In the final drive of the first half at Air Force two-and-a-half years ago, a 19-year-old, 6-foot-2, 175-pound redshirt freshman replaced a struggling sophomore at quarterback.

Northwestern lost the game 52-3, but it was the beginning of a new era for NU football.

Now two-and-a-half years older, 35 pounds heavier and 34 starts later, NU’s fifth-year senior quarterback, Brett Basanez, is five wins away from becoming the winningest NU quarterback in the modern era.

“It was pretty intense,” Basanez said of his first game. “It was awesome. Being able to be on the field with those guys, it’s like a dream come true. You practice so hard, you kind of get adjusted to the game. And you get in the game and it’s just awesome.”

Basanez also is 529 yards from becoming NU’s all-time passing yards leader, 498 yards from the total offense record and 45 completions from the record.

“His game-management skills are as good as I’ve ever been around,” coach Randy Walker said. “He understands football, he understands what to do with the ball.

“I have no doubt he’s going to be a significantly better quarterback next year than he was last year.”

The Arlington Heights, Ill., native has started 28 consecutive games for the Wildcats, which is the fourth-longest streak in the country.

Basanez came to NU as the USA Today Illinois Player of the Year and the 10th-best quarterback in the country as ranked by ESPN recruiting expert Tom Lemming. He turned down offers from Miami (Fla.), Penn State, Illinois, Vanderbilt and Missouri to join NU.

“It’s obviously a great institution, it’s right next to Chicago, it’s close to home for me and they play in the Big Ten,” Basanez said. “When I was getting recruited, Zak (Kustok) was here and they won the Big Ten. It was the best of everything for me. You don’t really want to go to a school where it’s just football or just academics, and here it’s both.”

Basanez said his four years have been what he expected when he signed with NU, but he also said he wasn’t prepared for the aura of the Big Ten.

“You can’t really realize what it’s like playing in front of 100,000 at Penn State or 100,000 at Ohio State and just playing in this tradition,” Basanez said. “Playing in this conference that’s so good is the biggest surprise, even though you kind of know about it already.”

The three-year starting quarterback has gone from competing for his job every season to mentoring his replacement.

Backup redshirt freshman quarterback C.J. Bach