Who Will be Northwestern's Starting Quarterback on Opening Night?
The Wildcats’s first game will be played on Sep. 3 in Ryan Field against Michigan State University, and perhaps one of the biggest question marks heading into that game for Northwestern is who will be leading the team’s offensive attack. Northwestern graduated its former starting QB, Peyton Ramsey, who joined the Wildcats as a graduate transfer from Indiana in 2020.
So far, three contenders have emerged for the QB1 spot during fall training camp: sophomore transfer Ryan Hilinski, and seniors Hunter Johnson and Andrew Marty.
Hilinski is in his first year with Northwestern after transferring from South Carolina, where he started in 11 games and threw 11 touchdowns his freshman year. In Hilinski’s media availability he credited the other QB’s for helping him feel comfortable in his first camp with the Wildcats.
“You may have heard we can joke with each other," Hilinski said. "With competition, you might (think) we're at each other's throats or that we're not talking to each other, but Hunter’s a great guy. He's helped me a lot. All the quarterbacks really have, but having Hunter as a roommate has been really helpful for sure.”
Johnson and Hilinski bonding is no coincidence since they have quite a bit in common. The two live together, along with center Sam Gerak, and were both highly recruited coming out of high school. Now Hilinski is facing the same pressure Johnson did after transferring from Clemson.
For Johnson, who is now a senior and has been with the program since transferring back in 2018, this is an opportunity for a bounce back season after a disappointing junior campaign. His head coach Pat Fitzgerald believes his increased familiarity with the program could play a large role in his performance this season.
“The amount of different offensive coordinators that he's had to deal with in his career is obvious. I think having the consistency with Jake (NU's offensive coordinator Mike Bajakian) has really helped out a lot,” Fitzgerald said. “He's more comfortable. He knows the guys, the guys know him and how we operate and how he ticks.“
Marty has been in the program the longest, four years, and is entering his fifth after redshirting his freshman season. Having been with the program for so long, he knows a lot of his value comes from his leadership on the field and knowing how to play the Wildcat way.
“What separates myself from the other guys is my ability to bring guys along,” Marty said. “I think being a fifth year, being a guy who people trust, that is the responsibility that I carry. I think that's kind of the unity you'll see when I play on the field. I'm going to give everything I got.”
But according to head coach Pat Fitzgerald, neither of the three QB’s have done enough to separate themselves from the competition quite yet. Fitzgerald knows what he’s looking for in his starting QB, and he’s not ready to put a timetable on when a starter will be named just yet.
"It'll be done when it's done, and I'm not going to put a timetable on it,” Fitzgerald said. “I just think you let them put the ball out there and let the guys go play, and then it ends up working itself out ... Are they able to execute the offense? Do they make the other 10 guys better around them? Does the team have confidence in them? Ultimately their job is to get us down the field, to score points, and to take care of the football.”
Clearly the QB battle has everyone’s attention this camp, including second-year star safety Brandon Joseph, who offered up his own analysis of the QBs.
“We have a huge battle between Andy Marty, Hunter Johnson, and Ryan Hilinski,” he said. “Hilinski has the ability to fit balls in holes. Johnson's going to throw a deep ball that's going to fall right in the receiver's pocket, and Marty has that leadership, that grit that you need a quarterback to have. All of them bring different, great aspects to the table. It's going be exciting to see who gets that job this year.”
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