November 28, 2004

NIU Tailback Garrett Wolfe Gains Fourth MAC West Player Of the Week Award

DeKALB, IL --- Habit-forming? As the cliche goes, isn’t the proof in the pudding? For the third straight season, Northern Illinois University football led the Mid-American Conference in Player of the Week accolades.

Team-wise, head coach Joe Novak’s Huskies earned their tenth 2004 MAC weekly award of the year and tied Marshall University in that department as the regular season wound down last Tuesday. Bowling Green State University and the University of Akron each recorded nine Mid-Am Player of the Week honors this season. East Division champion Miami (OH) University followed with eight league POTW certificates.

Individually, precocious Northern Illinois sophomore tailback Garrett Wolfe garnered his fourth MAC Player of the Week award this year and equaled Marshall defensive end Jonathan Goddard in that particular category.

The 5-foot-7, 174-pound Wolfe---thanks to his single-game school-record 325-yard rushing game against Eastern Michigan University on November 20---shared MAC West Offensive Player of the Week honors with University of Toldeo wide receiver Lance Moore. Previously, Wolfe won Mid-Am Player of the Week recognition against Bowling Green State, Central Michigan University, and Ball State University.

With the 325-pound ground performance, Wolfe (Chicago / River Grove Holy Cross) not only supplanted ex-Huskie unanimous First-Team All-America tailback LeShon Johnson (322 yards vs. Southern Illinois University in 1993) as the program’s top single-game rusher, but No. 1 also produced the sixth-best rushing total in Mid-Am history.

Only Central Michigan runningback Robbie Mixon (league-record 377 yards vs. Eastern Michigan in 2002), Miami tailback Travis Prentice (376 yards vs. Akron in 1999), Kent State University runningback Astron Whatley (373 yards vs. Eastern Michigan in 1997), CMU runningback Brian Pruitt (356 yards vs. Toledo in 1994), and Miami tailback George Swarn (326 yards vs. Eastern Michigan) have gained more ground yards in a Mid-Am uniform than Wolfe.

Right now, Wolfe also leads the league in rushing (157.2 yards-per-game average), all-purpose yardage (192.0 ypg.), scoring (12.0 ppg.), touchdowns (20), and rushing TDs (17). The NIU All-America candidate also leads the nation in scoring and all-purpose yardage.

In the Eastern Michigan victory, Wolfe gained the record-shattering 325 yards in a season-high 43 carries, added two TD runs (11 and 70 yards), and caught two passes for 16 yards as Northern Illinois topped the Eagles, 34-16, to finish 7-1 in the league, and share its third division title in the last four seasons. The 325-yard outburst represented the best single-game individual rushing total in the MAC and the second-best in major-college football this fall. Prior to Thanksgiving, Wolfe was selected the CollegeSportsReport.com 1-A National Player of the Week for his big play efforts vs. EMU.

During 2004, six different Huskie performers earned ten Mid-Am POTW awards. Wolfe led his team with four loop Player of the Week honors, followed by frosh placekicker Chris Nendick (Naperville / Central) with two, senior quarterback
Josh Haldi (Madison, OH), junior linebacker Javan Lee (Michigan City, IN), senior wide receiver Dan Sheldon (Elgin / Burlington Central), and junior strong safety Ray Smith (Crown Point, IN / St. John Lake Central) with one apiece.

Northern Illinois topped the MAC with 16 Player of the Week accolades in 2003 and 12 POTW honors in 2002.

The other season-ending Mid-Am Player of the Week awards went to Toledo free safety Patrick Body (West Defense), Central Michigan linebacker James King (West Special Teams), Miami runningback Luke Clemens (East Offense), Akron quarterback Charlie Frye (East Offense), Miami defensive lineman John Galvin (East Defense), and Miami return man Brandon Murphy (East Special Teams).

(For further information, please contact Mike Korcek) -NIU-