Thursday, Sept. 2, 1993 ]
Oh! Mar
Gopher standout is excelling on and off the football field
By ANTHONY YACULLO
Collegian Sports Writer
Recruiters know it all. They study and they scout. They know every detail, past, present and future, about each of their prospects. They find the blue-chippers and discard the rest. They know it all.
So they must have known something when they passed up on Omar Douglas. Right? They said he was too small and too slow. They didn't want to take a chance on the kid from New Orleans.
Well, at 5-foot-10, he's not a giant. But slow? He runs the 40 in 4.32. He is a member of the Minnesota track and field squad.
Recruiters know . . . almost everything.
Omar Douglas, coming off a season in which he caught a Gopher record 61 passes for 669 yards, is now the key receiver in coach Jim Wacker's wide-open offense.
Too small, eh?
"I've always relied on my speed," Douglas says. "My speed and my mind. I'm a pretty good student in general -- that carries over in everything whether in the classroom or studying game films."
His 4.0 GPA in the winter and his nomination to the Academic All-Big Ten verify his prowess in class. Second-team All-Big Ten confirms his ability on the field.
See, Douglas likes to succeed. In everything. Hates losing. Absolutely abhors it. After Minnesota lost to Wisconsin last year, Douglas was a basket case.
"I didn't want to talk to anyone after that game," he remembers. "I went home, I was just lying around. I was disgusted, I was sick --physically sick -- for two days. I just couldn't believe it."
To Douglas, everything is a challenge. Whether it be playing Sega with his pals or trying to get an 'A' in a particular class, he is always striving for total victory.
"I love to compete," Douglas says earnestly, "with other people and myself. I always try to test myself. I say 'Omar, can you do this today?' And I go out and try to do it."
On Saturday, Omar will have to ask himself if he can handle the Lion secondary. He will tell you it is just another game. That he is ready for the challenge. But Minnesota is coming off their second consecutive 2-9 season. Penn State is the No. 17 team in the nation.
The thing, Douglas says, is that last year was not as bad a 2-9 season as 1991.
"The first season, before Wacker, things were falling apart, there wasn't a lot of togetherness," he says. "It was very difficult to get yourself up for a game."
Under the old regime, Douglas' big play potential was curtailed. He caught only eight balls in limited duty. "I can't do anything without the ball," he explains.
Then came Wacker, the man of infinite optimism. That season Douglas' production multiplied eight-fold. Did Wacker have an impact?
"Wooo," Douglas says with a laugh. "Unbelievably. He has given me a chance to showcase my abilities and find abilities I didn't know I had."
Under the tutelage of Wacker and a new strength coach, the Gophers have a new sense of purpose. They made mistakes, silly ones, like compiling an incredible amount of penalty yards. But they are what Douglas calls correctable mistakes.
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