Daniel PetersonHoping to rebound from a 16-10 loss to MacMurray College, Washington University will travel to Bloomington, Illinois, to face Illinois Wesleyan University, but will be without sophomore halfback Kevin McCarthy.
McCarthy, who rushed 28 times for 120 yards in a season-opening win against Simpson College, dislocated his left shoulder during the first quarter last weekend. The initial prognosis was for McCarthy to sit out three weeks; however, his absence will likely be extended pending the results of a September 18th MRI.
“The doctor was actually pushing for surgery, which would take me out for the season,” McCarthy said. “He said I have a high likelihood of it popping out again, and if I take the surgery now, it won’t dislocate anymore. But right now, I don’t know exactly what’s going to happen.”
With McCarthy out for most of the game, junior transfer Toby Neighbors received most of the carries against the MacMurray Highlanders last week. Neighbors ran for 69 yards on 20 carries and scored the Bears’ only touchdown of the game in the first quarter.
A solid performance by Neighbors is important against Illinois Wesleyan. The Titans feature a ball-control offense geared toward running the football and eating up the clock. Running the ball effectively can keep the Titans’ offense off the field and the Bears’ defense rested.
McCarthy believes that the offense can be explosive regardless of whether or not he is playing, thanks to a solid offensive line.
“It makes such a big difference to have a line like we have,” McCarthy explained. “The line just creates huge holes, and all you have to do is find them because there’s always going to be one. They will make things easier on the other running backs, and I feel the other guys can do just as good a job as I did. We also have a great group of receivers, so the offense should be fine.”
With the offense missing a standout performer, the onus will be on the defense to stop Illinois Wesleyan’s running game, featuring tailback Chris Ross. Ross carried 29 times and gained 101 yards in the Titans’ 35-31 comeback victory over University of Wisconsin-La Crosse last week.
“Our number one goal as a team is to stop the run,” senior middle linebacker Brandon Roberts said. “Running is pretty much the basis of their offense, and they run a lot of draws. So if we stop the run, I think we’ll win.”
The Bears have excelled at making opposing offenses one-dimensional by defending the run well. In their first two games, the WU defense has allowed just 88 yards rushing on 69 carries, an average of only 1.3 yards per rush.
Roberts accounted for 18 tackles alone against MacMurray, including two tackles for loss and a forced fumble. However, he thinks the defense needs to contribute even more this weekend.
“Overall, we’ve held teams to minimal yardage every game, but one thing we haven’t done is create turnovers,” Roberts said. “We have to do more of that to put our offense in better field position. Even though McCarthy is out, we have guys like Toby and Evan Noetzel who can do the job for our offense, so I think we’re in good shape.”