Playing in the backfield behind NIU quarterback Stacey Robinson, the fullback and the halfbacks are not as noticed by the fans as their signal caller may be.

But what most of the fans do not know is that they play the most important part in the offense known as the wishbone.

They are responsible for blocking and leading the way for whichever of their backfield partners has the ball.

“I don’t look at the yardage because I don’t think that’s where we measure our success,” offensive coordinator Mike Summers said. “We measure our success on how well we block. We’ve had a lot of success in that area because we have guys who are willing to go out and block 60 plays a game.”

That successful combination of blocking and running has propelled NIU to the top of the NCAA team rushing list, with an average of 366.1 yards per game.

“That’s why we’re able to be No. 1 in the nation,” Summers said. “We’ve got guys who, when they don’t have the ball in their hands, are willing to go get dirty for the rest of the team.”

Most of the backfield has gotten dirty at one time or another blocking for Robinson, who leads the NCAA in touchdowns (14), scoring (90 points) and QB rushing (1,021 yards). Halfback Brett Schroeder, who has 253 yards on 48 carries, sees that as part of the game.

“Stacey is such a dominant force in our offense,” he said. “It’s not his job to take the ball and run, that’s just how the defense plays us. Playing the wishbone, you can’t get upset if you don’t get the ball because it takes 11 guys to get the yardage.”

Quarterback and fullback coach Jay Schaake said that every play starts with the fullback.

“Everything we do starts with the fullback. Whether it’s the double-option or the triple-option, the fake inside is the first thing that happens,” he said. “If we make yards inside with the fullback, which we’ve been able to do this year against everybody, then we’ll be able to make yardage on the perimeter.”

Fullback Adam Dach, who has rushed for 584 yards and three touchdowns in 1990, thought he would be gaining more yardage than he had been in the past.

“After my freshman year (906 yards), I thought I’d get the ball a lot,” he said. “My goal was always to get 1,000 yards and I haven’t done that yet, and this year I’m not on a pace to do it. So it’s kind of disappointing, but the most important thing is that the team wins.”

Robinson, who has thrown several blocks himself after pitching the ball, looks at the situation from a work standpoint.

“I think we all look at it as a job that we have to do,” he said. “Usually, the fullback is the first guy to get the block. The halfback has an assigned blocker, but if he takes a certain gap, he has to rely on the fullback. It’s all like a job.”

Schaake looks forward to the coming weeks as a chance to improve on the No. 1 rating.

“That wasn’t our goal, to be the No. 1 rushing team. We just wanted to be the best rushing team we could be,” he said. “It’s kind of a challenge to maintain that output for the next three weeks, and that’s not going to be easy.”