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NIU RB Garrett Wolfe (official thread)

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RUSSO on FOOTBALL: Wolfe stirs Heisman debate

RALPH D. RUSSO

Associated Press

Northern Illinois running back Garrett Wolfe is about to rekindle one of college football's great debates: Should a player who mostly faces second-tier competition be considered worthy of winning the Heisman Trophy?
The answer is no, but the best little back in college football - Wolfe is 5-foot-7 and 177 pounds - is on his way to making an impressive case for those who say otherwise.
Coming off a career-high 353 yards against Mid-American Conference rival Ball State, Wolfe is set to run away with the Division I-A rushing title. He has 1,181 yards, while only one other player (Ray Rice of Rutgers) has even cracked 800.
"We see that every week from him," NIU coach Joe Novak said after Wolfe ran wild against Ball State. "I'd love to tell you we coach that, but he is one of the most instinctive runners ever to play this game. He was phenomenal tonight."
But as good as Wolfe is, he's not better than Oklahoma's Adrian Peterson or Cal tailback Marshawn Lynch. Wolfe, who came into the season with 3,236 career yards rushing, could play for a Big Ten team and play well - as shown by his 171-yard effort against Ohio State to start the season.
But would he be better than Michigan's Michael Hart? Probably not.
It should also be noted that Ohio State had a big early lead against Northern Illinois and Wolfe played against some second-teamers in the second half.
Heisman voters haven't shown much love to players outside the major conferences. In 1990, BYU quarterback Ty Detmer won the award, but the Cougars were only six years removed from a national title. Hardly a mid-major team in the mind of most.
Since then the Heisman winners have played for glamour schools and national title contenders. Guys who put up big numbers against sketchy competition get just enough support to earn a trip to New York for the trophy presentation.
Randy Moss finished fourth in the Heisman balloting in 1997 playing for Marshall. Moss' quarterback, Chad Pennington, was fifth in 1999. Playing for Division I-AA Alcorn State, Steve McNair finished third in '94.
So how many yards does Wolfe need in his senior year to change the trend? Is 2,500 enough? What if he gets 3,000?
At his current pace, Wolfe will challenge the NCAA records Barry Sanders set in 1988, when he ran for 2,628 yards and 238.9 yards per game. Sanders' marks were set in an 11-game season, when bowl games didn't count in season totals.
Wolfe will play 12 regular-season games and possibly a MAC title game and a bowl; all those games will count in his season totals. Regardless, Wolfe is on his way to one of the best seasons a college running back has ever had.
Wolfe plays at Miami, Ohio, next week. The RedHawks' run defense is allowing 182.2 yards per game.
By the numbers, Wolfe's toughest remaining test comes in two weeks at Western Michigan, which is sixth in the nation in run defense at 59 yards allowed per game.
A home game against Temple follows the Western Michigan game. Only Novak's conscience will keep Wolfe from getting 300 against the Owls. The Huskies have a nonconference game at Iowa on Oct. 28.
So here's hoping that Wolfe puts his name all over the NCAA record books and even earns himself a trip to New York - to watch someone else win the Heisman in early December.
 
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Wolfe man
How about someone Ohio State already has played? Northern Illinois senior Garrett Wolfe is going to wind up at the Heisman Trophy ceremony. His 353 rushing yards against Ball State on Saturday were the 13th highest single-game total in NCAA history, and his season total of 1,181 yards is more than any player has ever had through five games. He's gained more rushing yards than all but six Division I-A teams, and needs to average 206.7 yards per game the rest of the season to break Barry Sanders' single-season record of 2,628 yards.
All this should make the Buckeyes feel pretty good. Wolfe's 171 rushing yards in the opener at Ohio Stadium were his season low.
 
