Four quarterbacks got meaningful reps in the rare Week 1 Big Ten matchup Thursday night between Purdue and Northwestern. The win was up for grabs until the final few minutes in a slow-paced eventual Northwestern victory, by a score of 31-27. The Wildcats victory marked their ninth straight win, going back to 2017, and saw Purdue drop its first matchup since it lost to Northwestern on Nov. 11 of last year.
Northwestern quarterback Clayton Thorson, coming off an ACL injury last year, got the start in West Lafayette and finished the night completing 16-of-27 for 172 yards. Backup T.