Rush to judgment - Iowa State running-back Troy Davis

He had a tranquil summer vacation. But whenever anyone back home in Miami tried to tell Troy Davis, 2,000-yard rusher, that real Heisman Trophy candidates don't attend Iowa State, his response was short and to the point Nebraska 62, Florida 24.

In Davis' mind, the Fiesta Bowl fiasco wasn't much different from a sunny Saturday in Lincoln, Neb., two months earlier. At least the score wasn't

Nebraska 73, Iowa State 14.

Translation: Those 2,010 yards, the most in NCAA history by a sophomore, did not come easy. Say what you will about his team, this was a big-league back, gaining big-league yards against big-league competition.

"The Big Eight was a power," Davis says. "Nobody down there believed me until the Fiesta Bowl. Iowa State did almost as well against Nebraska as Florida. Maybe we should go down and play them and see what happens."

Then again, maybe not. Not just yet, anyway.

Iowa State was anything but a power, which is the main reason Davis finished fifth instead of first in the Heisman Trophy voting. The only other 2,000-yard rushers in NCAA history--USC's Marcus Allen, Nebraska's Mike Rozier, Oklahoma State's Barry Sanders and Colorado's Rashaan Salaam--won the Heisman.

What's more, all played for winning teams. Only Paul Hornung won the Heisman while playing for a losing team. And his losing team had a winning name--Notre Dame. For Iowa State, Davis was the bright light in a 10-watt season.

"I'd compare him with Barry Sanders," Nebraska defensive coordinator Charlie McBride says. "He hides well behind those big linemen. With such great acceleration, he's hard to find.

"I think he's a stronger running back when he makes contact than Barry. He uses all his strength. A lot of backs just use their legs. But he uses his legs and shoulders."

Iowa State running backs coach Kirby Wilson says Davis' work ethic "is unbelievable superior, unmatched. His durability astounds me. He reminds me of a machine that always produces, like turning on a television or a computer that always works."

Click. Three-hundred forty-five carries ... and only two fumbles. "Unbelievable, almost unheard of," Iowa State coach Dan McCarney says. "For as many physical hits as he took, as many gang tackles, as many carries, it's amazing. It really is."

Even more amazing is the disadvantage Davis faced compared with rival running backs in the league. They had the luxury of facing Iowa State's defense, statistically the worst in the nation last season.

With the season only an onsides kick away, football fans want to know--can Davis do it again? Can he become the first player in college history to stack one 2,000-yard rushing season atop another?

Sorry, wrong question.

Try this one instead: Does Iowa State want him to do it again? And this one: Is it in the team's best interests? That's the real issue.

The answer to both questions: Probably not. Not if it means another 3-8 season.

The headlines in the school's football brochure tell the story of Iowa State's autumn.

Davis nets 180 yards rushing, but ISU falls at TCU

Davis gets 139 yards, but ISU falls to Iowa

Davis gets historic mark, but second-half Sooner surge decks ISU

Davis remains nation's rushing and all-purpose leader, but KU sinks ISU

Cyclones challenge No. 9 Colorado as Davis rushes for 203 yards

Davis gets his yards, but No. 1 Nebraska runs past ISU

Davis gets 183 yards, sets records, but ISU falls to KSU

Davis hits 2,010, joins Neisman-studded 2,000-yard club

The day Davis hit 2,010, Iowa State lost to Missouri by two touchdowns. It was the Tigers' first and only conference victory.

"It Troy gains 2,000 yards (again)," Wilson says, "we're not a very good football team."

It doesn't have to be that way. The four other 2,000 yard rushers all played for very good football teams. Unlike Davis, none was the sole offensive dimension.

When Sanders was at Oklahoma State, receiver Hart Lee Dykes and quarterback Mike Gundy formed the core of a potent passing attack.

Wingback Irving Fryar and quarterback Turner Gill played with Rozier at Nebraska.

Receiver Michael Westbrook and quarterback Kordell Stewart helped take the pressure off Salaam at Colorado.

At Iowa State last season, Davis was it. With quarterback Todd Doxzon limping in and out of the lineup, Davis was almost the entire offense.

"We need to pass more, and we will," Davis says. "Doxzon will be healthy, and he'll be throwing to two good receivers, Tyrone Watley and Ed Williams."

Doxzon is elusive, though injury-prone. Watley is a transfer who caught 38 passes as a junior at Pacific, which dropped football after last season. Williams, another athletic Floridian, could be one of the top receivers in the league.

Davis certainly hopes so. Last season, he not only saw the defenses keying on him, he heard them.

"It's going to 28," opponents would shout.

"The ball's going to 28."

