Northwestern University Athletics
Names in the News
9/22/2009 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 22, 2009
By SKIP MYSLENSKI, NUsports.com Special Contributor
• Jordan Mabin endured a cornerback's nightmare last Saturday night at the Carrier Dome, where he was put through the ringer by Syracuse receiver Mike Williams. "It was definitely a learning experience," the sophomore would admit Tuesday. "But no matter what corner you ask throughout the nation, he has one of those games."
That is why, to pull out an old saw, corners must have short memories, a characteristic we investigated with Mabin. "It's just the kind of person a corner is," he would say when asked about that trait. "Like coach says, we choose to be corners. We could play any position, but we choose to play corner. So I think it just comes along with the job. You know, corner is such a dynamic position because it's so fun. You can have the best plays, but then again you can have the worst plays. I always say the biggest play is the next play, that's what I always say."
Is it a learned skill, having a short memory?
"Yeah. I think it is, I think it is, just going through ups and downs. You have to learn to do it with a good play, too. So the more you play and the more experiences you have, you grow from it. It is hard at first, but once you play some more, you grasp it (the concept)."
Sherrick (McManis, the injured senior corner) once said even he had trouble with that as a freshman.
"Corner is definitely a demanding job," Mabin says. "You're out there on an island. But it's also so rewarding too. That's the way I look at it. Yeah, you can be exposed. But you can also perform and make that play. It just comes along with the territory and you've got to know that if you play that position. You've got to absorb it."
Do you have any sense, heading into Saturday, of wanting to show people you're better than your performance last week?
"Definitely. Definitely. I think any competitor would say that too. I just can't wait to get back out there and play. I had a salty taste in my mouth after the game Saturday. I was like, 'Man, I wish I could just go back out there and get a couple more plays in and make a play.' So I'm definitely excited for Saturday (and the Big Ten opener against Minnesota). I know (Gopher Eric) Decker's a great receiver and the quarterback (Adam Weber) is great too. But I'm excited. I can't wait."
• Demetrius Dugar got baptized last Saturday night at the Carrier Dome, where the redshirt freshman made his first start in place of both McManis and his injured (leg) backup Justan Vaughn. "Honestly, I was pretty nervous," he would admit Tuesday. "But once we got onto the field, I just tried to get back to what I was taught at practice. Everything seems to fall into place when you do what you're taught to do at practice."
Did you expect to start?
"During the week, I was hoping Sherrick would play. I want to play, but Sherrick's a great player. I know what he's capable of. But during practice, I'd see him just taking it slow, trying to heal himself back up. Then Coach (Jerry) Brown came up to me one day and said, 'I don't know if Sherrick's going to be able to go. So unless you fall off a bridge, you're going to be playing.' I was like, 'OK, cool.'"
Did you turn to anyone for advice?
"The one person who gives me great advise all the time is (senior safety) Brendan Smith. Coming in freshman year, I would be nervous just getting used to Big Ten football. He would always be in my ear saying, 'Hey, man, you can do this. You can play. Just play football. Play the game you love.' That's the best advice you can give a player."
Anything surprise you?
"The game was a whole lot faster. But the thing is, here we practice really fast. So the way that we practice kind of outplayed the game. In practice, I'm gassed. In the game, I wasn't so much gassed. It's more mental exhaustion that physical exhaustion. It was real fast, though. But it was a whole lot of fun."
Are you preparing to start this week?
"Right now, Sherrick's rehabbing. Hopefully, he'll be back. But if he's not back, I'm just going to step up and fill my part."
• Jacob Schmidt was the 'Cats busiest back Saturday night at the Carrier Dome, where he stepped in for the injured Stephen Simmons and both led his team in rushing and helped protect quarterback Mike Kafka from the blitzing Orange. "It (his emergence) is surprising in the fact that, coming into the season, there were a lot of questions about the running backs and the rotation," he would admit Tuesday. "I might have come in as number five (on the depth chart) and, yeah, I moved up pretty quickly and with some injuries, I'm in the mix. But that's a hard question. Personally, I think I proved myself and I get the job done when I'm out there and the coaches have confidence in me. That's why I'm out there. Because Steph's down, I might have started. Yeah. But we'll get him back and just go from there."
Until Saturday, you were primarily used as the short-yardage back. What are the demands of that role?
"You've got to have the want to, you've got to have the attitude to get the one yard, the two yards that you need, to keep your feet moving and to not give up until you get that first down. You've got to be, I guess, kind of the meathead to come in and just do whatever it takes to get the job done."
Do you have a different mentality now that you have an expanded role?
"No. No. I go into every game the same way. When the coach calls my number, I'm going in and doing the job to the best of my ability. Whether it's picking up pressure, whether it's running routes, whether it's carrying the ball. I go into every game looking at it the same way."
• THE HODAG (and we offer this up for entertainment purposes only) is the mascot of Rhinelander High School, which happens to be Schmidt's alma mater. To quote Wikipedia: "In 1893 newspapers reported the discovery of a Hodag in Rhinelander, Wisconsin. It had 'the head of a frog, the grinning face of a giant elephant, thick short legs set off by huge claws, the back of a dinosaur, and a long tail with spears at the end'. The reports were instigated by well-known Wisconsin timber cruiser and prankster Eugene Shepard, who rounded up a group of local people to capture the animal. The group reported that they needed to use dynamite to kill the beast."
"I'm not an original Rhinelander, so when I moved there in the fourth grade, I'm like everyone. 'What the heck's a Hodag?'" Schmidt says when asked about it. "It's everywhere. It's the high school mascot. It's the Hodag this, it's the Hodag that.' It's pretty cool. We love it. It's the one and the only. It's the only one in the country. It's pretty cool to be that."
• And finally: All of the injured 'Cats except Vaughn took part in Tuesday's practice, but McManis and Simmons had limited reps. ("I don't know what the coaches say about him, but he looks good to me," Mabin said when asked about McManis.) As for the practice itself, it was, well, intense. Sort of like a Quentin Tarantino movie is intense.
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