The Man is gone.
Northwestern coach Randy Walker suspects that Damien Anderson’s college career ended last week at Indiana. The star running back’s departure creates the largest gap in NU’s offense that Walker has seen since he started coaching in Evanston three years ago.
Walker likes a running back who can lead, and with Anderson sidelined, the search begins for The New Man — a role one of the candidates could certainly carry into next season.
Walker can’t seem to overstate how damaging Anderson’s absence is to the Cats offense. While Anderson’s 2001 season was a disappointment by many accounts, his leadership and work ethic were inspiring to teammates. And even if Anderson’s numbers dropped off from the 2000 season, opposing defenses always took notice when he was lined up in the backfield.
Worse still is the timing of Anderson’s exit — NU needs to win two of its next three games to be bowl eligible.
With the Cats’ principal performer gone, Anderson’s understudies are prepping themselves for the spotlight.
Enter Kevin Lawrence, Torri Stuckey and Noah Herron.
On Tuesday, Walker said the starting spot was up for grabs. On Wednesday, he gave Lawrence the job, but with the caveat that all three runners likely will play. The junior tailback had a standout game against Indiana, rushing for 77 yards on only 13 carries — 64 yards coming after Anderson left the game in the beginning of the third quarter. In the first eight games of the season, Lawrence’s 4.7 yards per carry average was more than Anderson’s 4.4.
Although Lawrence has stepped in regularly for Anderson all season, playing 80 consecutive snaps per game is a lot different from playing 20 intermittently. Walker knows that most likely none of his backs will be able to go for 60 minutes, and Lawrence’s start does not mean he’ll play the most.
No one has replaced The Man yet.
“Everyone assumes this is K-Law’s job — well no, this isn’t K-Law’s,” Walker said. “K-Law is the lead candidate to be The Man, but he isn’t The Man yet. I think those guys will battle and it will be an interesting competition.”
Herron and Stuckey have been special teams stars all season. Stuckey has racked up six tackles and Herron has five, but he also forced a Purdue punt returner to fumble. In blowout wins and losses — such as those at Duke, Ohio State and Indiana — Herron came off the bench to wrap up the game.
“I think they are very similar, quite frankly — the only thing they don’t have is a lot of snaps,” Walker said. “Torri Stuckey’s a very tough, physical kid who plays hard. Noah’s got some great receiving skills.”
Herron was carted off the field after being injured during Wednesday’s practice, but there has been no word on whether this changes his status as a backup to Lawrence.
If Herron plays, Saturday is an opportunity unlike any other he has had at NU.
“This is the time I’ve been waiting for,” Herron said. “And not to say anything bad about Damien, but opportunity knocks and I’m ready for it.”
Herron chose NU over Iowa, Illinois and Indiana. Although the Michigan native had conversations with coaches in Ann Arbor and East Lansing, he was never swayed.
“I never grew up a big fan of them,” Herron said.
Herron served as a tailback for NU’s scout team last season, an experience that taught him how necessary even the smallest contribution can be.
“It doesn’t seem as important, but each person has a role that he has to take,” Herron said. “And you do what you have to do help the team win. I understood that I wasn’t going to play that year, but I could help the defense. You really have to take advantage of what you have — it might not be a starting spot or special teams, but you take what you get.”
By contrast, Stuckey has seen this all before. A third-string tailback during his freshman year, Stuckey played in all 11 games last season and had a touchdown in the Cats’ 61-23 rout of Illinois. His 2000 season total of 104 yards rushing on 22 carries puts him behind Anderson, quarterback Zak Kustok and Lawrence on NU’s rushing list.
This year was supposed to be Stuckey’s “breakout season,” but an injury at training camp in Kenosha, Wis., has kept him out of action.
“The whole season I’ve been trying to work my way back to the position I was at,” Stuckey said. “Now, I’m healthy as ever and I’m just trying to make the most of this opportunity to get a little playing time. It’s just a bad deal that somebody had to go down.”
And while there might be some tinge of guilt in capitalizing on Anderson’s injury, all the backups know the team will suffer without its lead rusher. Going through schemes in practice, Herron said he and Lawrence were stunned by the fact that Anderson was gone.
“Damien was our head running back,” Herron said. “When he’s on the sidelines, it will be different. You look around and he’s not in the mix doing his thing.”
Agreed Stuckey: “I thought I knew how to work hard, but he really is the definition of hard work.”
Walker feels the loss more than anyone. While all three backs will see action, Walker makes it clear that he’s looking for somebody to step up and take the lead.
“There are three games left — maybe someone will become The Next Man,” he said.
