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104 GOLD AND BLACK ILLUSTRATED He may need to be, and then some, for Northwestern this season because an upgrade is needed offen- sively. Northwestern averaged just 21.2 points in eight Big Ten games, while allowing two dozen sacks — three a game — and throwing four more in- terceptions than touchdowns. From that unit, the quarterback position is now in flux, the offen- sive line overhauled and the wide receivers a frequent target of Coach Pat Fitzgerald's frustrations last year for their inability to get open against tight coverage, something that se- verely limited Northwestern on pass- ing downs. "The wide receiver position is a question mark, not because of what they lost, but just because of how poor they were last year," Vaccher said. "(Fitzgerald) didn't mince words and criticized their play a lot last season. They really have to step it up and that remains to be seen." Northwestern will be inexperi- enced under center, no matter who emerges the winner of the three-way race for the job. Redshirt freshman Clayton Thorson is probably the most talented option and seems to be the odds-on favorite to beat out the more athletic Matt Alviti and upperclass- man Zach Oliver. "He has the best tools out of all of them," Vaccher said of Thorson. While the offense is riddled with uncertainties aside from Jackson — with last year's dreadful punting needing to be shored up, compound- ing matters — the defense is more of a known commodity, led by a proven defensive backfield. In Big Ten play, Northwestern matched Purdue for the fewest sacks of any team in the league last season and was vulnerable against the run all season. But it compensated by generating turnovers, 24 of them total, 17 in Big Ten play. Northwestern will need to make a move on both sides of the ball to break out of its five-win rut of late. It won't be easy to get off to a good start, with the non-conference slate bringing Stanford to Evanston and sending Northwestern to Durham to play Duke. In Big Ten play, road games at Michigan, Nebraska and Wisconsin are daunting and could make a win- ning record in the league an uphill battle. — Brian Neubert Action Jackson Northwestern The star of the show is Justin Jackson, but he'll need help from an offense short on experience. Justin Jackson's 98.9 yards per game were the fourth-most by a Power Five conference freshman in 2014. Oklahoma's Samaje Perine 131.8 Georgia's Nick Chubb 119.0 Arizona's Nick Wilson 105.8 Northwestern's Justin Jackson 98.9 Oregon's Royce Freeman 91.0