Can RB Evan Hull Help Lead the Wildcats Offense in Wake of Cam Porter Injury?
Heading into the 2021 season, Northwestern was facing the task of replacing a lot of their offensive talent from last year's team. The Wildcats were looking to rely heavily on second year running back Cam Porter to be a spark on offense. On Tuesday, however, Northwestern football announced that Porter would miss the entire 2021 season due to a lower leg injury.
Despite losing Porter for the year, offensive coordinator Mike Bajakian does not foresee a dip in offensive production or any need to change the game plan with Evan Hull becoming the starter. “We’re all heartbroken to see Porter go down and very disappointed,” Bajakian explained. “In reality though it is a next man up mentality.”
“Those guys are well prepared to do so,” Bajakian continued. “Schematically I wouldn’t expect things to change very much, so while we may tweak things to the ability of the ball carrier, the scheme won’t change much.”
Expected to lead a talented trio of running backs is Evan Hull, a redshirt sophomore year back who the Wildcats hope can be a spark plug for the offense and help carry the load. Tasked with the starting position, what does Hull think he brings to the table?
“One cut and go, speed, catching out of the backfield,” Hull said. “A versatility and the ability to be a playmaker out there.”
As for any thought of a drop off in production out of the running back position this season with the loss of Porter, Hull does not believe that will occur. “Everybody needs to step up right now,” Hull explained. “There shouldn’t be any kind of drop off now that Cam is not going to be participating.”
“We told everyone, especially the younger guys, if you didn’t think you were going to play this season to get that thought out of your head,” Hull continued.
With Hull taking over the role of starting running back, his friendship with Porter has remained the same. For Hull, his reaction to seeing Porter down was one of disbelief and shock. “The way it happened was kind of crazy,” Hull said.
Instead of Hull comforting Porter, though, Hull said he was the one being comforted in the situation. “It's funny, he almost comforted me more than I comforted him,” Hull said. “He came to me and told me to not feel like I have to change anything and to be prepared to step into the starting role.”
Losing Porter for the season will not be an easy obstacle to overcome, as any team who loses a back of that quality will see a bit of a struggle to adapt. In Hull though, the Wildcats offense should not see much, if any, of a drop off. Hull, who has a mix of speed and pass catching ability, has potential to successfully lead the Wildcats offense this season.
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Connor Zimmerlee is a writer and reporter for Wildcats Daily. Zimmerlee received his Bachelor's of Journalism from the University of Texas at Austin as part of the class of 2021 and now attends the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern.