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Northwestern QB listed as doubtful, may be onto fourth-stringer against Minnesota

Kevin Cunningham

By Kevin Cunningham

Published:

Hunter Johnson, a Clemson transfer, started the season at quarterback for Northwestern in 2019. However, the Wildcats needed a bit of a lift offensively against Stanford in the opening game and went to T.J. Green.

Green, then, got hurt. Johnson played the rest of the way in that game.

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Then, as Green was lost for the year because of his injury, Johnson had injury concerns and was shuffled in and out of the lineup going forward. This left the job to Aidan Smith, the third-string QB.

On Thursday night, Northwestern announced that Smith was doubtful. If he doesn’t play, the Wildcats — who are 0-7 in Big Ten play currently — would be onto its fourth-string QB.

Here’s the status report going into the game against Minnesota:

Andrew Marty is next on the depth chart and could be making his first start Saturday against a hungry 9-1 Golden Gophers team. Northwestern could have used all the help it could’ve gotten going into this game as underdogs.

Potentially using your fourth-string QB doesn’t help matters.

Kickoff is set for noon ET on Saturday at Ryan Field. The game will be televised on ABC.

Kevin Cunningham

Kevin covers Big Ten football for Saturday Tradition.