Career: Played in 40 career games with 38 all-time starts ... Invited to 2009 NFL Combine ... At end of 2008 season, led all active running backs nationally in career receiving yards per game (31.1) and career receptions per game (3.7) ... In his rookie season (2005), exploded on the national scene, raking in numerous postseason honors ... A shifty running back with outstanding vision and instincts ... An excellent receiver out of the backfield ... Solid pass blocker ... Extremely strong runner ... Among all college running backs, tabbed the "best receiver" by Scouts, Inc. (Todd McShay of ESPN.com) ... Finished his career as NU's second all-time leading rusher with 3,886 yards ... Second in all-purpose yardage (5,138 yards) ... Finished one touchdown shy of Damien Anderson's school record for touchdowns scored with 37 ... Fourth in career rushing touchdowns at NU (31) ... Ranked 18th in NU history with 1,244 receiving yards ... Totaled 16 career 100-yard rushing games ... Averaged 97.2 rushing yards per career game and 5.3 yards per career carry.
2008: True senior ... Named honorable mention All-Big Ten by conference coaches ... Recipient of team's inaugural Bryan Paynter "Ultimate Wildcat" Award (winner of this award serves as an example by confronting adversity with courage and dedication and always putting the needs of the team first) ... Member of the Maxwell Award (collegiate player of the year) preseason watch list ... Doak Walker (top running back) candidate ... Named to various preseason teams: second-team All-Big Ten by Athlon Sports, Street & Smith's, Blue Ribbon, Phil Steele's and CollegeFootballNews.com ... Honorable mention preseason All-American by The Sporting News ... Played in 2009 East-West Shrine Classic all-star game, totaling 37 rushing yards and 82 kick return yards for the winning East team ... Suffered a wrist injury at Indiana that ended his regular season ... Underwent surgery on Oct. 28 ... Made his return in the 2008 Alamo Bowl vs. Missouri, starting at tailback and racking up 114 rushing yards on 29 carries as well as 29 receiving yards on five catches ... At the time of his injury in October, ranked 32nd nationally and fifth in the Big Ten in rushing yards per game (97.0) ... Averaged 132.8 all-purpose yards in 2008 ... At Indiana, tallied 91 all-purpose yards (77 rush, 14 receiving) and a 1-yard rushing TD before leaving the game with an injury in the third quarter ... It was the 37th TD of his career, tying Darnell Autry for second all-time at NU ... Against Purdue, compiled 158 all-purpose yards (96 rushing, 62 receiving) and passed Ricky Edwards for most career receptions by an NU running back (142) ... Named team's offensive big playmaker against the Boilermakers ... Also caught a 9-yard TD pass from C.J. Bachér ... Rang up a season-most 183 all-purpose yards (139 rushing, 44 receiving) vs. Michigan State ... Notched the longest run of his career, 66 yards, against the Spartans ... Totaled a team-high 149 all-purpose yards (77 rushing, 72 receiving) at Iowa ... Against Ohio, ran for 76 yards on nine carries and caught three passes for 27 yards before leaving the game at halftime with a left leg injury ... Became just the second player in NU history to record 1,000 career yards rushing and receiving ... Against Southern Illinois, ran for 101 yards on 17 carries, marking the 14th time he has eclipsed the 100-yard plateau in a game ... Also caught five passes for 16 yards ... Scored three touchdowns, giving him 30 for his career ... Scored two or more touchdowns in a game eight times in his career ... At Duke, ran 16 times for 66 yards and two touchdowns, moving into fourth all-time in school history with 27 rushing touchdowns ... Carried 21 times for 144 yards vs. Syracuse ... Passed the 3,000-yard rushing mark for his career on the first carry of the afternoon ... Caught four passes for 41 yards, giving him 185 all-purpose yards for the game ... Named team's offensive big play performer vs. Syracuse, SIU and Ohio and team's offensive player of the game vs. MSU.
2007: Honorable mention All-Big Ten selection (coaches) ... Began the preseason on watch lists for the Maxwell and Walter Camp Player of the Year awards, and as a Doak Walker Award candidate ... Suffered a lower-leg injury in the first half of the Nevada game and left with just 14 rushing yards on three carries ... The following week, missed his first college game (Duke) with an ankle injury ... Sat out the first four Big Ten games (OSU, Michigan, MSU and Minnesota) with the injury, as well ... Returned to action against Eastern Michigan, playing four plays ... Saw first significant action after his injury at Purdue ... Named team's offensive player of the game vs. the Boilers (72 rushing yards, 19 receiving 97.5 yards) ... Despite the injury, did finish the game as NU's leading receiver with five receptions for 59 yards ... Opened the season with a solid performance: 108 rushing yards (24 carries) and 1 TD, along with 24 receiving yards (4 receptions) vs. Northeastern ... Notched second 100-yard game of the season with 116 rushing yards vs. Iowa ... Also led NU with seven catches for 40 yards against the Hawkeyes ... Turned in his season's top performance against Indiana: 141 rushing yards (33 carries), a TD and 72 receiving yards (six receptions) for 213 all-purpose yards -- the fourth-best single-game figure of his career ... Closed season with 139 all-purpose yards (71 rushing, 68 receiving) at Illinois ... Had seven catches vs. Illinois ... Was NU's leading receiver with nine catches after two games.
