ESPN

We're taking a page from our friends at the ACC blog and starting a series that examines whether certain Big Ten teams will be contenders or pretenders in the 2013 season. The series won't include Ohio State, Michigan or Nebraska, three teams that, in our view, have earned the "contender" label entering the fall. For each team, we'll make a case for why they're contenders and pretenders and provide our final verdict (a final verdict in late April, mind you). We invite you to vote on whether a team is a contender or a pretender or send us your thoughts for mailbags here and here.

First up, the Northwestern Wildcats.

Why they're contenders: Not only did Northwestern win 10 games last season, including its first bowl in 64 years, but the Wildcats return the core pieces from the 2012 squad on both sides of the ball. Fifteen starters return, including the dynamic offensive backfield of quarterback Kain Colter and Venric Mark, an All-Big Ten running back and an All-America all-purpose player. Quarterback Trevor Siemian, who shared time with Colter and improved as the season progressed, also comes back. The key receivers are back and could see enhanced roles in a more balanced offense, and tight end Dan Vitale, a weapon down the stretch last season, is just a true sophomore. Northwestern's speed-based recruiting efforts on defense are starting to pay off, especially in the secondary, where the team returns standouts Ibraheim Campbell and Nick VanHoose and boasts good depth at both cornerback and safety. Defensive end Tyler Scott, the Big Ten's leading returning sacks leader, is back, along with several exciting young edge rushers. Special teams once again should be a strength with Mark and Jeff Budzien, the 2012 Big Ten co-kicker of the year, back in the fold.

Why they're pretenders: It all starts up front, and Northwestern has question marks on both of its lines entering the fall. The Wildcats must replace three starting offensive linemen, including All-Big Ten guard Brian Mulroe. Several potential starters sat out spring practice, and while that gave young players increased reps, the first-team line will have limited time to bond before the season kicks off. Northwestern also is a little thin at defensive tackle after losing Brian Arnfelt. The biggest potential drawback is a schedule that definitely gets tougher and could be significantly more challenging than the 2012 slate. Northwestern faces Ohio State for the first time since 2008, and Wisconsin returns to the slate as well after a two-year break. The Wildcats open Big Ten play with the Buckeyes (home) and the Badgers (road). And while Northwestern has established itself as a solid Big Ten program under Pat Fitzgerald, it hasn't handled high expectations well, like in 2001 (preseason Big Ten favorites) and 2011.

Final verdict: The schedule is definitely a factor, but if Northwestern can split its first two Big Ten contests, it should be right in the mix for the Legends Division title. The Wildcats host the Michigan schools, and although they visit Nebraska, they won in Lincoln with an inferior team in 2011. Some still don't take Northwestern seriously because they can't shed the perception created in the program's dark days. Those days are over, the talent is much better and most of it returns. Northwestern is a contender.

What we learned from the seven Big Ten bowl games:

1. Need for speed (and skill): The narrative about the Big Ten being slow is tiresome and oversimplified. But the bowls showed it's not entirely inaccurate. Whether it was Michigan struggling to contain South Carolina's Ace Sanders, Minnesota getting burned by Texas Tech's passing game, Wisconsin desperately lacking a game-breaker versus Stanford or whatever it was Purdue attempted to do against Oklahoma State, the bowl games exposed a need for several teams to increase their overall athleticism at the skill positions. Big Ten teams came close to winning in four of the league's five postseason losses. The difference in those games often comes down to one or two playmakers, and the league could use a few more.

2. Northwestern has become a complete team: The Wildcats have often brought good offenses into their bowl games. They usually have not been as good on defense or suffered from special-teams problems. Northwestern won its first bowl game since 1949 because Pat Fitzgerald finally crafted a complete team this season. The defense limited Mississippi State to just 106 passing yards and intercepted Tyler Russell four times in a 34-20 victory in the TaxSlayer.com Gator Bowl. The offense featured a balanced attack between its rushing and passing games, and Northwestern had one of the best punt returners (Venric Mark) and field goal kickers (Jeff Budzien) in the business. In a season when many Big Ten teams lacked essential elements (defense at Nebraska, running game at Michigan, passing game at Michigan State, etc.), the Wildcats managed to put it all together for the league's best bowl win.

