How can you hate a city with a kid-friendly name like Kalamazoo? You can’t. But don’t blame Garrett Wolfe if he mutters under his breath every time the place is mentioned.
Kalamazoo is where Wolfe’s Heisman Trophy campaign died. His Howard Dean moment wasn’t a raucous scream but a dull thud. Wolfe was held to 25 yards on 18 carries in Northern Illinois’ 16-14 loss two weeks ago at Western Michigan.
That was almost 200 yards below his average. Worse yet, the loss dropped the Huskies into third place in the MAC’s West Division, meaning they might not reach the MAC Championship game–or a bowl.
After gaining just 45 yards last week against Temple, Wolfe is on pace for 2,120 yards. A terrific number, but not a threat to break Barry Sanders’ single-season NCAA mark of 2,628 yards. And probably not enough to keep Wolfe in contention for the Heisman Trophy. (Wolfe has fallen to a tie for 12th in ESPN.com’s buzz-o-meter.)
But it’s not over yet. Wolfe can leave new tracks Saturday at Iowa, proving again to Heisman voters that at 5 feet 7 inches and 177 pounds, he is a big-time back. Good thing he has some time before Election Day.
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tgreenstein@tribune.com
