Tigers’ Henderson primed for return
Nation’s second-leading rusher will face ECU
Darrell Henderson knew something wasn’t right during pregame workouts against Missouri.
The Memphis running back was throwing the ball and jogging on the field when he felt a pain creeping up his leg. During team drills, he kept grabbing his leg trying to shake it off.
“I was like, ‘Coach, something ain’t right,’” Henderson recalled Tuesday. “I tried to give it a go in the game and it wouldn’t do right.”
In his first comments to the media since leaving the Missouri game after the second offensive series, Henderson was disappointed but was looking forward to playing against ECU on Saturday.
"Seeing (Patrick Taylor) and Tony (Pollard) out there by themselves (against Missouri), it was a bad experience for me," Henderson said.
Henderson, the nation’s secondleading rusher with 1,148 yards, prac-
ticed last week and this week without any problems, according to Tigers coach Mike Norvell. Memphis had a bye last week.
Norvell added that there are no plans to limit Henderson's touches after he had a career-high 31 carries against UCF three weeks ago. He leads the nation with 10.07 yards per carry.
Entering this season, Henderson had only one game with 20 touches on offense. He’s done it twice this year with 24 against South Alabama and 33 against UCF.
Of Memphis' 45 total touchdowns this year, Henderson has 15, which is tied for the national lead.
"Darrell does a great job taking care of his body and he was able to get out and practice all three days last week. I don't think it's going to be an issue," Norvell said.
Henderson on being Maxwell Award semifinalist
The injury also didn’t slow the national recognition trickling in for Henderson. This week he was named a semifinalist for the Maxwell Award given the nation’s best all-around player.
“I think the offensive line should’ve taken this accomplishment more than I should,” Henderson said. “If it weren’t for them, I wouldn’t be up for all this so I give thanks to those guys and the coaches for putting me in this position.”
Norvell went a step further, saying Henderson is one of the best players in college football.
“It’s just the beginning of some of the recognition that he’ll get and definitely deserves. We’re happy for him and we need him to continue to produce at a high level,” Norvell said.
Henderson is 6 yards from matching his rushing total from last season. At 2,784 career yards, he's second all-time on the Tigers' rushing list behind DeAngelo Williams. At his current pace of 143.5 yards per game this year, he has a chance to threaten Williams' singleseason record of 1,964 yards.
He already become the first Tigers running back since Williams to have consecutive 200-yard games.
"What DeAngelo did for this program is unbelievable. Being mentioned with him is something major," Henderson said. "It's a lot of good backs that came through this program and me being second all-time leading rusher is a weird goal for me."