3. Quarterback competitions are on for Spartans, Badgers: The biggest surprise of the league's bowl season might have been that Connor Cook led Michigan State's game-winning drive against TCU in the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl. Cook, a redshirt freshman, hadn't played since Week 2, and it appeared that Andrew Maxwell had the quarterback job locked down despite an inconsistent season. But after a poor performance by Maxwell and the spark provided by Cook, the Spartans now have an open competition at quarterback that will be fascinating to watch this offseason. The competition is also on at Wisconsin, where Curt Phillips is expected to get a sixth year from the NCAA and battle with sophomore Joel Stave, who appeared for two plays in the Rose Bowl after breaking his collarbone against Michigan State. Stave is a better passer, while Phillips showed some good wheels versus Stanford. There's a new coaching staff in place to give each a clean slate. Who wins at each school is important, because both the Spartans and Badgers need to improve their passing attacks to contend for division titles in 2013.

4. Minnesota is on the way up: The Gophers suffered a heartbreaking loss against Texas Tech in the Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas, where they led 31-24 with less than 90 seconds to play but somehow lost 34-31. Yet the overall takeaway remains a positive one for Jerry Kill's team. After struggling mightily to move the ball down the stretch of the Big Ten season, Minnesota pounded the Red Raiders for 222 rushing yards, while freshman Philip Nelson threw two touchdown passes. Kill must find and develop more wide receivers, but Minnesota showed the physical style the team is capable of when its offensive line is healthy. The Legends Division will be deep in 2013, but the Gophers should continue to make gains.

5. Darrell Hazell and Bo Pelini need to focus on defense: New Purdue coach Hazell saw just how much work awaits him in the Boilermakers' 58-14 thrashing by Oklahoma State in the Heart of Dallas Bowl. Purdue gave up at least 34 points seven times in 2012 and loses its best player in defensive tackle Kawann Short. There's no doubt where Hazell's focus must be in his first spring in West Lafayette. The same goes for Nebraska, which surrendered 115 points in its final two games and a staggering average of 53.5 points in its four losses. Pelini will replace eight defensive starters and is optimistic that some young, athletic players will step into those roles and restore the Blackshirts' honor. The Huskers -- which scored 31 points in a little more than three quarters against Georgia in the Capital One Bowl -- should again field one of the most prolific offenses in the country next season. It won't matter if that defense doesn't figure out some answers.

As you may have noticed, we weren't exactly big fans of the official All-Big Ten teams that were announced last month.

We don't claim to know more about football than the league's coaches, not for a second. But after watching every Big Ten game all season long, we found ourselves scratching our heads at some choices that didn't seem to jibe with what we were seeing. Well, it's time to put our money where our mouths are and offer our official ESPN.com picks for the 2012 All-Big Ten team. Now you can argue with our choices, which look like this:

Offense

QB: Braxton Miller, Ohio State
RB: Montee Ball, Wisconsin
RB: Le'Veon Bell, Michigan State
WR: Allen Robinson, Penn State
WR: Kenny Bell, Nebraska
TE: Kyle Carter, Penn State
OT: Taylor Lewan, Michigan
OG: Spencer Long, Nebraska
C: Matt Stankiewitch, Penn State
OG: Brian Mulroe, Northwestern
OT: Jack Mewhort, Ohio State

Defense

DL: John Simon, Ohio State
DL: Johnathan Hankins, Ohio State
DL: Jordan Hill, Penn State
LB: Michael Mauti, Penn State
LB: Ryan Shazier, Ohio State
LB: Jake Ryan, Michigan
LB: Chris Borland, Wisconsin
DB: Bradley Roby, Ohio State
DB: Ciante Evans, Nebraska
DB: Darqueze Dennard, Michigan State
DB: Daimion Stafford, Nebraska

Special teams

PK: Jeff Budzien, Northwestern
P: Mike Sadler, Michigan State
All-purpose: Venric Mark, Northwestern

The first thing you might notice with our team is that we're lining up as a 3-4 defense. We decided to go with only three defensive linemen and four linebackers because linebacker was such a strong position for the league this year. And even with four, we still left off very worthy players such as Wisconsin's Mike Taylor, Penn State's Gerald Hodges and Michigan State's Max Bullough. Going with three down linemen meant we excluded Purdue's Kawann Short, a great player who was slowed by injuries during the heart of the Boilers' schedule. ... One of our toughest calls was at tight end. You can make a great case for either Carter or Michigan State's Dion Sims, and their numbers are incredibly close. ... We chose four defensive backs instead of two corners and two safeties, just as the Big Ten does with its official teams. And we were happy to do so since we thought the safety position was a little lacking this year overall. And since Evans is a nickelback, it kind of works, anyway. ... We went with Michigan State's Bell in a close call over Northwestern's Mark but still got Mark on our team as the all-purpose player, which fits his skills since he is a top-flight punt returner. ... Ohio State leads the way with six selections, followed by Penn State with five and Nebraska with four.