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HUNGRY LIKE THE WOLFE: Northern Illinois isn't planning any Heisman promotions for senior running back Garrett Wolfe. The school tried that two years ago with current San Diego Chargers running back Michael Turner, sending out bottles of hot sauce to hype "Turner the Burner" - who might have been the MAC's best running back but wound up with just three votes, proving once again that the media usually has blinders on when it comes to stars from mid-major programs.
But Wolfe, who rushed for a school-record 353 yards on 31 carries and had touchdown runs of 51, 48 and 53 yards in a 42-28 victory over Ball State, is forcing us to take a closer look with his eye-popping numbers.
The 5-7, 177-pound Wolfe, who made believers out of Ohio State fans when he rushed for 171 yards against the top-ranked Buckeyes in NIU's opener at Columbus, already has broken the 1,000-yard barrier in just five games, rushing for 1,181. Only six Division I teams have rushed for more. Wolfe, who is averaging 9.3 yards and 236.2 yards per game, is on target to crack 2,500 yards.
Wolfe was a huge star at Holy Cross High in Chicago, where rushed for over 4,000 yards and 56 touchdowns in 2001 and initially was recruited by Florida, Arizona State, Arizona and Illinois. But Wolfe signed with NIU because the school stuck with him and told him it would take him no matter what.
Wolfe redshirted his freshman year and was a credit short of qualifying the next year. But he has been on fire ever since.
 
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G-FORCE;622841; said:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/si...6/10/five-things-we-learned-this-weekend.html

Five Things We Learned This Weekend


1) That the true Heisman front-runner right now is Garrett Wolfe. After piling up an astounding 353 yards against Ball State on Saturday, the Northern Illinois tailback has run for 1,181 yards and 11 touchdowns in five games. He?s averaging 236.2 yards per game; Barry Sanders? single-season record is 238.9. And you can?t say he hasn?t played anyone, either -- Wolfe did amass 285 rushing/receiving yards against the No. 1 team in the country.


Also I think you might find #2 interesting.

2) That Ohio State's best receiver is Anthony Gonzalez. That may sound ridiculous considering Ted Ginn Jr. is a likely first-round draft choice, but in both of the Buckeyes? biggest games, at Texas and Iowa, Gonzalez has made the back-breaking catches. He?s fast enough to catch the deep ball but also uses his size and shiftiness to get open across the middle. Plus he sleeps in that tent, which is pretty damn cool.
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Both of those are false claims. While I believe Wolfe should definitely be in NY for the Heisman ceremony, Troy Smith is still the Heisman front-runner. Beating 3 ranked teams by atleast 17 points each, you can't touch that. Wolfe is a solid top 3, though.


Gonzalez, who is a hell of a player, is not the "best" receiver, because of what Ted Ginn does for him. Ginn demands all of the extra attention and coverage, which opens up Gonzalez to make plays and get the ball. Gonzalez has incredible heart, great hands, and great athletic ability, but Ginn is the guy who is demanding the double coverages all of the time.


SI is just trying to make headlines with those two subjects.....
 
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ScarletBlood31;623380; said:
Both of those are false claims. While I believe Wolfe should definitely be in NY for the Heisman ceremony, Troy Smith is still the Heisman front-runner. Beating 3 ranked teams by atleast 17 points each, you can't touch that. Wolfe is a solid top 3, though.


Gonzalez, who is a hell of a player, is not the "best" receiver, because of what Ted Ginn does for him. Ginn demands all of the extra attention and coverage, which opens up Gonzalez to make plays and get the ball. Gonzalez has incredible heart, great hands, and great athletic ability, but Ginn is the guy who is demanding the double coverages all of the time.


SI is just trying to make headlines with those two subjects.....
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Mark May seemed to agree with him on point #1.

So does this article

http://heismanpundit.com/
http://www.heismanpundit.com//url

The Case For Garrett Wolfe
October 2nd, 2006


"I am usually not in the business of endorsing candidates at HP.

My modus operandi here is to analyze the Heisman race as it is, not how I think it should be.

However, I am beginning to recognize that Garrett Wolfe's candidacy represents a unique opportunity for Heisman voters to dig down deep and honor the best player, even if he does go to Northern Illinois.

This year, Wolfe has a chance to do something really special. So far, he has amassed 1,181 yards and 11 touchdowns while averaging an astounding 9.3 yards per carry.

He is on pace to rush for 2,832 yards and 26 TDs in 12 games. Should his team make the MAC title game and go on to a bowl, he will likely become the first player ever to surpass 3,000 rushing yards in a season.

