The morning started out with violence. An hour before Northwestern was to play its annual scrimmage at UW-Parkside in Kenosha, Wis., the skies opened up and a downpour ensued with all the requisite lightning and thunder. Once the storm passed, the scrimmage was delayed by only 20 minutes.

Freshman quarterback Zack Oliver saw a good chunk of playing time and tossed a touchdown to Drew Moulton near the end of the scrimmage, and kicker Steve Flaherty knocked in a 50-yard field goal to finish the scrimmage.

The Wildcats' offense scored three touchdowns and three field goals in 12 drives. There were 15 starters who did not play, which is nothing unusal in a scrimmage. And quarterback Dan Persa also was one of those starters who sat out.

"I thought after the delay they came out with a great attitude," coach Pat Fitzgerald said. "Probably my biggest negative was the defense. We had come opportunities to make some plays, but we didn't. We have to get the ball back. We have two big weeks left and you have to look at this as the beginning. Two weeks from today we are going to be in the first quarter of our first game [at Boston College]."