The 81st ranked player on this list never really got the opportunity in college to show what he could do.
Ricky Mitchell took the NIC-10 by storm in 1979. Moving into feature running back role under Tom Schwalbach, Mitchell ran away with the conference rushing title. He set the West single-season rushing record with 1,134 yards on just 132 carries. He topped the No. 2 rusher in the conference by 438 yards on 42 fewer rushes.
With Mitchell blitzing defenses with 80 points worth of touchdown runs and extra points, the Warriors improved from 2-7 in 1978 to 7-2. He was named both first team All-NIC-10 and to the Champaign News-Gazette All-State team.
Heavily recruited, he chose to stay close to home and play for Bill Mallory at Northern Illinois University. It was a good time to be a Huskie. Mallory was assembling the talent that eventually led NIU to a 10-2 record in 1983 and a trip to the California Bowl, the first since the school moved up to Division I.
Mitchell, though, didn't make nearly the impact both he and Mallory thought he would make. Ricky got a few carries and won a letter in 1980 as a freshman. In 1981, he broke his wrist and missed the season. In 1982, he quit the team for a while and rarely played when he was reinstated.
In the big California Bowl run in 1983, he was buried behind Darryl Richardson, who rushed for 1,204 yards. Instead, Mitchell contributed as a kickoff return specialist, returning 12 kicks for 247 yards.
Mitchell actually announced that 1983 would be his last with NIU, but he was back in 1984 where he finally earned a handful of starts after Richardson went down with an injury. He finished his career with 366 yards rushing on 114 carries, 12 yards receiving on 12 catches and he returned 28 kicks for 578 yards.
| No. 81 - Ricky Mitchell, West | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Level | School | Accomplishments | Points |
| 1978 | High School | West | Starter on Losing Team | 0 |
| 1979 | High School | West | First Team All-Conference | 2 |
| Winning Team | 1 | |||
| League Leader (rushing) | 1 | |||
| All-State | 1 | |||
| 1980 | College | Northern Illinois | Letter Winner in D1 | 3.5 |
| Winning Team | 1 | |||
| 1982 | College | Northern Illinois | Player in D1 | 1.75 |
| 1983 | College | Northern Illinois | Letter Winner in D1 | 3.5 |
| Winning Team | 1 | |||
| Bowl Game | 1 | |||
| 1984 | College | Northern Illinois | Letter Winner in D1 | 3.5 |
| Starter | 1 | |||
| Total | 21.25 | |||
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