At USC, when they recruit tailbacks, they look for the next Reggie Bush or LenDale White. They look for players fast enough to out-run the defense, or big enough to run over them. They look at Five-Star, Blue Chip recruiting lists. He is 5-foot-7, 193 pounds — or small enough to fall through the cracks. But thanks to Rodgers, the dynamic freshman running back, Oregon State is in a position to reach the Rose Bowl for the first time since 1965. If the Beavers, who are 6-3 overall and 5-1 in the Pac-10, win their final three games — home to Cal, at Arizona and home to Oregon — they'll be headed to Pasadena. Rodgers ran for 186 yards on 37 carries with two touchdowns in Oregon State's 27-21 upset of then-No. 1 USC back in September and the Trojans — and everyone else in the Pac-10 — have been playing catch up ever since.
Rodgers, who has rushed for a conference-leading 1,089 yards, has broken the Pac-10's freshman record, which was set by Stanford's Darin Nelson in 1977. No freshman has ever led the conference in rushing. Earlier this week, Rodgers was the only freshman among 10 finalists for the Doak Walker Award, given to the nation's top running back. "I'm really excited for him,'' Oregon State coach Mike Riley said. "Quiz is the neatest guy. He's really unfazed by all this. That's the beautiful thing about him. He's just a really humble, good guy. He loves to play. He's been a major impact guy. He's been a credit to this team both on and off the field.''
Given how good USC's star-studded defense has been, Rodgers' performance that night looks even better. The Rodgers brothers, Jacquizz and James, scored four touchdowns that night — or one more than the Trojans have allowed the rest of the season. How Rodgers managed to land in Corvallis from Lamar, Texas, is a family matter. The Beavers were interested in James, a receiver in an offense that revolved around his little brother, who is 14 months younger. Then they saw Jacquizz. The Beavers signed James in 2007 and that summer got a commitment from Jacquizz. When he broke the Texas state career touchdown record as a senior, and led his high school to the Class 4A state championship, it didn't register as more than a blip on the radar of Oklahoma or Texas. At the time, Rodgers weighed just 175 pounds.
"I think there's a tendency to always try to find the bigger guy if you can and maybe to underestimate the smaller guy,'' USC coach Pete Carroll said, noting that two of the NFL's best-ever running backs, Barry Sanders and Emmitt Smith, and USC's first Heisman Trophy winner, current athletic director Mike Garrett, were all undersized. "It doesn't really matter how tall you are when your feet are hitting the ground and you're making people miss and you're breaking tackles,'' Carroll added. "Coaches are always trying to find the bigger guy, but I don't know why we should. It's the ability to move and shake and to do the things that great running backs do that Jacquizz is great at. He's a really fine football player.''
Oregon State has found a home for smaller backs. Ken Simonton, who was recruited by Riley before he left for the NFL, is the Pac-10's No. 2 career rushing leader. Yvenson Bernard was a three-year starter and first-team All-Pac-10 back. Steven Jackson, a prototypical NFL back now starring for the Rams, is the exception rather than the rule at Oregon State. "What we do is look for a good runner,'' Riley said. "The one thing is they come in many different packages. We were fortunate enough to have Steven Jackson, who was different than these guys. But the common denominator is they're good players. "We look at guys basically based on production. The three guys, all the running backs we've had have been high character, hard working good teammates and very versatile. They're just good all-around football guys. 'Quiz is an excellent blocker, a smart pass protector and a very good receiver to go along with his running.''
Rodgers ran for 99 yards on 22 carries and both touchdowns in a 45-14 loss to Penn State, but it was his performance against USC on national television that earned him attention. "Since that point, he's been a focal point of the other team's game plan,'' Riley said. "There's not doubt that a game plan coming in against the Beavers has a lot to do with the running game. We don't want that to deter us from running the ball, but we also know the importance of balancing it with some play-action passes. That's a very big part of our game, and very important to our success.'' It's a formula that the Beavers are looking to ride through November, firm in their belief that nobody has the answer for this Quiz.
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