It has been assumed that Mike Trumpy and Adonis Smith would be the answer to all (or most) of Northwestern's running back problems.

The two showed a lot of promise as the 2010 season went on and, as underclassmen, were clearly the future of the position. Fans were encouraged when reports surfaced from training camp that sophomore Adonis Smith showed up stronger and faster. Finally, Northwestern might have its feature back. Injuries slowed him down however at Camp Kenosha and Trumpy is working his way back from a broken arm suffered during the Illinois game.

This all led to perhaps the biggest surprise of Camp Kenosha. It is not Smith nor Trumpy that sits atop the depth chart with a mere two weeks reamining before opening day in Chestnut Hill. Rather, it is senior Jacob Schmidt who will be given the opportunity to start.

Schmidt was among those given a gray jersey during Saturday's scrimmage at Camp Kenosha. A veritable protection from injury and excuse to stay off the field on its final day. The former walk-on and senior has achieved what many thought he had no chance at accomplishing before camp began.

"If I get the nod as the starting back for a couple of games, I get the nod," Schmidt told Teddy Greenstein of the Chicago Tribune. "But I'm here to help our team win any way I can. If that's picking up (a block) for Danny (Persa) or running routes, I want to do it. I love the competition in our room and my leadership role is to motivate and drive these younger guys."

Video Vault:

1) After Saturday's scrimmage to end Camp Kenosha, Pat Fitzgerald tells Tina Akouris of the Chicago Sun-Times the defense still needs some work. The best news though was nobody got hurt as the offense tallied three touchdowns and three field goals in 12 drives. Lindsey Willhite of the Daily Herald calculated some unofficial stats from the scrimmage.

2) Jacob Schmidt was feeling fortunate to be held out of Saturday's scrimmage. His gray jersey means he is at the top of the depth chart. Somewhere nobody thought he would be, writes Teddy Greenstein of the Chicago Tribune. Lake The Posts has more thoughts on this groundbreaking development on the depth chart.

3) Tina Akouris of the Chicago Sun-Times reveals even a very clean program like Northwestern is susceptible to recruiting violations. Northwestern averages about 20 secondary violations per year, she reports. But these are minor violations.

4) Alan Rubenstein of Examiner.com writes that Dan Persa making good on his Heisman campaign will be important for Northwestern to have a success season.

5) Lindy's Sports magazine previews Northwestern. 

6) Junior defensive end A.J. Natter turned some heads at Northwestern's one-day camp for recruits. So much so, the staff urged him to come visit Ryan Field for a game. Chris Emma of Scout.com reports Natter will make good on that promise. 

Somewhat quietly this summer, Bill Carmody added Fred Hill to his coaching staff. The former Rutgers coach had connections to the East Coast, a semi-successful record at Rutgers and some more experience to add to an improving program.

The Knights have just one commitment for 2012, according to Scout.com. Northwestern and Rutgers are not competing for recruits. Part of this dearth might be from the coaching change.

The Wildcats are growing their recruiting base in basketball. The team has tried in the past to keep some local talent nearby -- like they did with Michael Thompson, the team's first recruit from the Chicago Public School League, and like they did with John Shurna and Drew Crawford. This year two of NU's three recruits, Michael Turner and Dave Sobolewski are from the Chicagoland area.

Otherwise, NU is recruiting nationally. Tre Demps is from San Antonio. Kevin Coble was from Arizona. Alex Marcotullio is from Michigan. JerShon Cobb is from the Atlanta area. And, of course, Carmody has some solid connections to Croatia and Eastern Europe -- transferee Nikola Cerina is originally from Serbia and Luka Mirkovic is originally from Croatia.

When thinking about it, though, Northwestern has not had a player from the East Coast since Tim Doyle transferred in from St. John's in 2004. the team has lacked hair gel since.

I do not know how much Fred Hill will help increase the amount of hair gel on the team, but he should be a boost for NU's nationwide recruiting presence. He helped recruit current NBA guard Kyle Lowry to Villanova while he was an assistant coach and helped Rutgers to several solid recruiting classes.

He has quickly gone to work to pick up the work he left at Rutgers.

Chris Emma of PurpleWildcats.com reports Hill has NU in good position to recruit New Jersey center Blaise Mbargorba. Hill started recruiting the three-star prospect when he was sitll the head coach at Rutgers. When Hill called on behalf of Northwestern, Mbargorba's ears perked up because academics is something he does value and is an important part of his recruiting process.

When Northwestern recruited Jeravin Matthews four years ago, one word described what he could provide the team. Speed.

Fans who had seen savvy, smart players always in the right position just could not match up with the raw talent and speed of some of the bluer chips in the recruiting class.

Matthews did not have top-end speed. He was not some track superstar. But he was Northwestern fast.

Dreams of him returning kicks and punts and transforming the the Wildcats' special teams overnight danced in our heads. Seeing Matthews tear up secondaries and provide a deep threat -- something Northwestern was largely relying on newly minted wide receiver Andrew Brewer to accomplish -- just made him too much to pass up.

