Campus Confidential

By Adam Abramson

I took a different route this week.

You may have heard that Chadron State's Danny Woodhead is college football's new all-time leading rusher, but there's another tailback on the Division II ranks who is worth highlight - especially because his ceiling is a little higher than the 5'8" Woodhead's.

Xavier Omon of No. 9 Northwest Missouri State Bearcats is Division II's leading scorer and fourth in rushing yards per game and probably the league's top NFL prospect.

He's carried his team to two national championship appearances and garnered preseason first team All-American honors. Two weeks ago he carried 34 times for 274 yards and all five of his team's touchdowns in a 37-34 overtime win against No. 16 Pittsburg State.

He has NFL size, speed and vision and your favorite team might just pick him up the second day. Guys like James Thrash, eleven-time Pro Bowler Larry Allen, Jon Kitna and Al Harris are guys who came from the D2 ranks, so Omon might just be a diamond in the rough.

A native of Beatrice, Neb. (40 miles south of Lincoln), it's tough to miss No. 2 at 5'11", 220 lbs. when he's running downfield straight at you. So why not pick his brain a little bit…

Campus Confidential: Talk a little about high school football in Nebraska, specifically your experience?
Xavier Omon: I think it was overall a fun experience, I wish I would of had a chance to play somewhere that got more exposure to their athletes but I learned a lot from playing in Nebraska. The only thing I can think of really that bothered me was being the only black person on the field in every game we played. It kind of made me feel uncomfortable, but I think in the end it really helped me out.

CC: Were you recruited by D-I schools? If so, who? Why did you choose NW Missouri State?
XO: I was recruited by some D-I schools such as Iowa State, Nebraska, [Kansas]. The others that were recruiting me I didn't even get to hear about. My high school coach was supposed to be handling all of that. Come to find out, he really didn't help me out much with recruiting. The way I ended up at [Northwestern Missouri State] was basically [everything] fell through with my chances of going to Nebraska. And honestly I don't think my coaches did enough to help get me to a D-I program, but in the end I guess going to Northwest has been a big benefit for me. [It] kind of humbled me and made me the man I am and becoming today.

CC: If there were schools that went another direction do you ever wish you could pick up the phone and make the "how do you like me now?" call?
XO: Umm, I think about it. Like Nebraska, it was weird how Frank Solich was the head coach at the time and like the next year he was fired. I always thought I could have helped save his job if he would have only given me that scholarship instead of trying to grey shirt me.** As I have grown up I have come to realize that everything happens for a reason, and though I know I could have and wish I would have gotten an opportunity to play D-I ball I think things turned out good for me.
(**A grey shirt is a term for an athlete that a school sends to a semester or two of prep school and the scholarship will be used towards the following year's class, when the student-athlete arrives on campus)

CC: What kind of success would you have on the D-I level?
XO: I think I would have just as much success at the D-I level as I am at D-II. I know there are probably better athletes up on that level than down on D-II, but I have friends that play D-I ball and tell me all the time that I could easily play there, it's not even a matter of them telling me. It's really about my belief in myself. That given the same opportunities as others, I'd make the best of it like I did at the D-II level. I am a hard worker and know I could have easily stepped my game up to their level. Not to be cocky, but I refuse to say some of these people I watch are better than me.

CC: What's it like to play for two national championships?
XO: It's an amazing feeling. People try the majority of their career to play for some kind of championship, whether it be baseball, basketball, football, track, tennis… It don't matter. That's what it's all about: Is making it to the big game. That's what you work for all off season. To put yourself in that situation. Though we came up short in both of them, I wouldn't change that experience for any individual award.

CC: You all have lost one this season and played some close ones but are still in the Top 10, do you have the pieces to make it back to the title game? If so, how determined are you to win?
XO: Man, I will do whatever it takes to make it back to the championship. People keep dogging us and saying that we are not the team we were last year, and they are right. We have new pieces. Seniors left. Younger people stepped in and [are] making their mark on this team. Though we aren't the same we worked just as hard, if not harder, than we did in the off season the previous year. We are just as athletic, if not more, and we definitely have more experience than we did last season. I think I speak for my whole team when I say we are tired of making it to the dance and not enjoying the music. I am not a dummy, I'm not going to guarantee that we will make it back or even guarantee that if we make it back we will win, but if we make it back I guarantee that everything I have will be left out on that field.

CC: Who do you model your game after and why?
XO: I try to have a little mix. To be honest, I am trying to make my own mark so when I'm done with the game people can say, 'That kid runs like Xavier Omon.' But I try to have the heart of someone like Walter Payton, or the play making ability of Barry Sanders or the consistency of Emmitt Smith. Today if I had to compare my game to anyone I'd probably say Priest Holmes. He is a patient runner and he is smart. He sees holes and makes plays when everyone doubts that he can. He is not the fastest and he is not the biggest but he gets the job done and to me that's all that matters.

CC: How do you spend your free time?
XO: Man, since I don't hang out with my teammates I am usually with some of my classmates just playing the video games or sometimes get out of town hit the city and just chill. I don't drink and never have, so I am not the party-crazy type person, but I do like to hit the clubs and dance and just relax. My thing is all about getting away.

CC: What's your favorite part of the college experience?
XO: Probably getting the chance to meet people that I will know for the rest of my life. Though there is not very many, I have some quality friends that, when I leave here, I will always keep in touch with them.

CC: What are your goals for this season and beyond?
XO: Well for this season is obvious, get back to Alabama by any means necessary and this time win the damn game. Nothing else really matters as far as this season goes because that's what it's all about. I don't care about any individual goals or conference rings. I want a championship ring. I haven't won a championship since I was in fourth grade on my little league basketball team. After this season my goal is to do what I have been doing all my life. And that is prove people wrong. They say I can't make it to the next level because of this or that, and like I said, I have been doing this my whole life. Nothing new, just another challenge.