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Tuesday, September 22, 1998
Two premier backs to run in Ames this week
By CHUCK SCHOFFNER AP Sports Writer
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - When it comes to running the football,
few are doing it better than the two backs who will showcase their
skills in Ames on Saturday.
Texas Tech will bring the nation's leading rusher, Ricky Williams,
to face an Iowa State team that features, Darren Davis, the No.
4 rusher in the country.
Iowa State coach Dan McCarney is hoping for a full stadium
for the Big 12 opener, which will be televised on the league's
network. Texas Tech is favored by seven points.
"There's no question two of the premier running backs
in all of college football will be on the same field," McCarney
said Monday. "I think it's going to be a great game for the
fans."
Williams has carried 111 times for 665 yards in helping Tech
to victories over UTEP, North Texas and Fresno State. His average
of 221.6 yards a game is more than 37 better than the No. 2 rusher,
Mike Cloud of Boston College.
Davis is averaging 171 yards and has run for at least 200 in
each of the last two games. With 513 yards, he Is already halfway
to a second straight 1,000-yard season.
"I think Darren Davis is one of the better runners in
the country," Texas Tech coach Spike Dykes said. "I
don't think there's any question about that."
Williams was named the Big 12's offensive player of the week
after rushing for 244 yards and two touchdowns in a 34-28 victory
over Fresno State. The 5-foot-7, 185-pound sophomore runs behind
a huge offensive line that averages 323 pounds per man.
The biggest member of that group is 6-5, 357-pound tackle Jonathan
Gray, a sophomore.
He is joined by Curtis Lowery (327), Robert Haddon (291), Erik
Carruth (311) and Steve McFadden (328).
"I've been around some big offensive lines through the
years, and they're just absolutely massive," McCarney said.
"When you get big, strong, mobile offensive linemen like
that and a tremendous back with speed, vision, quickness, cutting
ability and acceleration like he has, that's why you see him leading
the nation in rushing right now."
That line will be a challenge for Iowa State's small but quick
outside linebackers. Ab Turner is 6-1 and 210 pounds on one side.
Jesse Beckom is 6-foot and 215 on the other.
"We can't make them any larger by Saturday," said
McCarney, who noted they will have to stand in against "absolutely
one of the most physical teams I've seen in a long time."
"That's the thing that stands out when watching their
football team," he said. "They're just extremely physical
on both sides of the ball. They're definitely the best team we've
seen this year."
Iowa State has been outstanding against the run the last two
weeks, although the Cyclones have not faced a line like Tech's
or a back like Williams. They held Iowa to 42 yards rushing and
limited Ball State to 79 yards on the ground.
You have to go all the way back to the Johnny Majors era to
find a better back-to-back effort by Iowa State. The Cyclones
held San Diego State to minus 13 yards rushing in the last game
of 1970 and Idaho to minus 12 yards in the first game of 1971.
"We have great chemistry, the kids are unselfish and we're
playing a lot of them," McCarney said. "We played 25
kids on defense on Saturday. We've definitely improved our team
speed. We didn't play great every snap on Saturday, but in the
end, somebody always rises up and makes plays.
"We have four junior college players in there, but we
don't have all kinds of new faces," he said. "It's still
a lot of the same young kids who played last year and have developed.
That's why I'm so proud of their progress."
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