Run it back ...

Team of the week: Penn State. No matter what you might think about the school and the football program after the Jerry Sandusky scandal, it was hard not to root for the current Nittany Lions players to finally get a win after so many obstacles. Penn State busted out with an easy, feel-good 34-7 win over Navy. The Midshipmen are hard to root against as well, but this one time was OK.

Game of the week: You might have missed it, because it ended late and was on at the same time as much bigger games. And, OK, it was Indiana. But the Hoosiers' game against Ball State was the most exciting Big Ten contest of the weekend. The teams traded touchdowns in the first half, with Ball State leading 25-24 at the break. Indiana looked done when it trailed 38-25 late in the fourth quarter and starting quarterback Cameron Coffman went out with a hip pointer. But freshman Nate Sudfeld threw a 70-yard touchdown pass and then led the team on another scoring drive with 49 seconds left. Ah, but the Hoosiers made the PlayStation mistake of scoring too fast. Ball State completed a controversial, hard-to-believe pass to the IU 25 with one second left, and Steven Schott booted the game-winner as time expired. It was a tough, tough loss for Kevin Wilson's team, but a fun game to watch.

Biggest play: If it's late in a close game, the last thing a defense wants to see is Braxton Miller scrambling. The Ohio State quarterback burned Wisconsin with a long touchdown throw after things broke down last year, and he did so against Cal on Saturday with a 72-yard strike to an unbelievably open Devin Smith for the game with 3:26 left. Safeties have to respect Miller's explosive running ability, but they get can burned when they leave their receivers. That's why the Miller scramble is becoming one of the most dangerous late-game plays to defend.

Best call: Wisconsin was supposed to be in punt safe mode in the third quarter against Utah State, and its returners would usually call for a fair catch in the situation Kenzel Doe found himself in. But Doe, who was only returning punts because Jared Abbrederis was injured, saw a small opening on the sideline and decided to go for it. He was in the end zone 82 yards later, finally giving the Badgers the spark they needed to eventually beat the Aggies 16-14. Doe? More like Woo-Hoo!

Big Men on Campus (Offense): How about some love for the backups this week? Minnesota's Max Shortell stepped in for the injured MarQueis Gray and threw for 188 yards and three touchdowns, helping the Gophers fend off Western Michigan for a 3-0 start. And as Iowa's running back curse reached new, ludicrous heights, walk-on Mark Weisman came out of nowhere to run for 113 yards and three touchdowns as part of the Hawkeyes' much-needed win over Northern Iowa.

Big Man on Campus (Defense): Minnesota cornerback Michael Carter had an 18-yard interception return to set up a touchdown early. He also broke up Western Michigan quarterback Alex Carder's pass late to help preserve the 28-23 victory.

Big Man on Campus (Special teams): It's hard to run 99 offensive plays before scoring your first touchdown, but that's what Northwestern did against Boston College. Luckily, they had kicker Jeff Budzien, who made all five of his field goal attempts to give the Wildcats all the points they'd need in a 22-13 victory.

Worst hangover: Michigan State, by a mile. The Spartans were carrying the banner for the Big Ten for one week before they tripped, broke the pole and set the flag on fire against Notre Dame. Although Michigan State bounced back from a bad loss to the Irish last year, Saturday's offensive showing was so inept that it makes you wonder if this team can overcome those limitations going forward. Just a bad, bad performance on a national stage.

Strangest moment: Playing UMass is good for your offense, and just about everyone got involved in Michigan's 63-13 win. That included left tackle Taylor Lewan, who got to live out an offensive lineman's dream by recovering a Denard Robinson fumble for a touchdown. Or did he? At least one teammate claimed that center Elliott Mealer actually recovered the ball. And Robinson said Lewan was mad about his score because the play broke down and he didn't get to complete his block. But the box score says it was a Lewan touchdown, and that's something we probably won't see again.

EVANSTON, Ill. -- Here’s a quick look at the Northwestern Wildcats' 22-13 win over the Boston College Eagles at Ryan Field on Saturday.

