Stanford's Gerhart off and running again
The last time Stanford's Toby Gerhart played a football game, he ran like an All-American.
But while shredding San Jose State for 140 yards in just 12 carries last September, Gerhart partially tore the posterior cruciate ligament in his left knee. Expected to be out a few weeks, the running back spent the rest of the season on the sideline.
To say his absence broke Stanford's heart might not be doing it justice.
"That San Jose State game,'' offensive coordinator David Shaw said this month, "was one of the biggest teases I've ever had in my life.''
Gerhart, a two-sport athlete, finally felt healthy about halfway through Stanford's baseball season and has looked like his former self since football camp opened Aug."‰1.
For a team that lost running backs at an alarming rate last year, that's an encouraging sign. If Gerhart and Anthony Kimble  who also battled injury in 2007  can stay on the field, Stanford's long-ailing running game should take another leap forward.
Even with all the injuries, the Cardinal averaged 111.2 rushing yards per game last year  a 46-yard improvement from 2006  but still ranked ninth in the Pacific-10 Conference.
"What I want is for us to be able to run more effectively than we did last year,'' Coach Jim Harbaugh said. "We're going to have a good line to do it behind, and we've got those two backs that are darn good.''
So, what's it going to take for Gerhart  a physically punishing runner  to stand a better chance of staying healthy?
It's going to take being smart, he said.
"If I'm a little sore one day, maybe lighten it up a little bit,'' Gerhart noted. "Or in terms of a game, if it's third-and-one and I've got 5 or 6 yards, go down. Don't do unnecessary stuff. It's kind of hard  my personality is to keep going  but you've got to worry about the season in the long run and not just one play.''
Slowing down might not be in Gerhart's DNA. In a scrimmage Tuesday, the 6-foot-1, 228-pound junior caught a swing pass and crashed through a pack of defenders on his way to an 8-yard touchdown play. To his teammates, it was simply Gerhart being Gerhart.
"When guys come up to tackle him, they don't know what they're in for,'' quarterback Tavita Pritchard said. "He's fun to watch.''
The only sign of the injury is the brace on Gerhart's knee. Aside from that, he looks like an older version of the back who set California's all-time high school rushing record (9,622 yards) while at Norco High in Riverside County.
"Toby's running real well,'' Kimble said. "He's light on his feet. He's looking great.''
The worst part about Gerhart's PCL injury were the two-plus quarters that preceded it. After missing the season opener against UCLA because of a sore hamstring, Gerhart was practically unstoppable a week later against SJSU.
"I felt kind of like I was back in high school  the game slowed down,'' Gerhart said. "Everything was good. Even right after my injury, I was like, 'I'll be back in a week or two.'"‰''
But the knee didn't cooperate. Week after week, Gerhart came to practice. Week after week, he wasn't cleared to play. So he did the next-best thing.
"I tried to help out the younger guys more,'' said Gerhart, who played all 12 games as a freshman in 2006. "I tried to become like a coach. I stayed in the game, even though I couldn't participate myself.''
Gerhart debated for a long time whether to have surgery. He saw a few specialists but was told that PCL surgery isn't nearly as advanced as anterior cruciate ligament surgery.
"They said even after you have a good (PCL) surgery, it's still going to move - so basically learn to play with it," Gerhart said. "It's not going to get any worse."
Gerhart has made the adjustment, spending the summer running and cutting. Now, barring a setback, he will finally get a chance to give an encore to the SJSU game when the season opens Aug. 28 against Oregon State.
"I'm just real anxious to get back out there,'' Gerhart said.
life has been a bit... unusual... the last few months. anyway, here's to a great year!
