Saturday Spotlight - Give ‘em the 1-2
by Eric Loomis
Every major college football team knows the importance of a good running game. Though the advent of the spread offense has made “three yards and a cloud of dust” football somewhat obsolete but a number of good teams still know how to pound the rock if needed. So what happens when a team has two premier running backs? Quite simply, they become one of the best offenses in the country.
CJ Spiller and James Davis are the most potent 1-2 punch in all of college football. Each of them brings a unique skill set and both have the ability to be game changers.
Davis is the more physically imposing runner of the two. He will not hesitate to run defenders over with his 210 pounds frame. Davis also has solid top-end speed. He is able to out run linebackers at the second level and seems to have an overdrive gear, but his lateral mobility and receiving out of the backfield are two aspect on which he could improve
Where Davis lacks in being a shifty runner and threat to catch passes from the backfield, Spiller more than makes up for it. A dangerous runner in the open field, Spiller has the ability to shake defenders or simply blow right past them which makes him a danger to take it to the house on every touch. If Spiller can develop into a better runner between the tackles, there is no reason to think he won’t potentially be the more complete and dangerous back of the two in the near future.
Over the last two seasons Davis, No. 1 and Spiller, No. 28, have combined for nearly 4,000 yards rushing and 40 touchdowns on the ground. Davis has rushed for more than 1,000 yards in each of the last two seasons and has gone over 100 yards in a game 12 times in his career. Spiller led the team in all-purpose yards per game a year ago, proving to be a threat both running and catching the football. He was also able to return two kickoffs for touchdowns while averaging more than 28 yards per return.
In recent memory, there has been several dominant 1-2 running back tandems that have led their teams to great things. The top two tandems that come to mind are Lendale White and Reggie Bush from Southern California and Cadillac Williams and Ronnie Brown from Auburn.
Going in to this season, there is no reason to believe that the combo of Davis and Spiller won’t be every bit as successful and imposing as these two great tandems of the past. Both have the potential to be all-conference performers, or maybe even All-Americans in Davis’ case, and if the rest of the Clemson offense can perform at the level they did last season, Davis and Spiller should be able to lead the Tigers to an ACC title and a BCS birth.