NIU alums Wolfe, Turner will meet again when Bears travel to Atlanta

Atlanta's 5-foot-10, 244-pound Michael Turner and the Bears' 5-7, 185-pound Garrett Wolfe don't have as much in common as they did back when they both were record-setting running backs at Northern Illinois University.

Turner, who rushed for 1,699 yards last season, left NIU in 2004 ranked 13th in NCAA history with 4,941 rushing yards, including 1,915 as a junior and 1,648 as a senior, when Wolfe was one of his backups. Turner, a Waukegan native and North Chicago High School graduate, left DeKalb as NIU's all-time leader in all-purpose yards with 6,038.

Wolfe, a Chicago native and a product of Holy Cross High School in River Grove, succeeded Turner as the Huskies' featured ball carrier but is now an occasional change-of-pace runner for the Bears and has carried the ball just 57 times in three seasons.

"We had pretty good college careers for the same university," Wolfe said. "I think we're similar in terms of personality and in terms of being very personable, but Michael's much bigger than I am. He's much bigger than a lot of running backs in the league."

Asked about their careers at Northern, Wolfe laughs when he says, "All the records he set in four years, I broke in three."

But that's the truth.

Wolfe rushed for 5,164 yards in his three seasons at NIU, becoming the fourth player in NCAA D-I history with three straight 1,500-yard rushing seasons.

He left with a 156.3-yard rushing average per game, the fourth best in D-I history. His career rushing average of 6.4 yards is the all-time D-I record, but Wolfe fell just short of Turner's total of all-purpose yards with 5,983.

Wolfe said he wasn't intimidated by the burden of trying to fill Turner's shoes.

"I wasn't setting out to replace Michael Turner; I was just setting out to be Garrett Wolfe and wound up being better anyway," he said, laughing. "When I got there I saw the great talent that Michael was, and I was just happy to have guys like that to work with."

The two became friends in college and still maintain a relationship.

"We still talk often," Wolfe said. "Michael's always been a good friend, a good person to know. We were closer when we were there because we played the same position.

"But Michael's always managed to reach out to me, like when I got drafted, (and when) we played them out in San Diego (in 2007) as well."

The Bears did an exceptional job against Turner last season, holding him to 54 yards on 25 carries, but Wolfe said he couldn't use that as ammunition against his former teammate.

"Nah, because they won the game," said Wolfe, who did not have a single touch in the last-second 22-20 loss.

Wolfe could be much more involved this week spelling starter Matt Forte. Adrian Peterson, who splits the backup duties with Wolfe, is not expected to play because of a sprained knee, so Wolfe should add to his 11-carry, 45-yard totals this season.

"The Huskies alums will definitely appreciate that," he said, "and it'd be great for me to get out there and get a feel for things and get the opportunity to make some plays."

Wolfe obviously knows what it's like to be patient. When he got to NIU, in Turner's junior season, he started out No. 9 on the depth chart at running back.

"They're not going to list an incoming freshman who's never played with the team ahead of guys that have been there, so it's just a formality," Wolfe said. "I never looked at it as No. 9 because I think it was just something that was in the media guide as opposed to actually being factual.

"Two other running backs came in at that same time with me. There were six (running backs) on the roster before the three of us came in, and they listed the freshmen alphabetically, so I was last.

"But I was able to make a difference there."

That's all Wolfe wants to do Sunday night at the Georgia Dome in front of a national-TV audience.

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