Pat Fitzgerald provides testy response to question about holding starters out of second half

Northwestern improved to 8-4 with a win over Illinois, but the final score got too close for comfort late in the fourth quarter.

The Wildcats carried a 24-6 lead into the fourth quarter against the Illini. However, Illinois scored 10 points in the final quarter to cut it to a one-possession game with under eight minutes to go.

Despite Illinois making the game interesting, head coach Pat Fitzgerald indicated after the game that he had no plan to put starting QB Clayton Thorson back in the game. For Fitzgerald, he was going to stick to his plan of keeping the QB healthy for next week’s B1G Championship Game matchup with Ohio State:

Did NU coach Fitzgerald consider putting Thorson back in when Illini drew close: '100 percent no. A million percent no. Infinity no.' Even tho plan worked, he isn't happy being questioned about game plan to keep starters out 2d half. 'You're wasting my time," Fitz told reporters

— Shannon Ryan (@SRyanAthletic) November 25, 2018

Fitzgerald later reiterated that he was confident Northwestern would be able to secure the win with the personnel on the field in the second half:

Pat Fitzgerald on subbing out starters in 2H: “I thought we could win with the personnel we had in the game.”

— Jeremy Werner (@JWerner247) November 25, 2018

Thankfully, Fitzgerald’s plan did work with Northwestern securing the win and improving to 8-4. Now the team can turn its attention to Ohio State who will be coming off a 62-39 thrashing of No. 4 Michigan.

Paul Harvey

Paul is a lifelong fan and student of all things college football. He has been covering college football since 2017 and the B1G since 2018.