a cliche that the Wildcats have Iowa's number. Four wins in five years prove it. But Persa - and the Wildcats - aren't interested in discarding the verbal luck card just yet.

“Anytime you play a team with a caliber of Iowa, you get up for it,” Persa said. “If you're not playing your best, they'll run you out of the stadium.”