D’Or, Lawrence have embraced each other while leading Slippery Rock offense to NCAA semis
SLIPPERY ROCK — Share and share alike.
Slippery Rock University senior running back Chris D’Or is accustomed to that concept. He shared time in the backfield with Tim Smith his freshman year, with Smith and Isaiah Edwards as a sophomore, with Edwards and Khalil Dorsey as a junior.
This year looked to be D’Or’s year in terms of being the man in The Rock’s backfield.
Then Idris Lawrence came along.
The fourth-leading rusher in Notre Dame College (Ohio) football history and two-time All-Mountain East selection was looking for a new home after the school closed down in the spring.
“It takes two in this day and age,” SRU coach Shawn Lutz said of the running back position as his team prepares for its NCAA Division II national semifinal game at Ferris State (Mich.) on Saturday. “When Idris entered the transfer portal, we were interested ... and he was interested in us.”
Lawrence rushed for 3,043 yards in 30 games at Notre Dame, including 1,000-yard seasons in 2022 and 2023. D’Or was coming off a 2023 season where he tallied 750 yards and 10 touchdowns rushing, 31 catches for 256 yards in the passing game.
And he had no problem with Lawrence joining the party.
“I’ve always been part of a tandem in the backfield, and it’s always worked in the past,” he said. “I figured it could work again.”
He was right.
The 5-foot-10, 190-pound Lawrence has rushed for 932 yards for SRU this season — including a season-high 162 in last week’s Super Region One championship game win at California (Pa.) — while the 5-10, 175-pound D’Or had rushed for 728 yards. The duo has also combined for 10 rushing touchdowns and 43 pass receptions for 432 yards.
The two are more than an effective running combo. They’ve become close friends.
“I have a lot of respect for Chris as a person. We have fun together off the field,” Lawrence said. “There’s no super ego with him at all. When I first came here, he helped me a lot. We both wanted the same thing. All we want to do is win.”
Slippery Rock was the first school Lawrence visited after entering the portal. It was also the last.
“I talked to a few other schools during the process,” Lawrence said. “When I visited Slippery Rock, I loved the culture I found here. The facilities are fantastic, and this really is a family. Everybody was so welcoming.”
No one was more welcoming than D’Or.
“I’ve been here for four years. I know everything about the offense,” D’Or said. “Idris was a newcomer, and I helped him with the playbook, helped him get up to speed on everything. Every transfer this program has brought in has made us a better team.
“There was no reason to believe this one would be any different.”
SRU running backs coach Malcolm Henry made sure Lawrence understood his role coming into the program.
“He asked me what his role would be before coming here,” Henry said. “It’s important to be honest and up front with players. I told him he’d be sharing the position with Chris and at times, whether we rode the hot hand or went every other series, they had to be supportive of each other.”
They’ve actually become fans of each other.
“That’s my guy,” D’Or said. “He is one tough runner.”
“I was used to getting 20-plus carries a game at Notre Dame over the past two years,” Lawrence said. “I’ve never felt healthier, more fresh, than I am right now. That’s because of Chris.”
D’Or is fifth on SRU’s all-time list in career all-purpose yardage. His 25 career rushing touchdowns are 10th in program history. He has 2,587 career rushing yards at The Rock and needs 85 more to crack the program’s top 10 in that category.
“Chris has played his career here while we’ve had a big passing attack and he’s split time in the backfield,” Lutz said. “He could easily be the all-time rushing leader at The Rock, or close to it, under a different scenario. He is as talented a running back as we’ve had in this program.”
While the physical size and statistics of Lawrence ad D’Or are similar, their running styles are different.
“Chris is more of a side-to-side runner, get out in space and make people miss,” Henry said. “Idris is a powerful guy who runs straight ahead and sticks a helmet in a defender’s chest.”
Lutz is just happy to have them both.
“At this time of year, you have to be able to run the ball as well as throw it,” the coach said. “These two guys both catch the ball, too. They’ve been invaluable to what we’ve been trying to do this year.
“We need them both out there, especially against the team we’re playing this Saturday.”