McCarney yearns for the day when only his players know where the ball's going. "It's not one of the goals we set--Troy Davis don't run for 2,000 yards," he says. "But with more balance, more efficiency and productivity in the throwing game we think we can be more effective offensively. We were really one-dimensional last year. Take a big-play back who rushed for 2,000 yards, put him with a consistent, healthy quarterback and an offensive line that can protect, and you have a better chance to dictate."

With more weapons, you don't have to hand the ball to your tailback 31 times a game, which was Davis' 1995 average.

Come to think of it, the best bet of '96 is that Davis won't rush for another 2,000 yards.

Not because he 11 be backsliding.

"He hasn't lost a step," says Tim Kohn, Iowa State's returning left tackle. "He's still working hard. Troy is the hardest working guy I've ever seen."

Not only because nobody's done it before.

Not only because, as a member of the Big 12, Iowa State gets one more conference game and one less dessert item from the nonconference pastry cart.

But also because it would be counter-productive.

"It's kind of, 'Been there, done that,'" Kohn says. "Now we have to start winning some games. Troy doesn't want 2,000 yards if that means ending up 3-8 again. Running for 2,000 yards only got us tied for last. If it meant Troy only got 1,200 yards next year and we ended up in bowl contention, that would obviously be much better."

If all goes according to script, the game plan could hold Davis back as much as the opposition. Especially if the game plan features younger brother Darren, an Iowa State freshman. As a junior at Miami Southridge, Darren became the second prep player in Dade County history to rush for more than 2,000 yards in a season. Big brother was first.

In 1993, the last time the brothers played together, Troy scored three touchdowns in the large-school state championship game--and Darren scored four.

As a senior last season, Darren played in only four games before breaking a leg. No matter. According to Troy, little brother still would win the family 40-yard dash title.

"Frankly," Kohn says, "if Troy gets 1,200 yards it might be because Darren has 1,000. Darren has amazing speed to go with the same skills Troy has. This is one time the sequel might be better than the original."

But don't count on it not this season.

Almost as far-fetched is the thought of the Cyclones actually receiving a bowl bid, especially given the cruel schedule. The North Division of the Big 12 features four teams-Nebraska, Colorado, Kansas State and Kansas--that finished in the Top 10 last year.

"I won't predict a bowl game," says Davis, whose Cyclones last went bowling in '78, "but I can see it happening. If we could go to a bowl, I wouldn't mind running for 400 yards."

Neither would Kohn, a second-team all-conference selection and the only other Cyclone to earn postseason mention. Either the Iowa State line was unjustly snubbed or Davis had far less front-line support than the 2,000-yard rushers who preceded him.

Leading the way for Salaam were first-team all-conference linemen Bryan Stoltenberg and Tony Berti, first-team all-conference tight end Christian Fauria and second-team lineman Chris Naeole.

Blocking for Sanders were first-steamers Byron Woodard and Chris Stanley.

Helping Rozier were All-American guard Dean Steinkuhler and first-team All Big Eight linemen Scott Raridon and Mark Traynowicz.

Allen might have had the best supporting cast of all. If the entire offensive line wasn't all-conference, it seemed that way. Roy Foster was a first-team All-American. Tony Slaton and Bruce Matthews were first-team All-Pac-10. Don Mosebar, who later played in the NFL was a second-seamer.

Davis has heard all the arguments against his Heisman bid:

* Too much of his yardage came against second-stringers serving mop-up time at the end of lopsided victories.

* Carry the ball as much as he did and you can't help but put up huge numbers.

* Almost 800 of those yards came against three of the nation's worst teams, UNLV, Ohio and Oklahoma State.

* Finally, if he's so darned good, how come Iowa State was so darned bad?

The arguments evoke nothing more contentious from Davis than a shrug. He'd rather knock down linebackers than frayed logic.

But McCarney, the defensive coordinator at Wisconsin before moving to Iowa State, is quick to take up the cause. Davis is the reason the Cyclones won three games, or three more than the year before. It wasn't the running back's fault, McCarney says. Blame the Big Eight. Blame an inconsistent passing game. Blame the defense.

Too many meaningless yards in too many lost-cause games? A few, perhaps. But did you know that Iowa State led Colorado, 28-27, early in the fourth quarter?

Entering the Kansas State game, the Wildcats were first in the country vs. the rush. Davis ran for 79 yards in the first quarter.

Against woeful UNLV, Davis left the game for good with 5 minutes left in the third quarter. He had rushed for 302 yards.

The defense rests, but not the running back. He's still fighting for every yard.

Marc Hansen is a columnist for the Des Moines (Iowa) Register.

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