2006: Consensus honorable mention All-Big Ten selection ... Team co-MVP ... True sophomore who started all 12 games ... Named to several major award preseason watch lists: Maxwell Award (top player), Walter Camp Foundation Player of the Year and Doak Walker Award (top running back) ... Needed 110 rushing yards in his season finale vs. Illinois to reach 1,000 yards for the year, and hit that number on the nose to record his second straight 1,000-yard season ... The 100-yard game was the ninth of his career ... Also caught five passes against the Illini and scored a TD on a 2-yard run ... Had the fifth-best rushing effort of his career at Iowa (Nov. 4): 168 yards (28 carries) and a TD ... Also had five receptions for 35 yards, giving him 203 total yards ... Earned Big Ten Co-Offensive Player of the Week honors for his effort at Iowa, the best rushing performance by any Iowa opponent running back in 2006 ... Also received an "ESPN College Gameday helmet sticker" for his showing at Iowa ... Had his top performance of the year against Michigan State: 172 rushing yards (21 attempts) and 20 receiving yards ... Had a career-long 64-yard run in that game ... With that performance, went over the 2,000-yard mark for career rushing ... Rushed for 63 yards (4.8 ypc) in season opener ... Caught three passes for 23 yards, including a 19-yard TD pass ... Rushed for 99 yards, which included a season-long 61-yard scamper, and a TD vs. New Hampshire ... Also had four catches for 35 yards against UNH ... Ran for 91 yards (5.1 ypc) and caught a pass vs. Eastern Michigan ... Ran for 94 yards and a TD at Nevada ... Held to 40 rushing yards (eight carries) at Penn State and then 18 rushing yards at Wisconsin ... Held to a career-low 6 yards by the nation's top-ranked rushing defense of Michigan ... Did score his 19th career rushing TD at Penn State -- a hard-fought 1-yard TD run ... Rushed for 82 yards (10 carries) against Purdue ... Totaled 132 all-purpose yards against Ohio State -- 57 rushing and 75 receiving ... Caught a season-high seven passes against the Buckeyes and scored a TD on an 8-yard pass play ... Scored 25 career TD's in his career (21 rushing, 4 receiving) ... Eclipsed the 1,500-yard career rushing mark in his 13th game (vs. Miami).
2005: Sporting News Offensive Freshman of the Year and first-team Freshman All-American ... Consensus Big Ten Freshman of the Year ... Rivals.com first-team All-American (all-purpose position) ... Runner-up in Rivals.com national freshman of the year voting ... True freshman ... SI.com's honorable mention All-America ... Named the 2005 Greater Cleveland Sports Outstanding Collegiate Athlete ... Doak Walker Award candidate ... NGN Offensive Newcomer of the Year Award recipient ... Honored as the Freshman of the Year by the Touchdown Club of Columbus ... Made, arguably, the most impressive debut by a true freshman in school history ... Went over the 1,000-yard mark for rushing against Michigan (season's eighth game), giving NU nine 1,000-yard rushers in the last 11 seasons ... Had he gained 1,000 rushing yards by his seventh game, he would have joined Emmitt Smith, Marshall Faulk and Adrian Peterson as the only freshmen in NCAA history to gain 1,000 yards in seven games ... Finished with the third-best rushing total (1,474 yards) in NU history ... Ranked 16th nationally in scoring (9.0 ppg) and eighth nationally in rushing (122.8 ypg) -- the best marks by a freshman ... Big Ten's third-leading rusher behind Laurence Maroney and Brian Calhoun ... Notched six 100-yard rushing games, including three of 200 or more yards ... Team's fourth-leading receiver with 44 receptions ... Notched the second-best single-season reception total by an NU running back ... Tabbed the Rivals.com National Freshman of the Week for performances against Northern Illinois (Sept. 10) and Wisconsin (Oct. 8) ... Was atop the Big Ten list for rushing for one week after his 244-yard performance against Wisconsin (the sixth-best single-game rushing effort in NU history) ... The 244-yard game was the 16th-best in Division I-A football in 2005 ... One of four nominees for the Cingular/ABC Sports All-America Player of the Week award for his performances against Northern Illinois and Wisconsin ... Tabbed the College Football News Co-Big Ten Player of the Week with teammate Tim McGarigle for his Wisconsin game ... Earned an ESPN College GameDay "Helmet Sticker" for the Wisconsin game ... Featured in the Oct. 6 Sports Illustrated as one of college football's "Young Guns" ... Established a number of NU firsts, many of them by mid-season: first NU freshman to be named a Big Ten player of the week, first freshman to score four touchdowns in a game (he did it twice), first freshman to rush for more than 100 