SEC spotlight returns to tailbacks

Running backs have reclaimed the spotlight—and the ball—in the Southeastern Conference. They might not be inclined to give either back any time soon. Even South Carolina’s head ball coach Steve Spurrier has put his offense largely in the hands of tailback Marcus Lattimore. His old Fun `N Gun Florida Gators, meanwhile, have turned more Run `N Stun with the SEC’s top running attack. Alabama, LSU and Florida have ridden tailback tandems to 4-0 starts and Mike Dyer has been perhaps Auburn’s lone star. “Teams are running for more than they’re throwing, which is a little unusual,” Spurrier said. “That’s the way it is here. Some other places they’re throwing a lot more, but I think the running game has bounced back. Eight of the 12 SEC teams rank 75th or worse in passing offense. The league has seven of the top 48 ground games.

The offenses have more traditional, and often inexperienced, quarterbacks and a renewed focus on the run. The league that produced famed backs like Bo Jackson, Herschel Walker and Emmitt Smith is loaded with rising young tailbacks. Whose sophomore is most super? Check out Saturday’s Auburn game at No. 10 South Carolina when Dyer and Lattimore take the field The best backfield tandem? Well, No. 3 Alabama and No. 12 Florida both take prolific pairs into Saturday’s meeting. The pounding at SEC defenses won’t change anytime soon; six of the league’s top 10 rushers are underclassmen, including the Georgia freshman Crowell.

LSU sophomores Spencer Ware and Michael Ford have helped the top-ranked Tigers average 38.8 points a game. All that doesn’t even count Arkansas junior Knile Davis, who ran for 1,322 yards last season but is out in 2011 with an ankle injury. The biggest star has been Lattimore. Just a sophomore, he ranks third nationally in rushing with 152.8 yards a game. Five other SEC backs also rank among the top 31 even though several are divvying carries with productive backfield mates.

“Everybody’s fighting to be that No. 1 running back,” Richardson said. “Coaches, they’re putting us out there, letting us go out there and compete. I think all of our coaches are doing a good job of that. You really can’t say who the better running back right now is because everybody is out there battling every week.”

by John Zenor