Lopresti: Where are the running backs?
Ballcarriers once dominated but now are overlooked
Archie Griffin, the only repeat Heisman Trophy winner
We have here the hot names on the Heisman Trophy candidacy list, and something seems to be missing.
Kansas State’s Collin Klein is on there. Ohio State’s Braxton Miller, if he can avoid any more ambulance rides. Notre Dame’s Manti Te’o. Maybe Alabama’s AJ McCarron — at least until he finally throws an interception. Reinvigorated Matt Barkley of Southern California. West Virginia’s Geno Smith, needing two mulligans, might still hang on the edge of some roll calls.
You have a platoon of quarterbacks and a linebacker. But one question.
Whatever happened to running backs contending for a trophy that looks like a running back?
They used to own this particular piece of hardware. Thirty-four of the first 49 Heismans went to running backs. They won 12 years in a row starting in 1972 — including Ohio State’s Archie Griffin as the only repeat winner. Since, eight of 28. Now the spotlight stays on quarterbacks, who have more tools than a Home Depot. See them pass. See them run. See them run and then pass.
Meanwhile, two running backs have won the Heisman this century, and Reggie Bush’s trophy had to be repossessed once all of the violations at USC were totaled. That leaves Alabama’s Mark Ingram in 2009.
It’s not impossible for a running back to win the Heisman, just much harder. “I didn’t think I’d see a time like this,” Griffin said over the phone Monday. “It does seem like it’s a quarterback award right now.”
Alabama’s Trent Richardson and Wisconsin’s Montee Ball were the only backs in the top nine of the voting last season, Oregon’s LaMichael
“It does seem like it’s a quarterback award right now.”
James the only one in 2010. This year, they might all finish behind a linebacker. So what’s going on?
uThe spread offense: Now the most memorable runs are often done by the same guy who throws the passes. Highlight hogs. Robert Griffin III last season. Klein, Miller, Denard Robinson, et al, this season. Then there was the fuss kicked up by a certain ex-Florida Gator. The Tim Tebow Effect. “I think the spread offense has a whole lot to do with it,” Archie Griffin said.
uThe numbness of numbers: Look around every Saturday at the staggering quarterback production. This one passed for 400, that one for 500. Another ran for 170 and passed for 340. A running back can have a special day rushing for 175 yards, and every coach understands the importance. But will the stats lovers yawn, deadened by mega-numbers?
Total offense for a Heisman-chasing quarterback has become like a fishing limit. Anything less than 300 yards, you have to throw it back.
“This is something that has been going on for a long time. Everybody talks about the quarterback being the key to a team’s success,” Griffin said. “So naturally they get more of the praise, even though a running back can be dominant in the game.”
uHere’s a challenge: Name any of the top five rushers today. Time’s up.
Nevada’s Stefphon Jefferson, New Mexico’s Kasey Carrier, Ohio’s Beau Blankenship, Air Force’s Cody Getz, North Carolina’s Giovani Bernard.
It takes a big marquee and big yardage. Wisconsin’s Ball was a challenger but had a slow start after an August beating by five attackers. The recent surge by him and the Badgers is probably too late.
Oregon’s problem is having not one prospect but two. When Kenjon Barner isn’t taking part in the Ducks’ weekly touchdown-a-thon, De’Anthony Thomas is. Sharing is a good way to hit 50 points but not to win the Heisman.
“I think it’ll come back around, depending on the offenses,” Griffin said.
But for now, the buzz is so much louder elsewhere in the backfield. Take two players college football just sent to the Washington Redskins. Alfred Morris has rushed for 658 yards, and nobody saw him coming, from Florida Atlantic.
The Redskins quarterback is named RG III. How many Alfred Morris highlights have you seen lately?