The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
From Edmonton to Oklahoma, there’s no slowing down Hubbard
NEW HAVEN — Former Canadian U20 100-meter champion Chuba Hubbard arrived in Stillwater, Okla. with a well-earned reputation for a scintillating finishing kick.
Those reports certainly were not flawed especially after the way the Edmonton native finished off his freshman season.
Hubbard rushed for 104 and 134 yards against ranked opponents late in the regular season and then added 145 more against Missouri in the 2018 Liberty Bowl. With leading rusher Justice Hill heading off to the NFL, more than a few folks were curious what Hubbard’s sophomore season was going to look like. It’s highly unlikely that not even the most enthusiastic Oklahoma State fan could have envisioned 2,094 rushing yards, 21 touchdown runs and nine runs of at least 40 yards.
“You always think deep down you can be the best if you work hard enough for it every day,” said Hubbard, one of the All-Americans who arrived in time for Friday’s Walter Camp Football Foundation’s Alumni Association Brunch. “I am somebody who wants to be the best. I don’t compare myself to other people but I knew we had a special team and we could do special things, sometimes you don’t picture it to happen the way it does but you picture it to happen. It was special the way the season went.”
Hubbard’s season began with 221 yards in a win at Oregon State and he would have three other 200-yard rushing games as he led all Football Bowl Subdivision players in rushing yards.
So just how does a player from hockey crazy Alberta land in the state of Oklahoma?
“I don’t know,” Hubbard said. “It is the day and age of social media now and I put my film on the internet and it circulated. My first offer was the University of Colorado and it blew up from there.”
Hubbard’s lone official visit was to Oklahoma State. Perhaps it helped that Hubbard, who got noticed by putting his highlight film on youtube, would watch legendary running backs do their thing on the same site including Oklahoma State icons Barry Sanders and Thurman Thomas.
“It was just a gut feeling,” Hubbard said. “I felt like it was my second home in a way, they didn’t just care about football, they cared about the family aspect, education and all those other aspects so for me that was a big thing.
“I knew about Barry Sanders, Thurman, a lot of those legends I grew up watching them on youtube so knowing I was going to that school and continue that legacy of great running backs, I knew that was a special place. I haven’t met Thurman but have talked to Barry from time to time, he is a great guy, he is always there to help me with whatever I need. It is special for those guys to even know who I am is a big deal.”
Hubbard doesn’t plan on resting on his laurels especially with Oklahoma State finishing the 2019 season with back to back losses.
“I want to get stronger, faster, I want to catch the ball better and I want to work on my cuts,” Hubbard said. “I live by that you can never get complacent, you never can be too good.”
BLANKENSHIP GETS HIS KICKS IN NEW HAVEN
Walter Camp officials have dealt with many different requests from AllAmericans over the years but the one from Georgia kicker Rodrigo Blankenship was rather unique.
Blankenship made 80 field goals in his collegiate career and the average temperature at kickoff this season was a balmy 70 so Blankenship, arguably the top kicking prospect in the 2020 NFL draft, inquired about getting a chance to get his kicks in while here in Connecticut.
Blankenship trotted onto Bowen Field, the home of Hillhouse High School, and in 19-degree conditions with a brisk wind making it feel like it was in single digits, Blankenship spent about 50 minutes getting his leg as warm as possible considering the elements.
“I wanted to get out, hit some balls and make sure I still had a feel for it,” said Blankenship, who went back as far as 55 yards on his field-goal attempts. “It was an opportunity to get into some different conditions to what I am used to, I may end up playing for a team who plays in cold weather in the future so I got a chance to kind of get my feet wet.”
Blankenship not only won the Lou Groza Award in 2019 as the nation’s top kicker but was a first team CoSIDA Academic AllAmerican who graduated from Georgia a semester early so he is no stranger to putting in extra work.
“I’ve always tried to preach that academics are priority No. 1 when you go to college, that is what you go to college for, you go to get a degree and all of this is a huge blessing,” Blankenship said.
SCHEDULING CONFLICTS KEEPS LSU FROM DINNER
Walter Camp’s Player of the Year and Coach of the Year won’t be in attendance at Saturday’s awards dinner as scheduling conflicts will keep the LSU contingent, including quarterback Joe Burrows and head coach Ed Orgeron, from making the trip to Connecticut for this weekend’s festivities.
LSU was at the White House on Friday and on Saturday morning there will be an on-campus ceremony honoring LSU’s national championship.
Burrows and Orgeron made acceptance videos that will be shown at the National Awards Dinner.