After the first scrimmage of the spring, the defensive backfield circled around junior cornerback Marquice Cole as assistant head coach Jerry Brown debriefed the players. The secondary had its spark plug back.

Northwestern finished ninth in the Big Ten in passing defense last season, giving up 250 yards per game with Cole watching from the sidelines.

Now Cole is back, and he has been called a lot this spring: a leader, special, proven and a speed demon.

“He’s the fastest on the team. There’s nothing I can say about that one,” sophomore cornerback Deante Battle said. “He’s one of our starters right now and he should do really well there.

“He’s a team player and he’s out here having fun.”

Cole broke his ankle in a preseason scrimmage last year, 13 days before the season started, and missed the entire season with the injury.

“We really missed him last year,” Battle said. “When injuries came we really could have used him.”

Now fully recovered from his injury, Cole is listed as cornerback opposite senior Jeff Backes.

The 5-foot-9 corner has played with the first team the entire spring and has all but sealed a spot in the Wildcats’ starting lineup.

“I know he can come in and play,” Brown said. “He’s been in the war. Now he’s back, and it’s almost like he really hasn’t missed a beat.”

Cole said the way he approaches the game should influence his teammates and help the secondary improve in 2005.

“When they see me having fun, they want to have fun,” Cole said. “I just bring an aggressive attitude and am out there having fun.”

The Cats lost cornerback Marvin Ward to graduation, which opened up a spot for Cole. Ward led the team with three interceptions last season and was sixth on the team in tackles.

“When Marquice got hurt last year, in an odd sense it helped us because he’s a proven player,” Brown said. “It allowed us to play with just two corners last year. It was a little risky, but at the same time we knew that Marvin was going to graduate. And Marquice is a proven player. He played two years ago.”

Cole started four of NU’s 12 games during the 2003 season. He had 21 tackles and two pass breakups and was in contention to be a starting cornerback before his injury last season.

The so-called fastest player on the team said he was disappointed he had to sit on the sidelines and was not able to help his team last season.

“It was just real hard to sit and watch,” Cole said, “especially since the pass defense was bad.

“They gave up too many big plays, that’s all. We get them down to third down and then give up a big play.”

Coach Randy Walker said the secondary will improve with Cole in the lineup, and he expects Cole to make an impact on more than just the defensive side of the ball.

“I think the return of Marquice Cole will be a big asset,” Walker said. “Losing him at the beginning of the season hurt our football team. He’s a special player, not only on defense but in the kicking game and everything else.”

Reach Abe Rakov at [email protected].