i just watched two games with white tailbacks, so i'll give you my observations...
Idaho-Michigan State
clearly overmatched physically, the Idaho Vandals hung in there with toughness and their star running back, but they had three mistakes that cost them the game. it was still close, with MSU adding a meaningless field goal with 30 seconds left.
Idaho's Jayson Bird was clearly the best running back in the game. if he had
any kind of offensive line, he would put up MONSTER numbers. as it is, he was hit at or behind the line of scrimmage on all but one running play... and he still managed 88 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries, to be the game's leading rusher.
for those who haven't seen him play, Bird is extremely physical. i don't recall him going down on the first hit in the entire game. he is also elusive, and you see a lot of defenders reaching out to grab at him instead of hitting him square. his moves must be very subtle because he doesn't dance around at all. he sticks his head down and gets what he can. and despite being hit in the backfield all game long, he had only one carry that lost yardage.
he got to the edge of the defense without getting hit on just one play, but on that occasion he showed a little burst and picked up 10 yards. he doesn't appear to have breakaway speed, but he's faster than he looks. that's evidenced by the fact that after the whistle blows, he's picked up five or six yards despite all the contact. his biggest negative is that he isn't a receiving threat.
like i said, he's extremely physical. on his touchdown run from one yard out, he ran over and through the best two defensive players on Michigan's roster and drug a third defender into the endzone with him.
all in all, an incredible performance against a defense that didn't have to worry about a passing game or any other threat in the running game; they just keyed on Bird and he still put up big numbers.
as an aside, MSU QB Drew Stanton has to be one of the best running quarterbacks in the country. he looked fast and very instinctive in the open field.
Vanderbilt-Michigan
freshman TB Jared Hawkins didn't start the game, but their starter had 8 carries for just 1 yard.
starting QB, the afletik chris nickson, had 16 carries for just 23 yards
but i'll talk about him in a second...
Jared got in the game late and looked like he has elite burst and elusiveness. they also played him a lot in throwing situations, but he didn't have any tossed his way.
he looked skinny, but if the D can't catch you it doesn't matter. he had just two carries: one for 7 yards and the next for 11 yards. so, he was the second leading rusher for the Commodoers with just 18 yards on 2 carries.
his obvious explosiveness perked me up in an otherwise horrid Vandy offense. and i expect him to get more opportunities in the near future.
and one last note, the afleet and QB chris nickson...
that's what he looked like all game. he is your stereotypical black quarterback: he can run a little bit, but there's no telling where his passes are gonna go, and his decision making is atrocious. he had three fumbles and lost two of them. he dribbled the ball so much it looked like he was playing basketball. and if his passes weren't so incredibly off target he would have had about three INTs. how he earned the starting nod is anyone's guess. i think this game sparked a QB controversy at Vanderbilt.
