During Northwestern’s Big Ten Championship seasons in 1995, 1996 and 2000, the main component of the Wildcats’ offense was the running game. Darnell Autry rushed for 1,675 yards and 14 touchdowns in Northwestern’s 1995 Rose Bowl season, and rushed for 1,386 yards and 15 touchdowns the following year. Four years later, Damien Anderson finished fifth in the Heisman Trophy voting after rushing for 1,914 yards and 22 touchdowns. In recent years, however, the main bite of Northwestern’s offense has come from the passing game.
But so far this season, Northwestern’s rushing numbers look a lot more like those from the glory days of Autry and Anderson.
In their season opener against Boston College, the ‘Cats were able to rush for 227 yards against the top-ranked run defense of 2010. This past Saturday, Northwestern was once again successful on the ground, totaling 320 yards rushing, albeit against an FCS team. The team is actually ranked 13th in the country in terms of total rushing yards, even though the ‘Cats finished 53rd overall last season. So what has been the difference this year so far for Northwestern?
Perhaps one factor is that Persa, a Heisman Trophy candidate quarterback, has been sidelined for Northwestern’s first two games as he recovers from his ruptured Achilles. Although Persa is a dual-threat quarterback, there has been far less emphasis on the passing game with Kain Colter under center. Colter has been successful rushing the ball for Northwestern so far this season, gaining 71 yards and a touchdown against the Eagles and 109 yards and three touchdowns against the Panthers the following week. Colter is also less comfortable throwing the football, and still probably trusts his legs more than he trusts his arm.
But Northwestern’s running back play has also been a major factor in the success of the Wildcats’ ground game this season. The ‘Cats have used a number of different backs to establish a consistent rushing attack.
Against Boston College, Mike Trumpy led the way with 85 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries — though several other backs, like Adonis Smith and Jacob Schmidt, also contributed. Although Trumpy was not medically cleared for the Eastern Illinois game because of a head injury, other running backs — emphasis on the plural — were able to step up and carry the load for Northwestern.
Schmidt and Smith rushed for 57 and 55 yards, respectively (Smith exited the game with a minor injury in the fourth quarter). Freshman Treyvon Green carried 14 times for 70 yards and a touchdown, and Schmidt also scored. Northwestern appears to favor splitting carries between a number of backs rather than having one running back carry the entire load, a strategy that has recently become popular at the NCAA and NFL level.
“To get that kind of production now (from Green) gives us a handful of guys that can really make a difference, so we can keep them fresh and see if some guy evolves,” Northwestern head football coach Pat Fitzgerald said after the game. “But if we stay the way we are, we’ve got a pretty good situation.”
Fitzgerald also credited the offensive line — which includes four returning starters from last season — as part of the reason why the running game was so successful.
“I thought we ran it really effectively,” he said. “We’ve got an experienced offensive line, and we’re going to need to continue to control the line of scrimmage to win.”
Although Northwestern supporters are likely familiar with Jacob Schmidt and Adonis Smith, the unfamiliar face on Saturday was Treyvon Green. The recruiting site Rivals.com ranked Green as a two-star prospect coming out of high school. But Green has received playing time early in the season, even though there are other running backs ahead of him on the depth chart.
Schmidt, a senior, had high praise for Green’s play.
“We knew coming out of camp that he had some talent and that he could play,” Schmidt said. “So it was nice to see him do well.”
Green said that although he dealt with injuries in camp, he was still able to work hard and focus on football. “I showed them (in camp) what I can do,” he said. “This is a big level for me. This is my dream.”
Although Green’s carries will likely decrease when Mike Trumpy returns to the lineup, it looks like the ‘Cats will continue to split carries primarily between Trumpy, Schmidt and Smith. The rushing attack isn’t quite what it was in the days of Darnell Autry or Damien Anderson, but the running back play so far has shown flashes of the Wildcat running game from the Tyrell Sutton era a few years ago. And if young players like Green continue to progress, Northwestern’s run game should continue to improve over the next few years — especially with the speedy Kain Colter possibly under center full-time starting next season.
Whether an improved run game will turn the Wildcats into Big Ten champions — like in 1995, 1996 and 2000 — is a question that remains to be answered.