Wednesday, Sept. 2, 1998 | 11:11 a.m.
WIDE RECEIVER D'Wayne Bates seemed to be having something of a storybook career at Northwestern.
His first collegiate reception in his first college game was a game-winning 26-yard touchdown pass to stun Notre Dame in South Bend, 17-15.
Later that freshman season, he keyed Northwestern's 19-13 upset at Michigan with a 26-yard option pass to set up the game-winning score.
Then in the Rose Bowl that season, he more than held his own against USC's Keyshawn Johnson, catching seven passes for 145 yards in a 41-32 loss to the Trojans.
He followed that up with 75 receptions for 1,196 yards and 12 touchdowns as a sophomore while leading the Wildcats to a share of another Big Ten title and a Florida Citrus Bowl berth. He was a semifinalist for the prestigious Biletnikoff Award which goes to the top wide receiver in college football.
And entering the 1997 season, the 6-2, 211-pound former all-state quarterback from Jackson, S.C., was rated the nation's No. 1 wide receiver by Lindy's College Football Magazine, was picked to Playboy's All-America squad and was considered a sure-fire high first-round NFL pick.
Then ...
Early in the second quarter of an eventual 24-0 win over Oklahoma in the Pigskin Classic, Bates caught a pass and broke away from a tackle.
Bates picks it up from there.
"I caught the ball and my leg kind of got caught," he said. "Soldier Field was kind of soggy that day because it had rained the night before. I broke a decent tackle, but after about three steps, I fell because I felt a pain in my leg. I didn't know what was wrong. I just walked to the sidelines. I thought it was a sprained ankle."
But X-rays would later reveal that Bates had actually broken his fibula.
"They had to go in and insert a small screw to help it heal properly," Bates said. "It was about 10 weeks before I could walk on it again."
The Wildcats, who had compiled a 20-5 record in two-plus seasons with Bates in the starting lineup, never recovered. Northwestern lost four of its next five games and finished with a disappointing 5-7 record.
"It really was a devastating loss for us," Wildcats coach Gary Barnett said.
If there is a bright spot out of the injury for Northwestern, it's the fact Bates, who probably would have turned pro if he had stayed healthy last year, is back for his senior campaign.
That's bad news for Northwestern opponents, including UNLV, which opens its season Saturday morning in Evanston. The man who will be matched up against Bates much of the time will be redshirt freshman corner Kevin Thomas of Foothill High School in Sacramento, Calif., who will be playing in his first college game.
Yipes!
"He'll get baptized in a hurry," UNLV coach Jeff Horton said. "But knowing Kevin, I think he'll be up to it."
Horton is well aware of the impact a player like Bates could have on the outcome of a game.
"He's a big-time player," Horton said. "He's probably as good as any receiver we've faced since I've been here. He's very athletic and really makes spectacular plays. Without question he'll be an NFL player."
Bates has been counting down the days for his return to the field.
"It's been a year and two weeks," he said. "I can't wait. I've got kind of a mental countdown going now."
Barnett says he believes Bates, who had further surgery to remove the screw from his leg in the spring, is "at about 95 percent right now.
"It'll take him a couple of games under his belt and some more practice time before he's 100 percent again. But he's there and that's what we didn't have a year ago."
Bates, though, says he believes he's back to where he was before his injury.
"I feel real good, back to normal," he said. "I don't feel much of a change. I don't feel any slower. I don't feel any pain. And I don't feel like I've lost anything from my game."
REBEL NOTES: You can tell it's finally big-game week around Rebel Park by the amount of shouting going on. Both offensive coordinator Buzz Preston and defensive coordinator Ruffin McNeill were very antimated during Tuesday's 2 1/2-hour workout, which ran about 20 minutes longer than planned and featured some rare first-team offense vs. first-team defense scrimmaging. McNeill was especially angry at starting tackle Troy Kirkpatrick for sitting out the final 30 minutes because he was ill. Kirkpatrick has been battling the flu recently and had a 102-degree temperature on Friday. ... Barnett told writers on a Big Ten conference call Tuesday that he felt this year's Wildcat defense could be as good as any he has had. That's a mighty big statement when you consider that Northwestern led the nation in scoring defense (12.7 ppg) during its 1995 Rose Bowl campaign. ... UNLV is down to three healthy corners. Backup Amar Brisco will have surgery for torn knee cartilage on Thursday that will likely sideline him about a month. ... Backup running back B.J. Edwards was declared ineligible by the school Tuesday after it was discovered that he did not have the 24 transferable units from Ricks (Idaho) J.C. necessary for NCAA eligibility. A check by UNLV's certification office came up with only 19 allowable units. "Because he came in during the spring and is in good academic standing here, we're going to file an appeal (with the NCAA)," Horton said. "If he doesn't get a waiver, he still has a redshirt year available."
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