Joel Bouagnon is the name to know, even if you can’t pronounce it.

Bouagnon exploded onto the scene in his first career start Thursday against Presbyterian. The sophomore tailback rushed for 97 yards and four touchdowns on 16 carries.

Prior to fall camp, playing time looked like it could have somewhat eluded Bouagnon with senior tailbacks Cameron Stingily and Akeem Daniels headlining the position. Stingily rushed for 1,119 yards and nine touchdowns last season but suffered an undisclosed injury right before fall camp, forcing Bouagnon into action earlier than expected.

“I was glad to play, but I don’t want him out,” Bouagnon said. “You don’t want to see your teammate go down or anything. But that’s just what it was, how it is. [It’s a] next man up type of thing.”

Bouagnon pushed himself over the summer and during fall camp to get into a position to be ready to go for whatever scenario presented itself.

“I was just really focused,” Bouagnon said. “I worked hard every day in the weight room. You got to learn [the running back position], and you just have to work hard every day and keep that goal in mind, and the [goal is] obviously playing. You just visualize [playing]. ‘Do you want to play? Yeah, well [you have to] work hard for it.’”

Running backs coach Kelton Copeland noticed Bouagnon’s dedication to improving his game from the player’s first practice last season.

“He’s a type of guy that he wants to do everything right,” Copeland said. “From day one, him getting here, he didn’t know a thing, but he wanted to do it right. He takes it upon himself to make sure it’s corrected in the film room, out here in walkthrough, in practice [and] after practice.

“He’s the type of guy that he’s a perfectionist. He wants to do everything right, and he gets hard on himself, so I have to pick him up sometimes because he gets so hard on himself. He’s a great kid to coach. He’s very coachable, wants to do everything right, takes everything in, soaks it in and does it the way you want it to be done.”

Bouagnon came to NIU because “they’ve had a lot of great running backs come through here” and “it’s a good running back program,” but even Copeland has a hard time putting a specific running style on Bouagnon.

“He’s a big dude, obviously standing at 6-foot-2, about 225 pounds, you would think he would be just a straight bruiser like most bigger guys, but he’s got very good feet for a man of his size,” Copeland said. “And he’s faster than most guys his size, too.

“He can be a bruiser at times, but he has quick enough feet where he can make guys miss in small holes. So, I really don’t know how to describe his running style; he’s got a very unique but very good running style.”

Going forward, head coach Rod Carey said Bouagnon’s role will be “like it was in the first game.”

“We get backs in there depending on personnel or play, or both,” Carey said. “Joel, obviously, has worked his tail off to be in the situation he’s in, and he’s trying to make the most of it. Good things always come to those who work.”

Bouagnon saw action in four games toward the end of last season as a true freshman, and he said that experience has helped him prepare for whatever his role ends up being this season.

“It’s really good to get game experience, that way you kind of know what to expect when you’re coming in, you [have] more confidence and you get to focus on playing a little faster rather than just trying to learn how it’s going to be because you already have a taste for it,” Bouagnon said.