yards in his first game, first freshman to total two 200-yard rushing games and first freshman to score more than six rushing TD's in a season (he has 16) ... Set NU's rookie mark for season rushing yards in fifth game (vs. Wisconsin) ... Equaled NU's freshman record for touchdowns scored (six) after his first two games ... Ranked fifth nationally among running backs in cbssportsline.com RB ranking -- a ranking that is computed on player statistics and strength of schedule ... Debuted with 104 yards and two TD's vs. Ohio (Sept. 3) ... Came back with a 214-yard, four-TD performance against Northern Illinois (Sept. 10) that earned him Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week honors ... Also named the College Football News Big Ten Player of the Week for his effort vs. NIU ... His four TD's equaled a single-game record held by many ... Just missed his third straight 100-yard game with 98 yards on 15 carries (6.5 ypc) against Arizona State (he did not play the final quarter) ... Totaled 112 rushing yards and two TD's on Penn State's stingy run defense ... Also had three receptions for 32 yards vs. PSU ... Averaged 8.4 yards per carry (29 for 244) with a career-long 62-yard TD run vs. Wisconsin ... In addition to his three rushing TD's, he caught his first TD reception, a 9-yard pass ... Finished with 13 carries and 89 yards at Purdue (6.8 ypc), but caught a career-high 10 passes for 89 yards, giving him 178 total yards ... Scored the game's winning touchdown on a fourth-down 1-yard plunge with 1:50 remaining ... Notched his fifth 100-yard game (109 yards on 21 carries) at Michigan State ... Added 47 receiving yards vs. the Spartans, including a career-long 41-yard reception ... Limited to a season-low 10 carries (50 yards) vs. Michigan ... Had six catches for 56 yards vs. the Wolverines ... Rushed for 65 yards and two TD's vs. Iowa ... Added four receptions for 28 yards vs. the Hawkeyes ... Averaged 6.6 ypc on 14 carries (93 yards) at Ohio State ... Scored his second receiving TD of the year on a 5-yard catch ... Notched his third 200-yard game with 212 yards (career-high 34 carries) at Illinois ... Also had five receptions for 24 yards vs. the Illini ... Rang up 151 total yards (84 rushing, 67 receiving) against UCLA in the Sun Bowl ... Caught seven passes against the Bruins ... Registered 100 or more total yards (rushing and receiving) in every game except Arizona State (98 yards), Iowa (93 yards) and Ohio State (98 yards) ... Finished rookie year with 396 receiving yards (on 44 receptions) for 1,870 all-purpose yards, the 12th-best figure nationally ... Among players with no punt or kickoff returns in their all-purpose yardage, ranked sixth nationally in combined rushing and receiving yardage ... Scored two or more touchdowns in six of his first career 12 games.
High School: Ohio's 2004 Mr. Football winner (following former NU cornerback Jeff Backes, Ohio's 2000 Mr. Football) ... Two-time Akron Beacon Journal Player of the Year ... Two-time first-team all-state selection ... 2004 Cleveland Plain Dealer Player of the Year ... 2004 FOX 8 Player of the Year ... SuperPrep All-Midwest Region and Rivals.com Top 50 running back ... Ranked 32nd among players in the Midwest (six-state region) ... Ranked 16th among all players in Ohio by SuperPrep ... Rated 32nd in Ohio by Rivals.com and 41st nationally in running back ranking ... Ranked 20th nationally among running backs by Tom Lemming's Prep Football Report ... Four-time Beacon Journal all-star ... Second-team all-state selection in 2002 and honorable mention all-state in 2001 ... 2004 Dapper Dan Sports Person of the Year ... 2004 ONN Player of the Year ... 2004 Greater Cleveland Sports Awards Outstanding High School Athlete finalist ... 2004 Team and Offensive MVP ... During his four-year career at Hoban, rushed for an Ohio-record 9,426 yards ... Broke the state rushing record in game vs. Canton Central Catholic ... Rushed for 400-plus yards vs. Warren Harding ... Scored 117 career TDs ... Ran for a career-best 3,241 yards and scored 38 touchdowns in 2004 ... Totaled 38 consecutive 100-yard games (Nov. 2001 through Nov. 2004) ... Ran for 100 or more yards in 44-of-49 games ... Scored 702 career points ... Rushed for a career-high 505 yards (third most in Ohio history) and scored eight rushing touchdowns (equaling Ohio's state mark) vs. Youngstown Ursuline ... Helped the Knights go 40-9 during his four years and advance to the state playoffs each year ... Broke school rushing record three consecutive seasons ... Played in the Big 33 and North-South All-Star games ... Was named MVP of the North-South game, rushing for 203 yards (21 carries) and three touchdowns in the North's 45-17 victory ... Honor Roll ... Coached by Ralph Orsini.
