Northwestern All-Quarter Century Team: Offense
With 25 years already behind us, we are heading into the second quarter of the 21st century. So we thought we would look back on the first quarter century of Northwestern football and hand out some accolades.
The century began with Northwestern earning a share of the Big Ten title in 2000, the eighth in the program’s history. That’s still the last one, but the Wildcats won Big Ten West titles and made the conference championship game in both 2018 and 2020, falling to Ohio State each time. The Cats also snapped a nine-bowl losing streak when they won the 2013 Gator Bowl; they’ve claimed five of six bowl games since and are now 6-8 in bowls this century.
Overall, the Wildcats have gone an unbelievably even 153-152 in the new century. They enjoyed three 10-win seasons in that span (2012, 2015, 2017), one ugly one-win campaign (2022) and posted a record of .500 or better 14 times in 25 years. Not bad.
So we’re going to take a look back and name our All-Quarter Century Team, the best Wildcats at each position over the last 25 years. We’ll start with the first-team offense.
QB Dan Persa (2008-11)
Persa set the gold standard for Northwestern quarterback play in 2010 with a season of sublime efficiency. After waiting three years to get that starting job, he completed an amazing 73.5% of his passes for 2,581 passing yards, 15 touchdowns and just four interceptions and was named first-team All-Big Ten. He still holds the Northwestern single-season records for yards per completion (12.64), pass efficiency rating (165.27) and TD-to-INT ratio, among other categories. He also ran for 519 yards and accounted for 61% of the team’s total offense (3,100 of 5,084 yards).
Persa suffered a season-ending Achilles injury while celebrating throwing the game-winning touchdown pass against Iowa in Week 10 and missed the last three games of the season (all losses). He came back as a senior in 2011 but was never the same again.
RB Justin Jackson (2014-17)
“The Ballcarrier” owns every major Northwestern career rushing mark, including rushing attempts (1,142), rushing yards (5,440), rushing touchdowns (41), all-purpose yards (6,298) and total touchdowns (42). Jackson’s greatest accomplishment, however, is rushing for 1,000 yards in all four of his seasons wearing purple, a testament to his dependability, durability and consistency. He is one of just two backs in Big Ten history to do that; the other one is Wisconsin Heisman winner Ron Dayne.
Jackson was drafted in the seventh round of the 2018 NFL draft by the Chargers and played five seasons in the NFL (four in LA, one in Detroit), amassing 1,210 rushing yards, 609 receiving yards and six total touchdowns.
WR Austin Carr (2013-16)
Carr had a storybook career, starting as a walkon and then taking home the Richter-Howard Award as the Big Ten wide receiver of the year in 2016, when he had a season for the ages. After redshirting his first season and catching 20 balls through three years, Carr became an unstoppable force in 2016, becoming just the third player since 1990 to lead the Big Ten in receptions (90), receiving yards (1,247) and touchdowns (12) in the same season. Those numbers earned Carr school records for yardage and TDs (tied), and placed him second (tied) for catches, and earned him first-team all-conference honors.
Carr played four seasons in the NFL with the Saints and finished with 13 catches for 133 yards and three TDs.
WR Jeremy Ebert (2008-11)
Ebert was Mr. Dependable for the Wildcats and ranks third all-time in school history in catches (173), yards (2,400) and touchdowns (21), as well as single-season TDs (11). A former high school quarterback, Ebert was just a two-star prospect but played right away as a true freshman and caught 36 passes over his first two years before becoming Northwestern’s go-to guy in 2010-11, when Persa was NU’s starting QB. Ebert had 127 catches for more than 2,000 yards over his final two seasons.
The New England Patriots selected Ebert in the seventh round of the 2012 draft, but he played just one season in the NFL, 2013 with the Jaguars, and caught three passes.
