Stanford Cardinal vs Northwestern Wildcats Match Player Stats On Sep 05, 2015

The Sports Xchange
Sep 5, 2015

EVANSTON -- Northwestern got three field goals by kicker Jack Mitchell and a touchdown run by quarterback Clayton Thorson to upset No. 21 Stanford 16-6 in a season-opening game for both teams Saturday at Ryan Field.

Thorson, a redshirt freshman making his first career start, completed 12 of 24 passes for 105 yards. The 6-foot-4, 220-pound signal caller rushed for 68 yards on eight carries, including a 42-yard touchdown run in the second quarter.

Sophomore running back Justin Jackson rushed the ball 28 times for 134 yards to lead the Wildcats (1-0), while Stanford starting running back Christian McCaffery carried 12 times for 66 yards and fumbled once.

Senior receiver Christian Jones, who missed last season with a knee injury, caught five passes for 52 yards to lead Northwestern receivers.

Leading by a touchdown to start the fourth quarter, Northwestern extended its lead to 13-3 lead on a 19-yard field goal by Mitchell, who also hit from 49 yards, 31 yards and missed from 48 in the first half.

The kick 19-yarder a 13-play drive that took 5:21 and covered 61 yards. Stanford responded with its own 13-play drive to make it 13-6 on a field goal by Conrad Ukropina, but Mitchell drilled his 49-yarder on Northwestern's next possession to re-establish a 10-point cushion.

Stanford marched all the way down to the Wildcats' 5-yard line on its final possession, but safety Kyle Queiro picked off a pass by senior quarterback Kevin Hogan in the end zone to seal the win.

Hogan completed 20 of 35 passes for 155 yards for Stanford, which took a 3-0 lead on the first drive of the game.

Thorson gave Northwestern a 10-3 halftime lead when he kept it himself and sprinted 42 yards down the Wildcats' sideline for the game's first touchdown with 6:18 left in the second quarter. His first career TD jaunt capped a 10-play drive that covered 80 yards and broke a 3-3 tie that carried over from the first quarter, when Ukropina and Mitchell traded field goals to start the day's scoring.

Northwestern failed to capitalize on a chance to extend its lead in the second on its next possession following Thorson's TD run. The Wildcats forced a fumble by Stanford running back Christian McCaffery and took over possession at the Cardinal 38, but were held to a 48-yard field goal attempt that Mitchell missed.

NOTES: Northwestern played without WR Cameron Dickerson, who was a late scratch from the starting lineup with a lower-body injury. ... Wildcats S Jared McGee left the game in the second quarter with an undisclosed injury. ... The Cardinal haven't won a road season opener since beating Oregon on Sept. 6, 1980. ... Stanford coach David Shaw was a Stanford receiver the last time the Cardinal faced Northwestern in 1994, also played in Evanston, Ill. Shaw caught two passes for 20 yards in the 41-41 tie. ... Stanford senior RG Johnny Caspers went to Glenbard West High School in Glen Ellyn, Ill., just 35 miles from Northwestern's campus.