Krutsch's hard work rewarded

bull;The hot recruits who are on scholarship from Day One. They comprise the majority of players, and they seize the majority of the playing time at every university.

bull;The invited walk-ons are next, the players who finish high school on the unlucky side of the scholarship-worthy line but are good enough to avoid a tryout battle to join the program.

bull;And then there are the walk-ons whose job description might be better known as "human tackling dummy."

These are the guys who try out with little encouragement from anyone but family and friends.

If they're lucky enough to make the team, they take a pummeling on the scout team during the week. Their reward comes during Saturday home games, when they stand on the sideline and fill out a spotless but unnecessary uniform.

Alex Krutsch hoped to become a card-carrying member of the last group when he made the transition from Schaumburg High School to Northern Illinois in the fall of 2004.

As the Huskies fought through preseason camp that season, Krutsch watched from afar in street clothes. Division III schools wanted him, but he wanted more.

"I wanted to play in big venues," Krutsch said. "Go big or go home, you know?"

After spending a season as "pretty much just a human body out there," Krutsch made his college debut at Michigan in 2005. He made his first start at Ohio State last fall.

And now, as Northern Illinois gears up for Saturday's much-anticipated opener against Iowa at Soldier Field, the 6-foot-2, 260-pound Krutsch prepares to serve as the Huskies' starting nose tackle for the second consecutive year.

Not bad for a guy who didn't even make Mid-Suburban League first-team all-conference as a senior.

"Mike Sabock knew about him," said Northern Illinois coach Joe Novak, referring to his recruiting coordinator and defensive ends coach.

"But he wasn't on our radar screen as far as offering aid," Novak added. "He kind of came on his own, and he's a tough, blue-collar type of kid who's done well."

Novak handed Krutsch his hard-earned scholarship prior to the 2006 season, though Krutsch admits he liked receiving the full ride for the validation more than anything.

"I wasn't expecting it," Krutsch said. "I would have played no matter what, but it's nice that Coach Novak was gracious enough to give me one."

Defensive tackles coach Jeff Phelps, meanwhile, settles for paying the chiseled Krutsch in compliments.

"When you talk about defensive-line play, you put a picture of him up and say, 'This is how it's supposed to be done,' " Phelps said. "In the weight room. In conditioning and running. Hard work in the classroom. And then putting it all together on the field."

Don't misunderstand. Krutsch isn't necessarily on the fast track to becoming an all-Mid-American Conference performer.

In the six starts he made last year before suffering a right-foot injury during practice, Krutsch amassed 12 tackles, 1 sack and 1 blocked kick.

But it's not his job to roll up big stats.

His job requires him to help linebackers Tim McCarthy, Josh Allen, John Tranchitella and Cory Hanson make tackles and all-MAC teams.

He's asked to fight two offensive linemen to a draw, according to Phelps, on roughly 85 percent of the plays.

"I always tell the D-tackles, if we're hanging on to two double teams, that means one of our linebackers is running free," Phelps said. "And unblocked players are going to make plays."

Novak, a former defensive end who served as a defensive-line coach at Illinois, among other places, understands Krutsch's role better than almost anyone.

"It's a cleanup job," Novak said. "In there, you can play a pretty darn good game and not have a tackle."

The Krutsch file

Name: Alex Krutsch

Class: Junior

Size: 6-2, 260 pounds

Position: Nose tackle

Hometown: Schaumburg

Experience: Played in 14 games over two seasons with 19 tackles, 1 sack and 1 blocked extra point.

Quote: "He works his tail off in the weight room. He's got great upper-body and lower-body strength. You'll see him in there working out. He'll do the workout and then he'll add on a little extra at the end, keeping in mind that he's the guy who walked on to the program."

Jeff Phelps, Northern Illinois defensive tackles coach