Minnesota Duluth running back Logan Lauters' first collegiate carry didn't go the way he envisioned it last week.
In fact, it was awful.
Fortunately for the Bulldogs, the rest of his carries put him in elite company.
Lauters ran nine times for 104 yards and a touchdown to lead the Bulldogs to a 45-20 victory at Southwest Minnesota State on Aug. 30.
UMD sports information director Bob Nygaard said it isn't something the Bulldogs keep track of, but it's extremely rare for a freshman running back to top 100 yards in his college debut. UMD has been fortunate to have back-to-back performances, with freshman Brian Lucas going for 116 yards in the Bulldogs' 2011 opener.
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"We just keep adding quality guys back there, and it's fun to watch them work," UMD defensive coordinator John Steger said. "Logan is explosive."
The Bulldogs certainly now have a freshman benchmark, even if Lauters is being humble about it.
"I'm a little surprised by how well I did, but the big thing was our offensive line making big holes for me to run through," Lauters said. "We've got five or six running backs who could have pretty much done the same thing."
Lauters, the third all-time leading rusher in Wisconsin prep history, got off to an ugly college start against Southwest Minnesota State, fumbling an exchange with quarterback Chase Vogler in the first quarter and then falling on the ball for a 4-yard loss.
Then he was forced to stew over it as he was taken out of the game as part of his regular rotation with the bruising Lucas and slashing sophomore Austin Sikorski.
Lauters rushed for 3 yards on his next carry, in the second quarter, and then busted one for 60 yards to set up UMD's second touchdown. Suddenly, that first-quarter fumble was all but forgotten by everyone except his coaches and himself.
"I got pulled out after my fumble, and I thought, 'Man, this is a rough start to my first game,'" he said. "I was pretty upset with myself and couldn't wait to get back out there because standing on that sideline didn't help, that's for sure. It was kind of a bummer, so I was glad to get back out there and kind of redeem myself."
Lauters rushed for more than 5,600 yards during his four-year career at Cedarburg (Wis.) High School near Milwaukee, including 2,600 as a senior in being named all-state.
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While he received interest from smaller NCAA Division I schools such as North Dakota and Southern Illinois -- where he was recruited by Steger during his two-year stint there -- most of the bigger schools likely shied away because of his size. UMD, the four-time defending Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference champions, ended up winning the conference sweepstakes for the 5-foot-8, 195-pound dynamo.
After being redshirted last season while he recovered from knee surgery, Lauters was impressive during spring practice.
"Everything is coming easier to me now, and I just try to do my best with whatever carries I get," he said. "I no longer have to think about it as much. I can just play."
While it's still early, Lauters showed an uncanny ability to cut back and explode through the hole in the opener and displayed the kind of speed that helped him run the 100 meters in 11.01 seconds in high school.
"My senior year I started learning how to get behind the offensive line and then kind of pop out," Lauters said. "That's a place where I can use my size to my advantage because you can kind of hide back there and it's hard for the defense to see you until it's too late."
UMD remains confident in all of its backs so it's unlikely Lauters will get a lot more carries this week, but if he continues his rapid improvement it could be hard not to play him more. The Bulldogs have been looking for a consistent home run hitter in the backfield ever since Isaac Odim went down with a knee injury midway through the 2010 season, and they might have three budding slugging prospects in Lauters, Sikorski and Lucas.
"We've demonstrated over the years that we like to use multiple people at that position, and we like that every one of our backs brings something a little bit different. We can even go beyond those three," UMD coach Bob Nielson said. "Sometimes we might ride the back with the hot hand a little bit more, but it's not going to change the way we do things. We'll try to use them all. This is the most complete group of backs we've ever had, and that's a good problem to have."
