The release of Thursday’s injury report was predictably uninteresting: one player, Venric Mark, was listed with a questionable status. Mark has been trying to shake off the lingering effects of a lower body injury suffered before the season, and apparently, still hasn’t completed his rehabilitation. There’s little need for Mark to play Saturday in a virtual guarantee game against the Broncos; more important is that the senior is healthy for Ohio State’s visit to Evanston October 5.
Without Mark, Northwestern has gotten better-than-expected production from a deep stable of backs, most notably from junior Treyvon Green. The tailback rotation should have little trouble carrying the load Saturday; and if Mark does play, purely for the sake of getting back into the exercise of facing an opponent in a regulated game, don’t expect anything more than brief, sporadic appearances and a reduced workload. The Wildcats don’t need him – not Saturday and not against Maine a week later.