There was a lot of notoriety and pressure on Matthews to deliver on his potential (at least for Northwestern). The problem was Matthews never really found his fit. And in four years, that plus injuries kept Matthews from fulfilling the potential everyone saw for him.

Now, entering his senior year, Matthews appears to have found his home at cornerback. Matthews is in his second training camp at cornerback and is expected to start opposite All-Big Ten candidate Jordan Mabin.

Matthews came in as a wide receiver and was one of two freshmen to play in 2008, along with Jeremy Ebert. Matthews was a whiz on special teams, recording nine tackles. But by the midpoint of the season, he had switched to running back and was learning a new position. He came into 2009 as the team's number one running back, and everyone hoped a combination of him and freshman Arby Fields would be able to replace Tyrell Sutton's production.

Matthews rushed for 61 yards total that season. He had 11 yards on three carries in his lone start against Towson before an ankle injury knocked him out. By the end of that season, Matthews was switching positions again. He was moved to cornerback and the learning began again.

"You have to be willing to roll with the punches and be prepared for anything thrown at you," Matthews told Teddy Greenstein of the Chicago Tribune.

Dan Persa was the talk of the entire offseason. Would he come back at full strength and resume his All-Big Ten play? How would Northwestern have reacted those final three games had Persa been able to take the field? Would the team have collapsed like it had against Illinois and Wisconsin?

Those questions pervaded the offseason and everything Northwestern does on offense relies on what Persa can do. If Persa is even mediocre, it puts tons of pressure on everyone to step up their performances. Especially on defense, the unit that struggled most in Persa's absence.

That made things especially worrisome when Hunter Bates was on the field at the Cotton Bowl late in the Ticket City Bowl and needed help getting off. He broke his leg in that game, making his rehabilitation the quiet serious injury facing Northwestern. And it is a recover NU needs to be full.

Bates' injury is not as serious as Persa's -- a broken leg compared to a ruptured Achilles tendon -- but Northwestern's other number 7 was a team leader on defense and one of its most productive players. Bates had 45 tackles and two interceptions, pairing up with Brian Peters (and his team-leading 107 tackles) in the secondary at safety. Bates makes up one of the more experienced secondaries and one of the more intriguing units for Northwestern.

Bates has been hard at work to show that he is back in football shape as he competes with Peters, David Arnold, Jared Carpenter and Ibraheim Campbell at safety and for time in the secondary on defense. Bates made his mark on special teams and in the secondary last season, even playing with a broken hand for a few games. No one can doubt his toughness and his improving play.

Bates knows it will be a fight to get playing time, and he is somewhat behind the learning curve thanks to his injury and rehab.

The Skinny

The triple option.

It is some mythical offense of a long-forgotten time that pops up occassionally. It takes discipline to run, and discipline to defend. It is extremely simple, yet extremely difficult. It is such a rare offense to see, that preparing for it in and of itself is difficult. And for the first time, Northwestern will get to see the new-age triple option in action.

The triple option is what Army does. And it is something the Black Knights do well, taking it to win the program's first bowl game since 1996. Army has not experienced a lot of success, but like Northwestern, it is finding a path to consistency. Army has steadily improved since coach Rich Ellerson took over. Army was 3-9 for three straight years before Ellerson got them to 5-7, and finally 6-7 with a bowl victory last year.

Last year Army rushed for 251.6 yards per game while scoring 26.6 points per game. These numbers are not in the upper, upper elite of the nation, by any stretch. Army still has a long way to go. But the Black Knights are getting better, and to look past them would be a mistake.

The team's top two rushers return from last year in fullback Jared Hassin and quarterback Trent Steelman. Between those two, Army wracked up 1,734 yards on the ground. If only the Wildcats had a rushing attack like that. Malcolm Brown, who rushed for 343 yards in nine games last year, will pick up the slack at split back. Yes, Army is working a new cog into the triple option attack.

No matter who it is running the football, Pat Fitzgerald is right in saying his team will have to be disciplined to deal with it. Fitzgerald has said numerous times that Army is the most disciplined team in the country, and it has more to do than the program's off-the-field training program. Army averaged only 4.2 penalties per game, amounting to 40.9 yards per game. Aside from the stray holding penalty, the Black Knights will not give their opponents free yards.

While Army's offense continues to improve, the defense is a matter of concern for the team. It gave up 338.2 yards per game last year, which is not so bad until you consider how long it might take for a triple option team like Army to hold onto the ball to score. Army's offense is not necessarily one you trust to make a late-game comeback.

The Knights graduate several key players, including Josh McNary, who racked up 10 sacks last season, and leading tackler Stephen Anderson. Army's defense allows them to disrupt offenses and highlights the skills of its players, but it is toughto figure out what kind of players Army has because they have not been featured quite yet.

Linebacker Steven Erzinger is the top returning player on defense 76 tackles, 4.5 of which were for a loss. He does not quite strike fear into offenses like McNary or graduated cornerback Travis Donovan (he had five picks last season) did. This is a defense that is being retooled and could fall victim to the #PersaStrong attack (if Dan Persa is healthy that is).

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