Iowa running back Akrum Wadley rushed for 204 yards against Northwestern Oct. 17.
By Danny Payne
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EVANSTON, Illinois — Akrum Wadley owns Northwestern.
No, seriously. After rushing for 106 yards against Northwestern last season, the sophomore running back thrashed the Wildcats for 204 yards and 4 touchdowns at Ryan Field on Oct. 17.
“I gained a lot of confidence, just great experience out there,” Wadley said after No. 17 Iowa’s 40-10 victory over the 20th-ranked Wildcats. “I had fun out there, and I’m just trying to keep it up.”
Wadley’s two longest runs went for 35 and 41 yards, and the first of the two saved Iowa (7-0, 3-0 Big Ten) from disaster. After running back Jordan Canzeri, who rushed for 256 yards last week (this is the first time in Iowa history two different players have gone for 200-plus in consecutive weeks), went down with a ankle sprain, things looked very bleak for the banged-up Hawkeyes.
But Wadley went around the edge and down the Northwestern (5-2, 1-2) sideline, and once wide receiver Jacob Hillyer cracked down on the perimeter, “it was off to the races,” as Wadley put it. The Hawks went up 9-0, and Wadley, along with running back Derrick Mitchell, was just getting started.
The Newark, New Jersey, native displayed all of his upside, with none of his downside. A fumble-prone player, Wadley held onto the ball all afternoon, and glided through lanes and holes like he was on a sheet of ice, not the less-than-stellar turf at Ryan Field. His shiftiness, coupled with a dominant day from the Iowa offensive line, was no match for the Wildcats, who have allowed a combined 78 points to Michigan and Iowa in their last two games.
“I think they just kind of felt the wave of the rest of the team,” head coach Kirk Ferentz said. “It was a tough circumstance, so Akrum stepped up — he’s been doing a lot better the last four or five weeks of practice.”
Wadley and Mitchell combined for 283 yards on the ground and 5 touchdowns. Mitchell also added 43 yards receiving.
Yes, some may see it as cliché, but the Wadley-led duo embodied Iowa’s next-man-in mentality.
On the day, the Hawkeyes finished with 492 yards of total offense after managing only 196 yards at halftime. Quarterback C.J. Beathard, who was nursing numerous lower-body injuries all week, went 15-of-25 for 176 yards and an interception while netting 2 yards on the ground.
Weak side linebacker Cole Fisher paced the Hawkeyes with 10 tackles. Desmond King picked off Wildcat quarterback Clayton Thorson (17-of-35, 125 yards, 1 touchdown) for his sixth interception of the year, and Justin Jackson — who came into the game averaging more than 100 yards per contest — fell into the background while Wadley and the rest of the Hawkeyes did their thing on the ground.
“Obviously, [Canzeri is] a big back for us, but it wasn’t a big blow because we expect the next man in to do a good job,” quarterback C.J. Beathard said. “Akrum and Derrick did a great job stepping in there.
“We’ve had guys hurt … but we haven’t been down at all about that, we took that upon ourselves — the next guy in has to do a good job.”
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