LINCOLN — Despite Roy Helu's off-and-on health issues at Nebraska last season, it's worth retracing his footsteps and recalling what he did as one of four Big 12 running backs to run for 1,000 yards.
Helu produced seven games of 80 yards or more in his junior season, including a hard-earned 169 at Virginia Tech and 138 vs. Oklahoma.
He landed the knockout punch at Missouri with five carries for 56 yards on NU's last scoring drive despite clear pain from an injured shoulder. And he ran through Kansas for 156 yards and three touchdowns, including the go-ahead and clinching scores in the fourth quarter.
So even with mid-season and late-season slowdowns — mostly due to nagging shoulder problems — Helu posted numbers that DeMarco Murray of Oklahoma and Kendall Hunter of Oklahoma State would gladly have taken during their junior years.
But what about this year? Throw together Helu, Murray and Hunter with 2009 Big 12 rushing leader Daniel Thomas of Kansas State and the league has four running backs who rank among the nation's 12 best according to Phil Steele's position rankings in his preseason magazine. ESPN analyst Mel Kiper Jr. recently placed Thomas at No. 3 and Murray at No. 4 among the top five draft-eligible backs for 2011.
In all, the Big 12 returns 10 of its top 12 rushers from last season, with a list that also includes Alexander Robinson of Iowa State, Rodney Stewart of Colorado, Christine Michael of Texas A&M, Baron Batch of Texas Tech and Derrick Washington of Missouri.
“The emphasis recently, especially in Big 12 football, has been on the quarterback and throwing the football and spreading things out, so less talk is given to the running backs,” said Stan Weber, a color analyst for the Kansas State sports network who does radio and television work in Kansas City. “This year the talk is maybe going back to some running backs.”
As more teams veer away from the spread offense, Weber said, there becomes “more acceptance in Big 12 country about the benefits of running the football again.” The former K-State quarterback noted that Wildcats coach Bill Snyder hitched his wagon to Thomas last season, and Nebraska won with defense and ball-control offense.
It might not lead to higher individual totals and more 1,000-yard backs, Weber said, but it could produce more rushing yards by teams.
Almost every team has an experienced back to go to first and often.
“The league has gotten to be so quarterback-oriented, and throw it all over the lot, that sometimes you overlook the great backs in the league,” said Dean Blevins, the former OU quarterback and college analyst who is now an Oklahoma City sportscaster. “And I think this is an exceptional group.”
But there's a certain amount of mystery that goes with it:
• Only Thomas and Robinson were able to grind it out from week to week last season and average in the neighborhood of 20 carries per game. Thomas' total of 1,265 yards was the second lowest by a Big 12 rushing leader since the league started play in 1996.
• Hunter managed just 89 carries in eight games after rushing 241 times for a Big 12-leading 1,555 yards and 6.5 per carry in 2008 as an Oklahoma State sophomore.
• Batch played in a Mike Leach offense in which about 25 percent of his touches came from catching the ball (57 receptions, 168 rushes). Might that change with Tommy Tuberville in Lubbock?
• While Murray might be the most talented back in the league, injuries have sabotaged him at times in each of the past three seasons. His career high for carries came with 179 in 2008, but he injured a hamstring on the opening kickoff of the Big 12 championship game and missed the rest of that contest as well as the BCS championship game for OU.
• Texas hasn't had a 1,000-yard rusher since Jamaal Charles in 2007. Sophomore Tre' Newton might be the biggest beneficiary of Colt McCoy's departure and the Longhorns' increased commitment to the run.
• Helu likely will share time in some fashion with Rex Burkhead. The sophomore from Plano, Texas, returned from his own injury to earn 52 total carries in the Huskers' final three games. Helu in the same period gained just 90 yards on 27 attempts.
Helu, a 6-foot, 220-pounder from Danville, Calif., started last season with 552 yards and six touchdowns in NU's first five games, putting himself in position to become only the second Husker to lead the Big 12 in rushing. Dahrran Diedrick did it in 2001.
But then Helu hurt his shoulder on one of his final carries at Mizzou.
Leading the league might be harder to do in 2010 if Thomas repeats his success and Murray and Hunter rebound as expected.
Blevins calls KSU's Thomas a “special player.” Weber labels the former junior-college transfer an “unbelievable player” who “changes the outlook of Kansas State football.”
“If he's able to play at the same effective level as last year, or improve it, K-State can be a factor,” Weber said.
But Murray is worth watching, too, as Oklahoma tries to return to the levels it reached in 2008.
“He might be good enough to be a first-round player,” Blevins said. “I'd be surprised if he doesn't have a tremendous season.”
His injuries still lead to some skepticism around the league. In a World-Herald poll of Big 12 beat writers and radio play-by-play announcers, he was voted No. 3 behind Thomas and Hunter. Not one participant picked him to lead the league in rushing.
Weber, though, remembers him at his best in 2008, when Murray rushed for 1,000 yards, caught 31 passes and added nearly 800 yards in kickoff returns.
“I don't see any reason why Murray won't really bounce back and show what kind of player he was,” Weber said, “and become a giant weapon for Oklahoma.”
Contact the writer:
444-1042, rich.kaipust@owh.com
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