Personal: Born Tyrell DelShawn Sutton ... Son of Connie Sutton and Anthony Sutton Sr. ... Brother, Tony, starred at Division III College of Wooster (Ohio) and played in the Hula Bowl Maui All-Star game in January, 2005 ... Communication studies major.
The Sutton File
Q: Name five favorite songs (and artist) on your I-Pod:
A: Eminem -- Til I Collapse; 50 Cent -- Many Men (Wish Death); Maroon 5 -- Not Falling Apart; T.I. -- Dopeman; Tamia -- Become Us
Q: If you could dine with anyone from any period in history, who would it be?
A: Barry Sanders
Q: What is the greatest lesson in life that you have learned?
A: Once you start something, you have to finish it
Q: A song that best describes you?
A: Til I Collapse -- Eminem
Q: Something people would be surprised to know about me is:
A: I took ballet
Q: My favorite place to visit is:
A: My bed
Q: Which current NU football player is the biggest jokester on the team?
A: Gerard Hamlett
Q: My favorite thing about NU is:
A: Small enrollment
Q: Describe Coach Fitzgerald in five words or less:
A: Fiery, passionate, friend
Q: Describe your position coach (Matt MacPherson) in five words or less:
A: Funny, honest, All-Century
Q: What do you consider to be your greatest achievement?
A: Playing college football
Q: The best book I have ever read is:
A: Green Eggs and Ham
Q: The person that inspires me the most is:
A: My brother
Q: When I played football as a kid, I pretended to be:
A: My brother, Tony
Q: My favorite pregame ritual is:
A: Listening to music, taping my fingers
Q: If you could have a starring role in any film already made, which movie would you pick?
A: Knocked Up
Q: My favorite food is:
A: Lasagna
Q: My favorite thing about playing at Ryan Field is:
A: The fans
Q: Best thing about Northwestern is:
A: Football
Q: My ultimate SportsCenter highlight would be:
A: Breaking every record in the same game!
Q: My favorite television show is:
A: That 70s Show
Q: My football-related superstition is:
A: Taping my fingers before every game, starting with the index
Sutton's Career Stats
RUSHING G Att Yds TD Lg Avg/C Avg/G2005................ 12 250 1474 16 62 5.9 122.82006................ 12 189 1000 5 64 5.3 83.32007................ 7 108 522 4 46 4.8 74.62008................ 9 184 890 6 66 4.8 98.9TOTAL............... 40 731 3886 31 66 5.3 97.2
TOTAL OFFENSE G Rush Pass Total Avg/G2005................ 12 1474 0 1474 122.82006................ 12 1000 0 1000 83.32007................ 7 522 0 522 74.62008................ 9 890 0 890 98.9TOTAL............... 40 3886 0 3886 97.2
RECEIVING G Rec Yds TD Lg Rec/G Avg/C Avg/G2005................ 12 44 396 2 41 3.7 9.0 33.02006................ 12 40 261 2 34 3.3 6.5 21.82007................ 7 30 282 0 32 4.3 9.4 40.32008................ 9 35 305 2 27 3.9 8.7 33.9TOTAL............... 40 149 1244 6 41 3.7 8.3 31.1
SCORING G TD Rush Pass Retn PAT 2PAT FG Total Avg/G2005................ 12 18 16 2 0 0 0 0 108 9.02006................ 12 7 5 2 0 0 0 0 42 3.52007................ 7 4 4 0 0 0 0 0 24 3.42008................ 9 8 6 2 0 0 0 0 48 5.3TOTAL............... 40 37 31 6 0 0 0 0 222 5.6
KICK RETURNS G No. Yds TD Lg Avg/R Avg/G2005................ 12 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.02006................ 12 1 8 0 8 8.0 0.72007................ 7 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.02008................ 9 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0TOTAL............... 40 1 8 0 8 8.0 0.2
ALL PURPOSE G Rush Rec PR KR IR Total Avg/G2005................ 12 1474 396 0 0 0 1870 155.82006................ 12 1000 261 0 8 0 1269 105.82007................ 7 522 282 0 0 0 804 114.92008................ 9 890 305 0 0 0 1195 132.8TOTAL............... 40 3886 1244 0 8 0 5138 128.4
TACKLES G UA A Total TFL-Yds PD FF FR Blkd2005................ 12 0 1 1 0.0-0 0 0 0 02006................ 12 2 0 2 0.0-0 0 0 0 02007................ 7 1 1 2 0.0-0 0 0 0 02008................ 9 1 0 1 0.0-0 0 0 0 0TOTAL............... 40 4 2 6 0.0-0 0 0 0 0