How it happened: Northwestern kicker Jeff Budzien tied a single-game school record with five field goals Saturday to lift the Wildcats to their third consecutive win. Budzien made field goals of 42, 20, 29 and 41 yards in the first half and hit one from 19 yards in the second half. Northwestern running back Mike Trumpy put the game out of reach with a 27-yard touchdown run with 1:37 left. The Wildcats totaled 560 offensive yards and were 12 of 19 on third down. Boston College accounted for the game’s first touchdown when Chase Rettig connected with Johnathan Coleman for a 31-yard score in the second quarter. Boston College kicker Nate Freese made field goals of 21 and 34 yards.

What it means: The Wildcats improved to 3-0 for the first time since 2010. Last season, Northwestern lost in Week 3 and went on to have a five-game losing streak.

Outside the box: Northwestern running back Venric Mark was on his way to his second consecutive 100-yard rushing game, putting up 77 yards before leaving the game with a lower-body injury in the second half. The last Northwestern running back to rush for back-to-back 100-yard games was Tyrell Sutton.

Up next: Northwestern will host South Dakota (1-1) next week. Boston College has next week off before playing Clemson on Sept. 29.

Did Keon Lyn get too greedy, or did the officials overreact to Trevor Siemian's timely tumble?

Regardless, Syracuse's 13th and final penalty of the game was ultimately the one that did the Orange in during Saturday's opener at the Carrier Dome, where their 22-point comeback went for naught in a 42-41 loss to Northwestern.

Lyn was charged with a late hit on Siemian, the Wildcats' quarterback, with less than a minute left on a third-and-15 play deep in Syracuse territory. With new life, Siemian hit Demetrius Fields for a 9-yard touchdown pass with 44 seconds remaining, and Jeff Budzien's extra point accounted for the final and decisive points.

The miscues took away from a monster day by Orange quarterback Ryan Nassib, who set school records with 44 completions (on 64 attempts) and 472 yards passing. He tossed four touchdown passes and one interception, leading Syracuse back from a 35-13 deficit to take a 41-35 lead with 2:40 remaining.

The Wildcats had rattled off 28 unanswered points of their own before the Orange's comeback, but their secondary gave up big play after big play.

Syracuse had 596 yards of total offense to Northwestern's 337, but the Orange turned the ball over three times.

Venric Mark returned a punt 82 yards for a Northwestern touchdown in the first quarter, and Chi Chi Ariguzo recovered a Jerome Smith third-quarter fumble and brought it back 33 yards.

Nassib, whose four touchdown tosses all came in the second half, played exactly how you would expect from a senior. But miscues elsewhere proved too much to overcome for Syracuse, which won't have a chance next week against USC unless it shores up some of those loose ends.

EVANSTON, Ill. -- The news out of Northwestern on Monday was there was no news on quarterback Dan Persa.

Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald still was unsure who his starting quarterback would be come Saturday’s season opener against Boston College.

“Danny’s doing great,” Fitzgerald said. “He keeps improving every day. I feel confident he’ll continue going down that track, and we’ll see how things go and progress throughout the course of the week.

“Like I said I think 1,000,432 times, he’s a guy that’s going to do everything he can in his power to get healthy and be ready to play. If he’s ready to go, he’ll start. If he’s not, he won’t. Earth-shattering statement there.”

Fitzgerald said he feels confident whether Persa or sophomore quarterback Kain Colter takes the field on Saturday.

“We have certainty for us at the quarterback position,” Fitzgerald said. “We’re good. We’re great, actually. We have full confidence in whatever direction we go.”

Persa was unavailable for comment on Monday. He was expected to speak with Northwestern’s other captains during Monday’s press conference, but he had to attend a rehab session.

Kickers decision: While there’s still a question regarding the quarterback position, Fitzgerald did make a decision about his kickers.

Sophomore Jeff Budzien will be the Wildcats starting placekicker, and junior Steve Flaherty will be in charge of kickoffs.

“Frankly, neither one of them lost the job,” Fitzgerald said. “They both did a really good job. I couldn’t give Steve a specific reason why he’s not doing placekicking. I couldn’t give Jeff a specific reason. I have great confidence in both of them to execute either job.”

Freshmen starters: Wide receiver Christian Jones and superback Jack Konopka were the only two true freshmen to make Northwestern’s two-deep depth chart.

Jones was an ESPNU Top 150 recruit, but tore his ACL before his high school senior season and Arkansas, Baylor, Stanford and others backed off recruiting him.

“Ooh, the injury affected recruiting,” Jones said prior to Signing Day last season “It put a lot of pressure on the schools recruiting me. It was one thing to realize whether they would stay with me or not because of the injury. They went over the stats and facts about it whether I was good enough to stick with me. Stanford and a bunch of others schools caused me to reevaluate who was really there for me.”

