Wolfe: Nothing to prove
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By Eric Page | Friday, October 27, 2006 |
Northern Illinois running back Garrett Wolfe
DEKALB, Ill. — Garrett Wolfe isn’t running from anyone — on or off the field.
Ask him about his fading chances of winning the Heisman Trophy, and the Northern Illinois senior will acknowledge his disappointment before quickly pointing out he would much rather win a Mid-American Conference championship this season.
Remind him that, after piling up 1,343 yards rushing through NIU’s first six games, he’s been held to just 70 in the past two games, and Wolfe offers a reminder that statistical output is not always the best measure of a player’s impact on a game.
But when critics try to tell the 5-foot-7, 177-pounder he’s not one of the top running backs in college football, the nation’s leading rusher goes mute and lets his numbers do the talking.
“Everyone’s entitled to their own opinion,” Wolfe said after Tuesday’s practice at Huskie Stadium. “I’m accomplishing all of these things with a Mid-American Conference offensive line. I don’t have a Big Ten offensive line.
“Guys like Adrian Peterson at Oklahoma and Steve Slaton at West Virginia don’t play against nine-man fronts. They’re not playing against a defense that has the safeties walked up to the line of scrimmage. They’re playing against true defenses. It’s a totally different ball game.”
Wolfe said he is merely stating the facts, not making excuses. Opposing teams have sold out to stop the run this season, but very few have been able to slow Wolfe, who averages 176.6 yards per game and has scored 13 rushing touchdowns.
Top-ranked Ohio State tried and failed in the season opener, surrendering 171 yards on the ground and another 114 receiving to a guy who was overlooked by Big Ten coaches after a decorated high school career at Chicago’s Holy Cross High School.
It was the third time in Wolfe’s career that he stuck it to a Big Ten team. He ran for 148 yards and a touchdown at Michigan in the 2005 season opener a week before torching Northwestern for 245 yards and three scores. He’ll get his final shot at the conference Saturday when Northern Illinois travels to Iowa’s Kinnick Stadium for an 11 a.m. game.
“Our kids all think they should have gone to Iowa,” Huskies coach Joe Novak said. “When you play in this league, that’s what you get — a bunch of kids who think they should have gone to Big Ten schools, and they play with a chip on their shoulder.”
This weekend — whether Wolfe will admit it or not — he has a little more to prove.
Three weeks ago, he was the darling of every college football analyst in the country. After running for a school-record 353 yards against Ball State, giving him an NCAA-record 1,181 yards through five games, Wolfe was near the top of everyone’s Heisman list. But he’s been relatively quiet since.
He had a streak of 11 consecutive 100-yard games snapped when he gained only 25 yards in a loss Oct. 14 at Western Michigan and managed just 45 yards last Saturday against a Temple run defense that ranks 118th in the country. He’s all but fallen off the Heisman radar.
But Wolfe, who Wednesday was named a Maxwell Award semifinalist, remains content and confident in his abilities.
“He’s had all this hype, and it hasn’t affected him one bit,” Novak said. “Would he like to win a Heisman Trophy or be in consideration? Sure, who wouldn’t? But it’s not what his focus is. His focus is on winning.”
Wolfe is the latest in a line of running backs who have put up big numbers at Northern Illinois — Michael Turner (2000-03), LaShon Johnson (1992-93) and Mark Keller (1971-73), to name a few. But Wolfe might be the best of the bunch when it’s all said and done.
With 4,649 yards, he’s within 300 yards of becoming NIU’s all-time leading rusher. And he already holds school records for touchdowns (52), rushing touchdowns (47) and 200-yard games (9). A 100-yard performance Saturday will tie him with Turner for the most 100-yard games in school history.
“If you look at statistics and all the things they put on paper, Garrett’s probably half of everything we do,” Huskies receiver Britt Davis said. “I don’t look at it that way, though. I look at him as a leader, a guy I can look in the eyes every day and know that he’s going to come out and play and give 110 percent.”
Just having Wolfe on the field last Saturday was enough to open things up against Temple. The Owls crowded the line of scrimmage, and NIU responded with a season-high 377 yards and four touchdowns through the air in the 43-21 victory. Wolfe left the game midway through the third quarter because, Novak said, “If the game’s in hand and he’s healthy, he’s coming out.”
No one at NIU is chasing a Heisman, including Wolfe, who said his place in history is for others to decide. But he’s certainly done his share of convincing — on and off the field.
“Nobody has to respect me,” he said. “I don’t care. It makes no difference to me. One thing you can’t argue with is production. And if you look at the NCAA record books, I guarantee you I am one of the 10 most productive running backs ever to play this game. You can’t argue with that, no matter which way you slice it up.”
Eric Page can be contacted at (563) 383-2277 or epage@qctimes.com.
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