When Barry Sanders ran for 2,628 yards in 1988, I thought that it was a record that would never be challenged. But Wolfe is well on his way to doing just that.

That, folks, is just incredible. I don't care if he does play in the MAC. So did Ben Roethlisberger and he turned out to be pretty good.

As we all know, Wolfe had 171 rushing yards against No. 1 Ohio State and 148 against Michigan last year. He will have a crack at it against Iowa, too.

In other words, he's legit. If it were so easy to rush for that many yards in the MAC, then someone would have done it a long time ago, right?

The Heisman voters need to recognize that if Wolfe beats this record, then he is the most outstanding player in the country, bar none."
 
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Zurp said:
Unfortunately for Northern Illinois and their fans, the web site will be a little bit like a mule with a hunting license: you don't know how he got it, and darned if he knows what to do with it. No, I'm not going to sell you a monorail, but I think there's a better chance that Mr. Spock will beam down to the earth and save us all from a falling globe filled with wigs than Wolfe has in winning the Heisman.

It's not something I agree with, but the Heisman winner needs to play for a big-time team in a national championship race. I don't give a pair of pickles to see anyone list all the guys in the MAC or the Sunbelt Conference who have won the Heisman, so put your AC/DC bumper stickers back in your wallet. But check this out: Notre Dame lost one flippin' game, and already people jumped off the Brady Quinn bandwagon-mobile, and onto Troy Smith's. And Notre Dame is a big-time team (for some weird reason). I guess that if Ohio State wins out, Smith has an excellent chance to win the Heisman, even if someone like Wolfe averages 500 yards a game and 16 touchdowns.

Again, it's not something I agree with. But to win the Heisman,
1. You can't be a freshman.
2. You have to play offense. Even if you're a kick-ass shut-down corner, you better return punts or play wide receiver. And not just any offense. You need to play a "skill" position. (Does that mean that any ol' unskilled big ugly can play offensive line?)
3. You have to play in big, national spotlight games fairly regularly. This means you need to be a big-time team in a big-time conference.
4. You SHOULD be in a national championship run. If you aren't in a NC run, it would help if your team lost only the games that you didn't play in.

I have as good a chance to win the Heisman as Wolfe does, which is unfortunate, because he's a hell of a player. I wouldn't mind seeing him in the NFL soon.
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It's a spinning wheel you fool!
 
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heisman pundit said:
That, folks, is just incredible. I don't care if he does play in the MAC. So did Ben Roethlisberger and he turned out to be pretty good
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I don't know what that has to do with anything. YAY! Big Ben is a very good NFL QB, so......Wolfe for Heisman! Jerry Rice is a Hall-of-Famer, so.....David Ball for Heisman! Stoopid, illogical argument on his part.


That being said, I wouldn't have a problm with Wolfe winning the Heisman.
 
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Wolfe deserves to be in New York, but I doubt that he'll win it. He's one of the best running backs that I've ever seen in person, and that is no BS. His performance against the Bucks reminded me of the performance that Philip Rivers had several years ago. Gutsy, and left me respecting the hell out of the guy as I walked out of the stadium that day. Wolfe gives a great interview, and is a great representative for his university. It's good to see smart, well spoken individuals getting publicity for a change.
 
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Buckeyeskickbuttocks;622337; said:
Someone... slow Wolfe up..... Troy's Heisman is in the line... :wink2:
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I know, I'm getting nervous.:biggrin: Seriously though, if Troy keeps leading his team to victory and keeps looking good doing it then he won't have to worry about Wolfe. I'm more concerned with Adrian Peterson and how he does against Texas this weekend.
 
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I honestly don't see Wolfe cracking the top 3 in Heisman voting. Maybe he'll be invited to NY and finish in the top 5. But voters will rightly realize that running for 350+ against Ball State just really isn't that impressive. I know, I know, he ran for 170+ against us. But the fact is that voters won't be impressed with ridiculous numbers put up against inferior talent throughout the vast majority of his season. That might sound harsh, but that's reality. If Wolfe wanted to win the Heisman, he should've gone to play in a BCS conference.
 
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