Fitzgerald stayed with him, and now Northwestern looks to benefit from it.

“Christian was up here this summer,” Fitzgerald said. “I think that time really helped him from the standpoint of maturation in our offense, be able to throw and do different things with our quarterbacks and what those guys do in the summer. I thought he was able to gain a lot of trust from the quarterbacks. It showed from the minute he stepped on the field.”

Konopka, who played at Fremd High School, was recruited as an offensive tackle, but he was moved to superback out of necessity.

“We had a couple guys a little dinged up,” Fitzgerald said. “He took the role, grasped it and ran with it.”

Opening success: Fitzgerald has never lost a season opener in his five years as a head coach. The Wildcats also haven’t faced much competition in their season openers.

Their last five season openers have been against Vanderbilt (2010), Towson (2009), Syracuse (2008), Northeastern (2007) and Miami-Ohio (2009). Only Miami-Ohio had a winning record the season before playing Northwestern and all of them had losing seasons the season of their game against the Wildcats.

Boston College is coming off a 7-6 season and a bowl appearance.

“Toughest challenge we’ve had in an opener since I’ve been coach,” Fitzgerald said. “There’s no doubt about that.”

Injury report: Redshirt freshman linebacker Collin Ellis recently broke his hand and is expected to be out at least two weeks.

KENOSHA, Wis. -- Northwestern's Pat Fitzgerald is the last coach who needs to be told the importance of a reliable kicker.

Northwestern’s kickers have provided an abundance of happiness and suffering for Fitzgerald throughout his five years as head coach. Fifteen Wildcats games over that time have been decided by four points or less, and Northwestern went 10-5 in those games. It’s occurred 10 times over the last two seasons.

That’s why this preseason Fitzgerald is taking his time to decide between sophomore Jeff Budzien and junior Steve Flaherty as his starting placekicker to replace Stefan Demos, who graduated after starting two seasons.

Fitzgerald hopes to finalize the spot sometime in the next week, but his evaluation isn’t complete just yet.

“Who can we trust to do what we want them to do when we want them to do it and who has earned the trust of their teammates?” Fitzgerald said after a recent practice. “Both Steve and Jeff have done that. It’s a neck-and-neck race.

“Both guys have really struck the ball well. Are they 100 percent? No, nor do I expect them to be. They’re pretty darn close. I’m very pleased with where they are now. Even beyond that, mentally, they’re in a good place mentally.”

The kicking competition has been going on since last season. With Demos on his way out, Fitzgerald began measuring the two kickers during last season’s TicketCity Bowl practices. Fitzgerald continued his evaluation during the team’s spring practices and now is finishing it up with fall camp.

The two kickers do only have four opportunities each practice to prove themselves in live action, but, over time, Fitzgerald has been able to see them plenty.

“It’s even a harder balance not to over-kick them,” Fitzgerald said. “It’s all of a sudden like a pitcher where they get a dead arm. You don’t want them to have a dead leg going into the opener.

“I would say it’s less the micro and more the body of work going back to the TicketCity Bowl [that will decide the winner].”

Both kickers have proven they can be consistent. Both have missed only a few kicks in practice and have been accurate from a variety of distances. Both were perfect in Saturday’s scrimmage.

After the team’s final practice in Kenosha, Wis. last week, both felt they had showed enough to win the job.

“I feel good,” Budzien said. “I’m striking the ball really well. I trained this summer like I was the starting guy. I’ve talked to myself like I was the starting guy. That’s in coach Fitz’s hands, but I think I’ve done anything I can to do that.”

Flaherty was just as confident.

“I started camp 21-for-21 and was 21-of-22 the first week,” Flaherty said. “Wednesday was my first bad practice, and I missed two. I’ve only missed four or five throughout the camp.”

Fitzgerald doesn’t mind seeing his kickers miss a few attempts. He actually prefers them to, so he can see how they react to it. Fitzgerald knows the mental part of kicking can be just as important as the physical.

“I want to see if that kind of competition is going to make them crack a little bit,” Fitzgerald said. “Is it all of a sudden one bad kick or three bad? Are they able to flush the experience of some negativity and adversity? And vice versa, you’re rolling and all of a sudden you might mishit it, it might be a bad operation, bad snap. How does that impact you? Those things are going to happen in a game, too.”

A kicker’s psyche can be tested as much when they’re away from the field as on it. With only four kicks a day, there’s plenty of time to analyze how their day went.

