By Patrick Finley
Jahvid Best is best viewed blurry. The Cal sophomore running back averages more yards each time he touches the ball than anyone in the nation, streaking across the television screen with a kick return, run or reception. And football might not be his best sport. Best first ran track when he was 7 years old, about seven years before he ever set foot on a football field. As a senior in high school, Best won the 2007 California high school 100-meter title with a time of 10.31 seconds. That's .30 of a second behind the all-time national high school record. Best said he plans to become a two-sport star this spring, running the 100- and 200-meter dashes for the Golden Bears. "I definitely feel like I can compete," he said. "I'm a lot faster than I was back then."
Recovered from a dislocated elbow suffered last month, Best will look to improve on his nation-leading 215.5 all-purpose yards Saturday at Arizona Stadium. Fans will be able to answer the question first-hand — how fast is he? "Do you know the fastest guy ever on a video game who runs back and forth until he scores a touchdown? He's that guy," quarterback Nate Longshore said. Said his friend and backup Shane Vereen: "Most people don't move that quickly." Best might not be as swift as former baseball player "Cool Papa" Bell, who, legend had it, could flip a light switch and be in bed before the room turned dark.
But Best matched up well against former Cal wideout DeSean Jackson, now a budding star with the Philadelphia Eagles. The two never raced — Best said coaches discouraged it, for fear of injury — but used to eye each other as they crossed the finish line during conditioning drills. Coach Jeff Tedford said the two are the fastest players he has ever coached. "Those guys have a different speed," Tedford said. "Somebody can have him in their sites — and all of a sudden, there he goes." Combined with Vereen, who ran the 100 meters in 10.4 seconds in high school, the two Golden Bears earned an oh-so-clever nickname from a television broadcaster. You've heard running backs being called Thunder and Lightning? Best and Vereen are Lightning and Lightning. Best averages 105.2 yards per game on the ground, second only to Oregon State's Jacquizz Rodgers and No. 18 nationally. Before missing last week's game against Arizona State with the elbow injury, Best totaled at least 158 all-purpose yards in each of the first four games.
In five games, Vereen, a freshman, has rushed for 74.4 yards per game, sixth-best in the conference.
Vereen said he and Best are "just about best friends," and both admire each other.
"I remember the plays where Shane did stuff and I was amazed — making people miss, outrunning people," Best said. "The way he thinks about me is the way I think about him." Both are home run hitters. Best is the only Pac-10 rusher to gain 200 yards this season — he did exactly that Sept. 6 against Washington State.
Against Michigan State, Best ran for 111 yards. Vereen had 101 in the same game. Best had touchdown runs of 86 and 80 yards against the Cougars. Against the Spartans, Vereen had an 81-yard touchdown run, the longest ever by a Cal freshman. "It's really easy for us. We just run," Vereen said. "The O-line and the receivers, they take care of everything. "We just read it and go — and do whatever we're supposed to do."
That's a scary proposition for the Wildcats, who gave up 286 yards to a more plodding Stanford team last week. Tedford said there are "bits and pieces of the Stanford game that you're going to look at," but UA players simply missed tackles. "For the most part, I thought Arizona was in pretty good shape to make plays," he said. If they don't Saturday, Best and Vereen might be seen blurring down the sideline again, Lightning and Lightning sending a jolt through the stadium. "We obviously find things we can exploit," Best said. "We feel like we can run the ball on any team."
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