It’s a game that Northwestern smiles upon, but doesn’t necessarily like to remember.

The Wildcats opened their 2012-13 season with a visit to the Carrier Dome to face the Orange. After 60 minutes of slapdash, back-and-forth football, NU edged Syracuse 42-41 thanks in large part to running back Venric Mark.

Mark finished the game with 84 yards on 14 carries, but made his biggest contributions in the return game. He returned two punts for a total of 134 yards, including an 82-yard return for a touchdown in the first quarter and a 52-yard return in the second that led to another Northwestern touchdown.

“We got lucky last year,” NU head coach Pat Fitzgerald said. “I don’t know how we won, but we found a way. We’re going to have to play better if we want to win again.” 

Yet Mark, a key factor in last season’s dramatic act, could watch the next installment from the sidelines. 

When Syracuse (0-1) visits No. 19 Northwestern (1-0) at Ryan Field in Evanston, Ill., on Saturday at 6 p.m., the matchup could have a different complexion from that of last September. Last season, SU’s inability to limit big plays was accentuated by Mark’s earth-shattering speed. But with the running back day-to-day with a leg injury, there is no certainty that he’ll have an opportunity to thrash the Orange again.

“He’s really fast,” said sophomore running back Treyvon Green. “But he’s not all about speed. He has great vision as well.”

Five feet, 8 inches, 175 pounds.

For a football player, at any position, it’s not an ideal size. Yet Mark has turned his seemingly disadvantaging size into one of his greatest strengths. His small frame permits a rare shiftiness that helps him hit holes and bounce to the outside with noticeable ease.

Last season as a junior, Mark rushed for 12 touchdowns and 1,366 yards, an average of 105.1 yards per game. He became just the 15th player in Northwestern history to record a 1,000-yard season, and the first since Tyrell Sutton did so in 2006.

He was also wildly successful on special teams and received first-team All-American honors from the Football Writers Association of America. 

Jason Kimball, the athletic director at St. Pius X High School in Houston, watched Mark develop as a player there and at times had trouble following the speedster around the field.

“He’s the fastest player I’ve ever seen in pads, and I’ve coached for 15 years,” Kimball said. “There may be faster athletes on the track but as far as the football field goes, there’s no one that can touch his speed.”

It’s that very speed that left the Orange looking helpless in the Dome last season. Despite Mark’s consistent success out of the backfield, SU will always peg him as an explosive athlete that does his damage in spurts.

After his two electric punt returns in the first half of last season’s game, Mark was relatively quiet until NU took possession with 10:23 left in the third quarter. After three straight completions by quarterback Kain Colter, the Wildcats centered their drive around their biggest weapon.

Mark’s personal conquest started at the Syracuse 47-yard line and ended at the one. In four consecutive plays he rushed for 46 total yards, including a 32-yard gain through the teeth of the Orange’s defense. On the next play, Colter snuck into the end zone to give the Wildcats a 35-13 lead. 

His play-making ability makes moonlighting with the special teams unit seem like an unnecessary risk. But any possibility of injuries is smothered by the opportunity to put the ball in Mark’s hands.

“Venric dabbles in special teams because he is a home run threat every time he gets the ball,” Kimball said. “The main objection is, and should be, to get him the ball in space.”

But now that he has sustained a leg injury, Northwestern is acting cautiously. In the Wildcats 44-30 win over California last Saturday, Mark wasn’t used on special teams and played sparingly at running back in the fourth quarter. 

He finished the game with 29 yards on 11 rushes, giving way to Green to shine in his absence. Green rushed for 129 yards on 16 carries and two touchdowns. With Mark day-to-day, as well as Colter uncertain with a concussion, NU’s offense won’t know its identity until kickoff Saturday evening. 

“We both have a little something to bring to the table, and I think we really complement each other,” Green said. “But right now we are rotating everyone in and are going in with a good game plan.”

Even if Green and the rest of the revolving components of the Wildcats offense are comfortable with the unknown, they would all like to see Mark in his usual, versatile role. 

After all, it was his timely speed that led the Wildcats over the Orange a season ago.

“We’re going to see where he is throughout the course of the week,” Fitzgerald said. “He’s a dynamic playmaker, and not to have him at full speed definitely hurts.”

Published on September 4, 2013 at 12:38 am

Contact Jesse: jcdoug01@syr.edu | @dougherty_jesse