David Braun announces Jack Lausch as Northwestern starter, benches Mike Wright
Northwestern head coach David Braun announced Monday that redshirt sophomore Jack Lausch will start against Eastern Illinois this week.
Lausch will replace Mississippi State and Vanderbilt transfer Mike Wright, who started the first two games of the season but completed only 38-of-66 attempts (57.6%) while throwing for a mere 336 yards and, as a result, averaging just 5.1 yards per attempt.
Wright threw a pick in Northwestern’s double-overtime home loss to Duke last Friday. The 1-1 Wildcats are still looking for their first touchdown pass this season.
Lausch was the On3 Industry Ranking’s No. 82 quarterback in the 2022 class. On3, however, ranked the Brother Rice product and Chicago native as the No. 61 quarterback that cycle. The 6-foot-2, 209-pound Lausch was a multi-sport star at Brother Rice, where he also emerged as a highly-rated outfielder.
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Initially, Lausch committed to Notre Dame to play baseball and also join the football team as a preferred walk-on quarterback. But a scholarship offer to play football at Northwestern changed things for him.
He shined as a senior at Brother Rice, becoming the 2021 Chicago Sun-Times Player of the Year after throwing for 2,447 yards and 20 touchdowns and running for 1,084 yards and 21 touchdowns.
Although he made his collegiate debut against Illinois in 2022, he redshirted his freshman season. Last year, he played in 10 games: Lausch completed 2-of-3 passes for 10 yards, carried the ball 19 times for 80 yards and a score and even caught two passes for nine yards.
Now the athletic, dual-threat quarterback is set to make his first career start at Northwestern.