After rushing 245 yards in Saturday’s game at Northwestern, Garrett Wolfe has separated himself from the pack as the nation’s leading rusher.

Wolfe ran for a total of 393 yards in two games this season. Laurence Maroney of Minnesota is second to Wolfe with 336 yards.

Wolfe is also second in the nation in all-purpose yards with an average of 221 per game and tied for fourth in touchdowns with four.

“Garrett is a great instinctive runner and one of the better running backs I’ve ever been around,” NIU football coach Joe Novak said. “Michael Turner is a bigger and stronger back, but Garrett has great instincts and you can’t coach that.”

STOPPED JUST SHORT

After winning the MAC Player of the Week award last week; Garrett Wolfe had taken the honors in five of the 12 games he had appeared in.

But Wolfe wasn’t able to collect his sixth honor this week, losing out to Central Michigan quarterback Kent Smith.

Wolfe gained a nomination but couldn’t overcome Smith, who set a school record for total yards with 478 in the Chippewas win over Miami-Ohio. Smith completed 26 of his 36 pass attempts in the game and rushed for 122 yards, which was a career high.

DOWN BUT NOT OUT

Senior center Brian VanAcker was carted off the field in the second quarter of the Northwestern game after falling to the ground and clutching his ankle.

“(VanAcker) went back and played in the second half,” Novak said. “They x-rayed him and there was nothing so he went back in.”

VanAcker wasn’t the only casualty for the NIU offensive line. Red-shirt freshman guard Jon Brost also left Saturday’s game with an injury.

DOWN AND OUT

Central Michigan has dismissed three of its football players for the entire 2005 season.

Running back Jerry Seymour, who was the 2003 MAC freshman of the year, and two other players were suspended for charges of beating a man to death.

Chippewas coach Brian Kelly made the announcement on Sept. 6.

“Upon learning of the indictments and the information that was included in them, I have decided that the current players involved in the case will be dismissed from the Central Michigan University football team and will no longer receive any athletic scholarships from the university,” Kelly said in a statement.

NO FREEBIES0

A total of 13 Ball State football players were suspended from its season opener against Iowa.

The players, half of whom were projected starters, sat out of the 56-0 loss after violating the NCAA’s extra benefits rule. The players improperly used a book loan program to obtain textbooks not required for courses.