From No. 6 to 106 yards

IOWA CITY - Let's check a few numbers on freshman running back Akrum Wadley. The first one even the closest observer of Iowa football probably missed.

During his redshirt year in 2013, the New Jersey native wore No. 31. Bet you didn't know that. It's deep, deep trivia, yes, but now you're interest in Wadley is has piqued.

You want to know where he was before the 5-11, 180-pounder broke out for 106 yards and a TD in his first shot as an Iowa running back last weekend against Northwestern. You want to know what's going through his head out there, with all the spinning and darting. You want to know why he now wears No. 25.

The 25 is a tribute to Philadelphia Eagles running back LeSean McCoy.

'McCoy, that's all I think about when I run the ball,” Wadley said Tuesday. 'I try to do cuts like McCoy, I try to get the spinoff sometimes. I had 31 last year and it just wasn't cutting it.”

Here's the number you need to know for this week: Wadley is the No. 2 running back for the Hawkeyes (6-2, 3-1 Big Ten) showdown at Minnesota (6-2, 3-1) in what amounts to the first round of a four-week playoff for the Big Ten West Division title.

The question came up a few times Tuesday. Where did Wadley start on the depth chart when camp opened in August?

'Maybe?” senior running back Mark Weisman said when asked if Wadley was No. 6 coming out of camp. 'I don't even know. However many we had he was somewhere down there. You never know when your time is going to come.”

We are talking about Iowa running back, and the whole AIRBHG thing and all of the disappearing acts, oddness and lost opportunities over the years.

Junior Jordan Canzeri came out on fire against Maryland, but suffered a high-ankle sprain and didn't dress for Iowa's 48-7 victory over Northwestern last weekend. Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said that Canzeri has a chance to play against the Golden Gophers. If he does, it's hard to imagine the Iowa staff putting Wadley back in a box.

There are the usual cautions.

'[Wadley was] scout team player of the week, I don't usually publicize that,” Ferentz said. 'But he was scout team player of the week for us last week. He's done some good things. You never know until a guy gets out there.

'And the jury is hardly in right now. He's played one game. He's got a long ways to go right now, but he's a guy who likes football, has a good attitude, enjoys practice and his teammates, and those things are all very positive.”

Let's talk attitude for a minute. Wadley seems to be having fun with this. During Tuesday's media session, he was self-deprecating and witty, but didn't take it too far.

For example, on his fumble against the Wildcats: 'I was like, ‘Aw man, I might as well just think about spring ball, because it's pretty much over.'” He immediately snapped into how he processed that failure and flushed it.

'Coach White [running backs coach Chris], [O-line coach] Brian Ferentz, my teammates, they told me to keep going,” Wadley said. 'I remember Brian Ferentz telling me, every back fumbles. You fumble once, that's one thing. You fumble twice, it's a whole other thing.”

Iowa didn't change its play book. It ran the same plays for Wadley that it does for Weisman, including the inside zone. Wadley had a great reply to a question about taking the ball through the middle.

'I have good vision and I can see things,” Wadley said. 'You just have to man up and put on your big-boy drawers.”

He said 'drawers.”

He also rooms with fellow smallish running back Jonathan Parker, who doesn't have enough kick returns to be eligible but does have what would be a Big Ten-leading 32.44 average on nine returns. They were No. 5a and 5b on the depth chart in August. They both make their living with their instincts and speed. Wadley will not concede the speed title Parker, not without a fight at least.

'Sometimes, we get in an argument over something and we're just like, let's just race it,” Wadley said. 'Just race, one-on-one, whoever wins it can have it.”

Wadley is a freshman. He's a little on the small side for a Big Ten running back, the B1G's featured position this season. It comes in all shapes and sizes. You have Weisman at 6-0, 240 pounds, Wisconsin's Melvin Gordon at 6-1, 213, Nebraska's Ameer Abdullah at 5-9, 195, Indiana's Tevin Coleman at 6-1, 210 and then to Northwestern's Justin Jackson, a true freshman who makes it work at 5-11, 190 pounds.

This week, you're going to want to pay special attention to Minnesota's David Cobb. He's more of a Power Ball model at 5-11, 220 and he is the conference's No. 3 rusher (141.38 yards a game) and does lead the league with 211 carries (No. 2 is Abdullah, who has 25 fewer attempts).

Ferentz doesn't care about shape and size and speed right now. Everyone who's healthy - and Parker sat out much of the game after suffering an undisclosed injury in the first quarter last week - is in.

'Circumstance opened up for him [Wadley],” Ferentz said. 'He jumped in, and did a good job.”

For now, this is Wadley's opportunity. These opportunities tend to be fleeting, Iowa running back being Iowa running back.

'It's nice to know that the fans are crazy, crazy in a good way,” Wadley said. 'I don't pay attention to it, because it can get snatched away really fast. I'm not trying to get too comfortable, I just want to produce for my team.”

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