Northwestern overcomes key injuries to beat California
BY SETH GRUEN Staff Reporter
Northwestern's Treyvon Green runs for a touchdown against California during the first quarter of an NCAA college football game on Saturday, Aug. 31, 2013, in Berkeley, Calif. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)
BERKELEY, Calif. — Linebacker Collin Ellis returned two interceptions for touchdowns, superback Dan Vitale caught five passes for 101 yards and Treyvon Green ran for 123 yards and two touchdowns in Northwestern’s 44-30 victory over California on Saturday night.
But it was the team’s health that was foremost on the minds of the Wildcats after the game.
Northwestern suffered two injuries in the first half, most notably to starting quarterback Kain Colter. He appeared to hurt his shoulder on the first play of the game but stayed in for a second. Colter then was hit again and left the field.
Colter was taken to the locker room and returned to the sideline shortly after, but he didn’t return to the game. He officially was ruled out at halftime after being re-evaluated.
Cornerback Daniel Jones also appeared to suffer a serious injury with 20 seconds left in the first half. The junior looked to have hurt his right leg on a play in the Wildcats’ end zone. Jones was called for pass interference.
Cal had second-and-five on the Northwestern 27-yard line and looked to throw the ball deep. Jones seemed to have trouble locating the ball, jumped and appeared to land awkwardly on his leg.
Jones was carted off the field and taken to the locker room. He was ruled out for the rest of the game.
True freshman defensive back Matthew Harris suffered an upper-body injury on the opening kickoff and also was ruled out for the rest of the game at halftime.
Email: sgruen@suntimes.com
Twitter: @SethGruen
