When coach Pete Lembo first saw freshman running back Jahwan Edwards in the Fisher Football Complex on Tuesday, he had a message for the freshman.
"I told him his bystanding days were over," Lembo said.
The comment was at least in part a jest, for Edwards has been anything but a bystander this season. He leads the team in rushing with 151 carries for 681 yards. The next time Edwards runs for a touchdown, he will become just the seventh Cardinals running back to rush for 11 touchdowns in a season.
But with fellow sophomore running back Barrington Scott out for the rest of the season because of a broken leg he suffered in Saturday's victory at Eastern Michigan, Edwards' role in the offense will grow even more.
"He's going to have to shoulder more of the load — and I think we all know that — here in the next two games," Lembo said.
Scott was averaging almost 11 carries and 44 yards per game going into Saturday. He had played the best game of the season the week before at Western Michigan, rushing 15 times for 104 yards and a touchdown. Scott will finish his season with 370 yards and a touchdown.
Tuesday's game at Northern Illinois will be just the second game Scott has missed this season. He sat out the Temple game with a hip pointer he suffered at Oklahoma. In the loss to Temple, Edwards rushed 16 times for 66 yards. Junior backup Dwayne Donigan had five carries for 34 yards.
Now, just at the time when many freshmen are used to finishing their seasons, Edwards will be asked to replace Scott's production. He said he doesn't think his durability will be a problem because he played a combined 31 games in his last two high school seasons en route to back-to-back North Carolina state championships.
"I feel like I'm getting hit more, but we've been working out, stretching a lot more than I did in high school," Edwards said. "So it's not really affecting me as much. But it does take a toll after the game."
In addition to bigger roles for Edwards and Donigan, freshman Horactio Banks has been elevated to third-string running back. Banks has not played this year, and Lembo has no plans to take away his redshirt. But in an emergency, Banks will have to be ready to play.
"It would have to be a battle of attrition with us losing that battle for him to go in the game," Lembo said. "He's going to have to take meaningful reps here in practice now as we reach the home stretch."
Edwards is looking forward to getting extra reps in practice himself because he said the extra work will only help him improve.
With Scott unable to play the two games left on Ball State's schedule, Edwards said he's playing for two people now — Scott and himself.
"I wish he was able to play at NIU," Edwards said. "I'm going to play as hard as I can for him."
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