The Northwestern news came fast and furious on Tuesday.
Just moments after the program announced that that star running back Cam Porter was out for the season, head coach Pat Fitzgerald shocked everyone by naming Hunter Johnson as the starting quarterback for the Wildcats' season opener.
The fact that Johnson, a fifth-year senior and transfer from Clemson, was named the starter was less surprising than the fact that Fitzgerald elected to name his starting QB almost three weeks before the season opener. The Wildcats' head man had said several times previously that the media would have to wait until the first team trotted onto the field on Sept. 3 to take on Michigan State to know his identity.
But Fitzgerald did an about-face and ended the drama and incessant speculation on Tuesday, after practice. Johnson won the starting job over Ryan Hilinski, the transfer from South Carolina who just arrived in Evanston in April, as well as fellow fifth-year senior Andrew Marty.
Johnson had been getting first-team reps throughout fall camp and had separated himself enough for Fitzgerald to be confident that he was "the guy." Several reports out of Evanston said that he looked sharp in scrimmages and was a much different quarterback than the one fans saw in 2019, when he also started the season opener.
That's certainly good news, as Johnson struggled throughout a disastrous 3-9 2019 season, eventually losing his starting role to backup Aidan Smith. He appeared in six games with five starts that season, completing less than 50% of his passes for 432 yards, with one touchdown and four interceptions. He also rushed for 64 yards and another TD.
Those are certainly not the numbers that engender confidence in a starting quarterback. But Johnson also struggled off the field that season; his ascension came shortly after his mother was diagnosed with breast cancer and began treatments. No one knows how much that weighed on him and affected the former five-star prospect's performance.
Last year was a quiet one for Johnson, who appeared in just two games and didn't attempt a pass or run as grad transfer Peyton Ramsey took control of the offense and led the Wildcats to a 7-2 mark, a Big Ten West championship and a No. 10 final AP ranking.
Johnson had a sizable advantage over Hilinski because of his familiarity with offensive coordinator Mike Bajakian's system. This is his second year in the offense, while Hilinski has been running it for only four months since arriving in Evanston after two years at South Carolina.
The news about Johnson offset the much more troublesome news the program announced about Porter on Tuesday. Both he and tackle Zachary Franks sustained "lower body injuries" and would miss the rest of the season, according to a tweeted release.
Porter, a sophomore, emerged late in the 2020 season as a Justin Jackson-type workhorse for the Wildcats. A punishing, 220-pound downhill runner, Porter carried the ball 73 times for 301 yards and four touchdowns over the last three games as the Wildcats finally found a productive rushing attack.
With him out of the lineup, the Wildcats will have to rely on Evan Hull, freshman Anthony Tyus and grad transfer Andrew Clair of Bowling Green to pick up the rushing slack. Clair, who had more than 2,200 combined rushing and receiving yards in four years at Bowling Green, is by far the most experienced member of the backfield but is learning a new offense. Hull has 495 yards and six TDs in two years at Northwestern, while Tyus, a four-star recruit from Portage (Mich.) Northern, has yet to play a college game.
Franks was expected to battle for the starting right tackle job that Gunnar Vogel occupied last season. Ethan Wiederkehr, who started at right guard last season, has been working at right tackle on the first-team offense in camp, with Charlie Schmidt manning the right guard spot.
