It has not been an easy year for Northwestern’s receiver corps. Lingering injuries, disciplinary actions, fluke injuries–the group has been triple-covered by fate all year.
Then there’s junior Shaun Herbert. In three non-conference games, he has avoided his teammates’ misfortunes and emerged as the Wildcats’ leading receiver with 21 catches, four for touchdowns.
“I want to be the guy in the fourth quarter, when we need a first down or a touchdown, who [quarterback Brett Basanez] looks to,” said Herbert, who had two touchdowns in the opening victory over Ohio and two more in Saturday’s loss at Arizona State.
Given Northwestern’s situation, the Wildcats look to their receivers at all times. NU’s spread offense often leads to high-scoring games. In addition, the defense heads into Saturday’s Big Ten opener against Penn State at Ryan Field after allowing a school-record 773 yards in the 52-21 loss to the Sun Devils.
That keeps the pressure on the offense to control the ball and score . . . and score.
“Every time we go out there we feel we can score as many points as we need,” said Herbert, who had 42 career catches before this season. “Not disrespecting any defense, but we feel we’re going to stop ourselves more than other teams are going to stop us. We have the personnel. We’re confident we can put points on the board.”
And sometimes there’s pressure to put a lot of them on the board.
“It’s more of a challenge; we see it more as fun,” Herbert said. “If we score more, it’s more fun for us. We like to score more touchdowns. We used to like to celebrate.”
Thanks to an unsportsmanlike-conduct penalty Herbert received for celebrating too much against Northern Illinois on Sept. 10, the Wildcats are cooling the partying.
After catching a 26-yard pass to the NIU 12, Herbert reacted a bit too much to the cheering fans. Herbert caught his fourth pass of the drive on the next play for a first down, and the possession ended with a failed fake field-goal attempt.
“I was pushed out of bounds near the student section and I was trying to pump up the student section,” he said. “The refs didn’t like it.
“We were told not to celebrate too much; there would be consequences.”
Herbert’s role in the offense grew in the off-season, partially because of a new work ethic.
“I was more focused on lifting hard every day,” he said. “In past summers, I may not have lifted as hard. Some days you just want to hang out because it’s the summertime. This summer I made it a point to make it count and do something better.”
Meanwhile, Mark Philmore and Jonathan Fields, who has a lingering sore toe, sat out spring practice with injuries. Then, before training camp, Brandon Horn was suspended for the season for violating team rules.
Philmore hurt his ankle in the opener against Ohio and was left home for last weekend’s game for disciplinary reasons.
Then there was the fluke injury–the Wildcats played NIU without Kim Thompson, who broke his finger in practice the Tuesday before the game.
It all has added up to more work for Herbert.
“He has taken advantage of opportunities that came his way,” coach Randy Walker said. “It wasn’t luck, it’s a good football player, constantly maturing, constantly improving and getting to the right place.”
Herbert, from Bishop McNamara High in Oxon Hill, Md., redshirted as a freshman in 2002 while classmates Horn and Philmore played.
“I was really upset and kind of depressed that I redshirted,” he said. “The whole year was hard to get through. But now I’m happy because I have an extra year. Things are starting to go my way and I’m getting a chance to make plays.”
He deserves the shot, receivers coach Garrick McGee said.
“He’s a very mature kid, with a great family situation. He’s not hanging out,” McGee said. “He’s about the right things. It’s good to see a good kid like that have the chance to play well and take advantage of it.”
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tabannon@tribune.com
