Enter the Akrum

IOWA CITY - Let's pretend for a minute. If in August you were going to start a pool on who Iowa's first 100-yard rusher in 2014 would be, you probably wouldn't have put your money down on Akrum Wadley.

Wadley wouldn't have picked Wadley.

'Nah, I don't think so,” the redshirt freshman said Saturday.

If you did, you can collect.

Wadley, a 5-11, 180-pound running back from Newark, N.J., and a high school called Weequahic, rushed for 106 yards, including a 5-yard TD in the fourth quarter, on 15 carries in the Hawkeyes' 48-7 victory over Northwestern at Kinnick Stadium on Saturday.

Not only was it Iowa's first 100-yard performance of the season, it was the first in 10 games, going back to Jordan Canzeri's 165 yards against Purdue on Nov. 9 last season.

If you were going to throw $5 into a pool ...

'Sure,” quarterback Jake Rudock said. 'First of all, that's an NCAA violation.”

OK, that is true, but we're pretending here. And, now, that's really the thing about Wadley and his story at Iowa. He's not pretending anymore.

Saturday was the first run through the washing machine. You can split hairs about Northwestern's defense. It didn't have safety Ibraheim Campbell, an all-Big Ten level performer. Several Wildcat defensive linemen rotated in and out after suffering injuries during the game.

Still, 10 games is 10 games and Iowa, now 6-2 and 3-1 in the Big Ten West Division and headed into a first-place showdown with Minnesota (6-2, 3-1) next weekend, needed something tangible here.

It might not have looked like it, but those were the first carries of Wadley's career at Iowa. These were his first carries since his senior prep season in 2012, when he earned Essex County player of the year.

Yes, Akrum from Weequahic was Essex's player of the year.

'Akrum is a guy that was probably under-recruited when he got here,” Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said. 'He's undersized, obviously. He's a little bit thin right now. Last year, he didn't make a huge jump like a lot of guys in their first year. They really don't know the tempo, they don't know what's required of them. Since he's gotten back up and running a little bit, he's doing a better job. I think he understands now.

'He's a guy that really loves football. That's been pretty clear since he's been here. He really has a good football mentality. He's got good vision. He's a tough, tough-minded guy, too. It was good to get him up and running a little bit here. It was good to see.”

For Wadley, the learning curve included academics. He struggled his first semester of his freshman year at Iowa, but since has made jumped into it and has gotten on track.

'When I was in high school, it was easy,” Wadley said. 'Adjusting to college was hard. I fell behind first semester. Second semester, I picked it up and realized the opportunity I have playing here. It doesn't come around every day. I just had to get back to the drawing boards and keep grinding.”

When Wadley arrived at Iowa he was a strapping 167 pounds. He's all the way up to 180 now. And, yes, he knows that he needs more size and strength, but he negotiated Saturday everything an Iowa back is asked to negotiate. It's a minuscule sample size, but the Wildcats had a hard time squaring up and landing a solid shot on him.

You saw the spin move and the way he cut off fullback blocks.

'He's a very talented kid,” fullback Macon Plewa said. 'He's got some crazy instincts.”

You saw about everything out of Wadley in his 15 carries, including, uh oh, a fumble. After a 6-yard gain in the third quarter, he coughed the ball up while straining for extra yards. Iowa's defense, perhaps the story of Saturday, had Wadley's back, stopping the Wildcats on a goal-line stand at the Hawkeyes' 1.

Wadley didn't get a carry the next series, but when Iowa punted, he made the tackle on special teams.

'When I fumbled, I'm like, ‘Aw man, it's over,'” Wadley said. 'But coach White [running backs coach Chris White] told me to shake it off, it happens to the best of us and go on to the next play. I just got mad and had to make up for that fumble.”

Let's now try to gauge what 'string” of running back Wadley was when this started last August. Of course, senior Mark Weisman was the No. 1 and is the No. 1. He would've been the first Iowa back to hit 100 yards, but he was shut down after 20 carries for 94 yards and three TDs.

Junior Jordan Canzeri is the No. 2, but he was out with an ankle injury yesterday. Redshirt freshman Jonathan Parker, whose 54-yard kick return on the opening kick boosted Iowa's first TD drive, suffered an undisclosed injury during the game. Senior Damon Bullock is healthy, but he's clearly the third-down back and used in obvious passing situations. Sophomore LeShun Daniels also was ahead of Wadley. He was lost for the season after a foot injury during the bye last week.

So, Wadley was maybe No. 6? Anyway, that's the explanation on why you hadn't seen him until game 8, November, when it really, really matters.

If you had $5 to throw into a pool ...

'Maybe this week I would've thrown the five bucks on him,” Weisman said with a laugh, 'knowing he was going to play this much.”

Pretend time is over, though. It's very real here the next four weeks.

l Comments: (319) 398-8256; marc.morehouse@thegazette.com