Overlooked by big schools, Dudek succeeds at Yale

for third in rushing touchdowns. He ranks first and second in those categories among FCS freshman.

Not bad for a kid who was overlooked by every FBS program other than Kent State, Army and Air Force. The question is: Why? Was it size? Perhaps, though there are FBS runners with similar dimensions.

Speed? Not likely, given Dudek was timed at 4.4 seconds in the 40 at Penn State camp and was a WPIAL 100meter champion.

No matter, those Ivy Leaguers at Yale are looking smarter by the day.

“We got a steal,” running backs coach Derrick Lett said. “And let's be honest: It's tough being a white running back (in search of an FBS scholarship), no matter how good the numbers are. But we knew, whether he was blue, green or purple, he could play football.”

Dudek has heard suggestions that his recruitment was impacted by stereotyping -- most notably that white backs lack the speed/ quickness to play at the FBS level -- but he prefers to stay out of it.

“I tried to stay away from that conversation, because I didn't want to talk about what I couldn't control,” Dudek said. “I controlled the ‘controllables.’ I did everything in my power to play to the best of my ability. And I'm not going to complain that I ended up at Yale.”

It was early in training camp that Dudek's purposeful approach opened the eyes of the Yale coaches, particularly Lett, who said Dudek “attacks practice like I’ve never seen before.”

Then, on one memorable afternoon, Lett got a full view of the speed, quickness and instincts that made Dudek a runner with few equals in these parts.

“We called a play designed to hit inside, but for some reason Zane ended up outside,” Lett said. “So, I'm yelling, 'No, no, no.' Then, three seconds later, Zane's in the end zone. I looked at our offensive coordinator and we both said, 'Let's not overcoach this kid. He knows how to make things happen.'”

Lett pointed out that the Ivy League offers competitive football to go with a topflight education. He said 16 Ivy League alums were in NFL camps this past summer, with nine making teams. He believes Dudek could earn such an opportunity down the road.

“By the time Zane's done here,” Lett said, “schools in the Pittsburgh and Pennsylvania area are going to be saying, 'How did we miss this kid?'”