Northwestern quarterback Clayton Thorson suffered a gruesome knee injury in Friday evening’s Music City Bowl, forcing the junior gunslinger to be carted off the field.

With the offense on the field, the Wildcats dialed up a flea flicker, that had Jeremy Larkin throw a pass to Thorson along the sideline deep inside Kentucky territory. The play worked to perfection, getting Northwestern to the 5-yard line. But on the play, Thorson’s knee buckled and he was unable to leave the field on his own power.

There was no word on the severity of the injury when Thorson was carted off the field, but it appeared to be a fairly significant injury.

Thorson already made an announcement that he would return to Northwestern for his senior season earlier this year. The junior quarterback threw for 2,809 yards and 15 touchdowns while completing nearly 61 percent of his passes. He also had eight rushing touchdowns.

After watching the replay, we just hope that Thorson is able to be under center for the Wildcats by the start of the 2018 season.