OSU’s tailback room crowded again
The OSU football team went to Ames, Iowa, in October 2001, without suspended tailback Tatum Bell. Most years – maybe every year – in the last half century, the Cowboys could have survived the loss of a starting tailback.
“We need a tailback so bad it makes me sick,” then-OSU coach Les Miles said outside Jack Trice Stadium.
Iowa State tailback Ennis Haywood ran for 196 yards on 39 carries that day. OSU ran its backup tailbacks just 13 times, for 44 yards.
“There’ll come a time when Oklahoma State has a tailback better than the guy we just played,” Miles vowed.
“And the guy we just played is a damn good back.”
Fast forward 20 years, and it’s been a good two decades for Cowboy tailbacks. Oh, OSU no longer is known as Tailback U., the moniker hung in Stillwater courtesy of Terry Miller, Thurman Thomas and Barry Sanders. Too many good quarterbacks, too many good receivers, for the spotlight to fall on the tailbacks these days.
But abundant tailbacks have been the norm at OSU, both before and after 2001. And that hasn’t changed.
In 2020, four OSU tailbacks ran for at least 200 yards – Chuba Hubbard 625 (on 133 carries), Dezmon Jackson 547 (on 100 carries), LD Brown 473 (on 82 carries) and Dominic Richardson 223 (on 44 carries).
The last time OSU had four tailbacks each with at least 200 yards rushing? 1980 — Ed Smith 613, Ernest Anderson 438, Worley Taylor 326 and Shawn Jones 287, with the carries distributed quite equitably, from Smith’s 158 the most and Jones’ 77 the fewest.
Now in spring 2021, Hubbard is gone,
awaiting the NFL Draft, but the Cowboy tailbacks have been fortified by Utah State transfer Jaylen Warren, who rushed for 252 on 39 carries last season, despite playing just three games in the Aggies’ six-game schedule.
“That’s, in my opinion, the most impressive running back room in the country,” said OSU guard Josh Sills. “Each one has their own little shake and trigger they put on everything. They’re all really quick. Just dynamic.”
Who knows how close Sills is to the truth, but it is impressive depth. Three returning, reliable tailbacks, plus drawing another apparently-talented, veteran runner to the fold.
OSU offensive coordinator Kasey Dunn also raves about his tailbacks.
“I love LD,” Dunn said. “He’s fast, now. The joker can go. We need to get him the football in the position to take it to the house. There’s going to be very few people on the field that can catch him. We need those plays from him again.
“At the same time, we can’t get him beat up, either. He’s not Chuba in the sense he’s going to be 205 pounds and be able to take those hits. We’ve got to pick and choose our moments with him and try to get him in the right plays to be able to go the yard, to go to the house.
“The other guys are good, too. Jaylen Warren looks great. Really like the kid. Obviously. Dominic Richardson’s looking good. Dez is kicking (butt), too. I really like all four of those backs.
“Dez, he makes all the right decisions in the backfield. It’s a pretty good 1-2 punch between Dez and LD, because Dez is just straightforward, slice through the hole, then LD can go the distance. Kind of a fun mix. It’s a matter of just tying it up for those guys on touches.”
Well, there’s the rub.
Hard to mimic 1980. Barring injury, someone won’t be happy.
Injuries are what led to the collective of last season. Hubbard was banged up, then Brown.
Jackson carried 65 times total in back-to-back games, against Texas Tech and Texas Christian.
Only injuries can create that kind of workload on a roster with lots of tailback depth.
Berry Tramel can be reached at 405760-8080 or at btramel@oklahoman.com. He can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including FM-98.1. Support his work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today.