Versatile back’s breakout game silences doubters
There were very few bright spots in Sunday’s loss, but fullback Marcel Reece was one of them, as he loudly answered those who questioned the Raiders starting him at tailback the past two weeks.
Reece rushed for 103 yards and had 90 yards receiving, nearly becoming the first Raider since Marcus Allen to have both 100 yards rushing and receiving in the same game. Allen did it Sept. 7, 1986, at Denver.
“Reece was a soldier, man,” right tackle Khalif Barnes said. “He presents a nightmare for (the defense) because he played receiver in college. He has speed and there’s really no linebackers that can match up to him. He has good vision at running the ball, too.”
Reece, who’s 6-foot-1, 255 pounds, had a career-high 19 carries for the 103 yards, and his 56-yard reception in the second quarter set up the Raiders’ first score. He wasn’t excited about his big numbers, though.
“Stats are really irrelevant when you don’t get the W,” he said. “I don’t care what they were.”
With Darren McFadden and Mike Goodson out with high ankle sprains, Reece got the majority of the carries.
“I wanted to come in and be able to run the football in this game,” head coach Dennis Allen said, “and that was one thing I felt we were able to do. But we’ve got to do a better job of being able to put points on the board when we get an opportunity.”
Carson Palmer had a pass go off Brandon Myers’ hands for an interception in the end zone early in the second quarter. And before they knew what hit them, the Raiders were done early once more, down 28-7 in the third quarter.
“If we knew what the problem was, we’d fix it,” Reece said.