Football

STANFORD, Calif. — After taking a hit in the third quarter against Stanford on Saturday, senior quarterback TJ Green was taken to the hospital for foot surgery, coach Pat Fitzgerald said.

On a play in Northwestern’s red zone with 11:30 left in the third quarter, Green rolled left out of the pocket and was sacked by two Stanford defenders, Curtis Robinson and Kendall Williamson. Green fumbled on the play and fell to the ground, and after being helped to the sideline he was carted off the field.

“That’s incredibly disappointing for him,” Fitzgerald said. “He worked so hard, he’s done everything you could ask as a teammate, everything you could ask as a young man for the program.”

Green subbed in for sophomore quarterback Hunter Johnson after Johnson threw for only three yards in his first three series. Green then led the Wildcats onto their opponent’s side of the field in each of his only two drives — NU’s (0-1) last drive in the second quarter and the team’s first in the third.

Before he was injured, Green threw for 62 yards on 6-for-10 passing. He took over for Johnson with 3:12 remaining in the second quarter and led the Cats on a nine-play, 41-yard drive before a turnover on downs, which at the time was the team’s longest possession of the game. After the second half kickoff, Green took the team down to Stanford’s 5-yard line, but on the sack Green fumbled the ball over to the Cardinal.

Green threw for more yards in these two series than Johnson did the entirety of the game, and Stanford defensive lineman Casey Toohill said losing Green had a noticeable impact on the Cats.

“It’s always hard when you have momentum and then you lose someone who’s driving that momentum,” Toohill said.

Senior wide receiver Bennett Skowronek said he called Green, his cousin, after the game, and Skowronek added Green is a “fighter” who will work to come back from this injury.

“I was kind of just speechless,” Skowronek said about his conversation with Green. “We were crying on the phone and my heart breaks for him because of how hard he’s worked and everything he’s done.”

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