WR Eric Peterman (2005-08)
Another former high school quarterback, Peterman quickly made the transition to wide receiver and played as a true freshman. A steady, reliable slot man with a knack for finding holes in a defense, he wound up playing in 49 career games with 28 starts. He is currently ranked fifth all-time in Northwestern history in receiving yards with 2,011, and eighth with 160 catches, to go along with 12 touchdowns. A special teams standout, he also made 18 tackles and returned 18 punts in his career.
TE Drake Dunsmore (2007-11)
Dunsmore owns the Northwestern career tight end records for catches (143), receiving yards (1,567) and touchdown grabs (14), which is also fourth-most in NU history. He also set single-season school marks for receiving yards (522) and TDs (6) in 2011, when he was became the only NU tight end this century to be named first-team All-Big Ten and took home the inaugural Kwalik-Clark Tight End of the Year award as the best in the conference. His four-touchdown outing against Indiana that season is still a school single-game record.
Dunsmore was picked in the seventh round of the 2012 NFL Draft by Tampa Bay but never played in the NFL.
T Peter Skoronski (2020-22)
Skoronski came into Northwestern as the highest-rated recruit this century, ranked 27th by On3/Rivals, and lived up to the hype – and then some. He started every game at left tackle as a true freshman in 2020 and earned second-team All-Big Ten honors as the Cats won the Big Ten West. He was then named first-team All-Big Ten in both 2021 and 2022 to become the first Northwestern offensive lineman to do it. Skoronski capped off his career in 2022 with another pair of firsts: the first NU lineman to win the Rimington-Pace Big Ten Offensive Lineman of the Year award, and the first Wildcat ever to be named a unanimous First Team All-American.
He was drafted 11th overall in the first round by Tennessee in the 2023 NFL Draft and has started all 31 games for the Titans the last two years.
G Brian Mulroe (2009-12)
Mulroe got his first career start in the 2010 Outback Bowl as a redshirt freshman and went on to start the next 39 in a row at Northwestern. A strong, physical mauler on the interior, Mulroe was an honorable mention All-Big Ten pick as a junior in 2011 and a second-team selection in 2012, when he was the co-captain of the team that broke a 64-year bowl winless streak by winning the 2013 Gator Bowl. Mulroe also won the 2012 Randy Walker Wildcat Warrior Award.
C Austin King (1999-2002)
King, who started 43 of 45 games at Northwestern, made his first start as a true freshman in 1999. He was named honorable mention All-Big Ten the following season, in 2000, when the Wildcats claimed a share of the Big Ten championship and he helped Damien Anderson rush for more than 2,000 yards. King was named honorable mention all-conference the next two seasons and a Wildcat Warrior three times. He was also a team captain as a senior.
A fourth-round draft choice of the Buccaneers in the 2003 NFL Draft, King played three seasons for the Atlanta Falcons.
G Matt Ulrich (2000-04)
Ulrich, aka “Chesty”, was a weight room warrior and three-year starter at guard for the Wildcats. He was a team captain in 2004, when he also earned All-Big Ten honorable mention honors. Ulrich’s strong suit was his strength. He still owns Northwestern program records for the bench press (475 pounds), incline press (425 pounds), squat (715 pounds) and dumbbell military press (120s for seven reps), according to reports.
Ulrich went undrafted but played two years in the NFL, appearing in 10 games for Indianapolis. He was a member of the Colts’ 2006 Super Bowl champions. Tragically, Ulrich passed away in 2023 at the age of 41, leaving behind a wife and four children.
T Rashawn Slater (2017-19)
Slater was a rarity: a guy who played both tackle spots. He started 12 of 13 games at right tackle as a true freshman in 2017 and made the Big Ten All-Freshman team. He then started all 14 games for the Big Ten West division champions in 2018. In 2019, he flipped sides to become the starting left tackle and was named honorable mention All-Big Ten at his new spot.
Slater opted out of the 2020 COVID season but was still drafted 13th overall in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft by the Chargers. He has since started all 51 games for the Chargers and has made two Pro Bowls.
