Dan Persa threw two touchdown passes and ran for another, leading Northwestern to a 37-3 win over Illinois State on Saturday.

Persa completed 19-of-23 passes for 243 yards and no interceptions to lead the host Wildcats, who scored touchdowns on all five trips into the red zone.

Arby Fields ran for a career-high 92 yards on 20 carries and scored a touchdown while the Wildcats defense intercepted Illinois State quarterback Matt Brown three times.

Steven Fetzer's second-quarter field goal was the only score for the Redbirds (1-1).

Persa's 4-yard pass to Dunsmore put Northwestern ahead with 8:23 left in the first quarter.

Fetzer's 23-yard field goal with 4:43 to go in the period got Illinois State on the board, but the Wildcats scored the next 30 points.

Persa ran for a 2-yard score at the 1:47 mark of the quarter. Stefon Demos' 39-yard field goal with 11:11 left in the second period made it 17-3.

The Wildcats scored two touchdowns in the final 2:24 prior to halftime. Fields scored on a 1-yard run. After an interception, Persa hit Dunsmore with a 5-yard pass with 16 seconds left.

Mike Trumpy scored on a 1-yard run in the fourth quarter.

Brown completed 13-of-22 passes for 149 yards. Illinois State, an FCS team, defeated Central Missouri 55-54 last week, but its offense found the points much harder to come by against a Big Ten opponent.

Northwestern dominated total yardage, 439-256 and held Illinois State to 72 yards rushing. Tyrone Walker caught six passes for 66 yards for the Redbirds.