“If you miss one that day, it kind of does stay with you the rest of the day because there’s not another opportunity to make up for it,” Flaherty said. “When you have a good day, it’s a good day the rest of the day.”

Most players would hate to have that much time on their hands to think, but Budzien actually enjoys it.

“I think that’s where the mental toughness shows,” Budzien said. “You kick maybe 20 practice kicks and then you have four live. If you get lucky or unlucky for four, it’s about whether you’re mentally tough or not. It’s kind of cool.”

Like any positional battle, Budzien and Flaherty are out to win the job. They focus on themselves when they take the field and want to beat the other. Off it, they rejoin the team’s other specialists and carry on with their friendship.

“That 15-20 minutes of the day we’re on the field kicking, it’s a little less friendly,” Flaherty said. “But the rest of the day, we’re hanging out with the specials.”

“It’s tough,” Budzien said. “It’s pretty cutthroat on the field. We spend too much time together to not be friends. I root for him every time, and I know he roots for me. As specialists, we’re joking around and talking about other stuff. Luckily, we don’t always have to talk about it and can get away from it a little bit.

“When it’s on, it’s on. That’s what I love about being a kicker. That’s what gets my motor running, that kind of competition. Who’s up one or whatever? That’s why I kick.”

EVANSTON, Ill. -- With snow on the ground, temperatures at the freezing level and the sun still waiting to make its first appearance of the day, nothing about 6 a.m. Monday indicated spring had arrived on Northwestern’s campus.

Just don’t say anything to the Wildcats football team.

Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald and his team assembled before sunrise Monday and held their first of 15 spring football practices.

Although sophomore running back Mike Trumpy may have been delirious after the three-hour morning practice, he sounded as if he enjoyed being back out on the field even it was March 7 and so early in the morning.

“It was so much fun,” Trumpy said. “I love practicing. It doesn’t bother me we to wake up at five in the morning. I love it.”

Coming off a disappointing loss in the TicketCity Bowl, Fitzgerald has said there will be competition at every position in the spring, but it’s especially expected at running back. Trumpy, sophomore Adonis Smith and senior Jacob Schmidt are all in the running for the starting role next season.

The running game went through its ups and downs throughout last season. Arby Fields was expected to be the starter, but struggled early and left the program before the end of the season. Trumpy made the most of his chance, with two 100-yard rushing games before fracturing his wrist against Illinois and sitting out the last two games. Schmidt also was hampered last season with an ankle injury. Smith showed promised as a freshman and rushed for 61 yards in the bowl game.

“We all bring something different to the table,” said Trumpy, who practiced with a protective cast on his right wrist. “We all work hard and have a good time. I think it’s going to be fun competing with everyone.
“It’s the Big Ten. There’s never one running back. It’s always going to be multiple running backs. Someone’s going to get dinged up. Last year, we had I think four running backs go down at one point of the season. Everyone’s got to be ready. Everyone’s got to compete every single day and work hard every single day because you never know what’s going to happen.”

Fitzgerald preached the same message about his quarterbacks. While senior Dan Persa still rehabs after rupturing his Achilles tendon last season and will be limited in his practice participation, Fitzgerald is evaluating sophomore Evan Watkins, sophomore Kain Colter and redshirt freshman Trevor Siemian for his spring starting quarterback.

Watkins and Colter both saw time in the Wildcats’ final three games last season after Persa’s injury against Iowa.

“Dan’s out,” Fitzgerald said. “With that being said, now is the time. Last year after the Iowa game, we didn’t have a chance; Evan was next up. We decided we’d move forward with Kain. Those two guys, their playing was predicated based on success. We went 0-3. Neither one of those guys is a starting quarterback. We add Trevor to the mixer.

“One of those three guys has to emerge to be the starting quarterback this spring. They’re going to work their butts off and compete, and I’m look forward to watching.”

Placekicker is another position up for grabs. Stefan Demos had the role locked down for the past four seasons, but with his graduation either sophomore Jeff Budzien or junior Steve Flaherty will take over.
On Monday, Budzien went 4 for 4 on field-goal attempts, and Flaherty was 3 for 4.

“It’s about consistency,” Fitzgerald said. “I would love for Jeff and Steve to both have a role.”

Senior wide receiver Jeremy Ebert thought the first day went as well as could be.

“We came out a little sloppy,” Ebert said. “You know, first day, it was expected. But I thought for a first day, it was pretty good.

“We’ve experienced this before. It’s not our first rodeo. We have a sour taste in our mouth. We have a lot of guys coming back, and we’re trying to do something big this year.”