Persa expected to play on Saturday against Illinois

FROM KEITH GROLLER

Finally, the long wait appears to be over for Liberty High graduate Dan Persa.

His return to the Northwestern University lineup at quarterback is expected to come on Saturday when the Wildcats play at No. 22 Illinois. We know he has worked extremely hard to get back on the field after his major injury last year and I am sure many Lehigh Valley fans will wish him well on Saturday.

Here's some of the story from The Chicago Tribune, a member of The Tribune Company, which also owns The Morning Call.
NU's Persa ready for Illinois game Saturday
Fitzgerald happy to have his starting QB back
September 26, 2011|By Teddy Greenstein, Chicago Tribune reporter

For the first time this season, Northwestern selected Dan Persa to join teammates at its Monday news conference.

Hey, Bryce McNaul, nice to have your starting quarterback return?

"I won't say it's too good," the Northwestern linebacker replied. "It'll go to his head."

Pat Fitzgerald showed less restraint. Given that Persa (Achilles' tendon) hasn't played in a game since Nov. 13, NU's coach was asked the difference between practice speed and game speed.
I'm not going to overanalyze it," he said. "I think the guy's pretty good. They put his picture on a billboard, so it's pretty cool to get a guy like that back."

Fitzgerald was all business Monday, perhaps because the stakes for Saturday's game against No. 24 Illinois are so high.

The 11 a.m. kickoff in Champaign marks a return to Big Ten play, a date with NU's top rival, the long-, long-awaited return of Persa and the chance to put last year's Wrigley Field debacle "in the rearview," as McNaul put it.

The Wildcats have a 24-hour rule, after which games are flushed. In this case, don't believe it.

NU's defense allowed 519 rushing yards to Illinois, the school's best output since 1944. Mikel Leshoure had 330 alone. If that doesn't tear at the soul of a former All-America middle linebacker like Fitzgerald, nothing will.

And NU quarterback Evan Watkins seemed unprepared to replace the injured Persa.

"Last year we got outmatched," cornerback Jordan Mabin said. "We're focusing on the physicality of the game."

The 2-1 Wildcats got an extra week to prepare for what feels like their second season.

"Everything is zero-zero again," Persa said. "All of our goals are still in front of us."

Game plan: Persa is still listed as an "OR" with Kain Colter on the depth chart, but Fitzgerald said: "I fully anticipate he will play. How much, and all those things, are too be determined based on how the week goes."

Persa showed restraint by not pushing coaches to allow him to play at Army.

"I wanted to come back at the right time," he said, "not rush back into it and put myself in more danger and potentially put my team in a compromised spot."

http://blogs.mcall.com/groller/2011/09/persa-expected-to-play-on-saturday-against-illinois.html