Freshman QB Matt Alviti adjusting to mental component of college football

Freshman quarterback Matt Alviti has realized that once you step onto the field there isn’t much difference between playing football at the high school and collegiate levels.

Of course the game is faster and the players more talented. But technically speaking he’s putting to work the same fundamentals that made him one of the most sought after quarterbacks in the country.

Where Alviti is noticing a major difference is off the field.

“The meetings and being able to stay focused through the meetings,” Alviti said of the challenges of playing college football. “We go pretty much 13 hours a day and half of it’s just meetings.”

Those have a purpose, especially for a freshman quarterback.

Alviti is expected to redshirt this year. So he’ll have a year of experience learning the offense before he even thinks about having to take the field in a game. Those meetings will be paramount in his development this year.

“Matt will be the first time to tell you this has kind of been football in a vacuum for him,” Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald said. “As a freshman, quarterback is very challenging. You have to pick the system up. You actually have to execute it, which is pretty complicated.”