Sometimes he showed moves that belonged in a cartoon or a science fiction movie. He’d blast into the pile, all power-packed 190 pounds of him, and come out the other side and you’d say, whoa! how did he do that?
There were plays it seemed he teleported himself out of the pile, bent time like The Matrix, hit the linebackers with an invisible Acme wrecking ball as he beep-beeped for another 30-yard gain. LaMichael James scooted for 159 in the Rose Bowl, his last college game, giving the stiff arm to the last lingering criticism that dogged his brilliant college career.
The decision: it’s rational, practical, and logical, and the roster still returns 34 of 42 players from the two-deep, but man, are we going to miss the Touchdown Frog Jump (abcnews.com photo).
Duck fans loved him. He had a heart bigger than Chuck Norris and Braveheart rolled into one. We saw his arm get bent at that awful angle after torching the four and five star-laden Cal Bears for 239 yards, not finding out until the next day that he reset the arm himself while laying at the bottom of the pile. LaMichael won a Doak and went to New York as a Heisman finalist. He’s Oregon’s career leader in yards, touchdowns, and thrills per game, an amazingly talented undersized warrior who will always be a Duck legend and crowd favorite. Imagine the reception he’ll get when he returns to Autzen as an honorary captain.
After the Rose Bowl there was a glimmer of hope. “I love my teammates he said, “and you can’t put a price on happiness.” For a moment we thought, maybe he’ll stay, maybe he’ll choose love over money, wait a year. Forgetting in the glow of the first Rose Bowl Championship in 95 years that he’d already delayed his departure for a season in coming back for this one: James was draft-eligible after 2010. In the NFL, running backs’ careers are most accurately measured in weeks. The average tour of their blood and sand arenas lasts no more than two and a half years. Just this December Adrian Peterson of the Vikings and the Oklahoma Sooners, one of the greatest schoolboy runners ever to come out of the state of Texas, suffered a torn MCL and ACL, his knee and his career in ruins. One moment you’re headed for the Hall of Fame, the next you’re a washed-up bum, taking up valuable space on the 40-man roster.
James suffered a lingering serious injury in both of the last two years, and endured a costly, embarrassing off-field incident in the spring of 2010. Courage and perspective he has. It glows from him like the reflection off the new liquid-metal helmet. LaMichael James did everything you could ask from a college football player. He gave magnificent effort and produced superlative, memorable results. He led by example and carried his team to big wins in big games, Stanford and Wisconsin this season, Stanford and USC last year, each time with superlative, eye-popping, statement performances.
In 2009 he burst on the scene with 1546 yards and 14 touchdowns, including a remarkable, 49-yard, double-spin-move-out-of-the-end-zone run against UCLA. As a sophomore he added 1731 yards and 21 touchdowns. In his junior season he became the PAC-12’s 2nd all-time leading rusher in just three seasons, while shattering a half dozen of Oregon’s records for scoring and running the football.
LaMichael James did not have a thing left to achieve or prove in college football. He could have stayed for another Rose Bowl or a run at another appearance in the mythical national championship game, but can any fan, no matter how passionate, ask a young man to sacrifice lifetime financial security for a chance at first prize in a political poll? No, you can’t. Number 21 had a fabulous experience as a college athlete. He’ll leave with a degree and the love, respect and admiration of an entire team, university and fanbase. All we can add is to wish him well.
As to the Ducks, they’ll be okay. James’ sustained and reliable brilliance will be missed, but Kenjon Barner is the most capable, dependable replacement imaginable, and he’ll be motivated to prove he deserves his own place in Oregon’s Ring of Honor, and his own big payday at the next level. Barner doesn’t have LMJ’s surprising power, but he’s an excellent fit for the Oregon system, with tremendous acceleration, good vision, great work habits, soft hands, and a style that suits Oregon’s zone blocking scheme perfectly. Barner is one-cut-and-go. He has good moves but runs north-south, getting the most out of his blocking and getting to the hole quickly. He’s averaged over six yards a carry for his Oregon career, maintaining that average for all three seasons, with 939 in the back-up role in 2011, including four 100-yard games and a 54-yard receiving touchdown in the Rose Bowl. KB exploded for 14 touchdowns in this Rose Bowl Championship year, and the Ducks will be fine with him as the full-time lead back.
The Ducks offense will also take on some exciting new dimensions next season as De’Anthony Thomas prepares for a larger role in the offense. Expect Chip Kelly and Mark Helfrich to move him around and give the defense something to think about on every play. The Black Mamba will strike out of the slot, at tailback or wide receiver. He’ll return kickoffs and punts. He will terrorize opponents and dominate their preparation, and they still won’t have anyone who can cover him. DAT is likely to emerge as one of the most exciting stars in college football history. There is no limit to what he can accomplish, not after 91 and a 64-yard touchdown runs in the Rose Bowl as a true freshman. He’s too slight to be an every-down back, but he is so fast and elusive he is an every down threat, and the threat of De’Anthony Thomas is as paralyzing to defenses as the 12-20 times he actually gets the ball.
Tra Carson, powerfully built and still getting stronger at 6-0, 227 pounds, and 2012 verbal commit Byron Marshall, 5-10, 200 with an incredible 510-pound squat (Mark Asper, Oregon’s strongest offensive lineman at 6-7 320 pounds, squats 500, and he’s a grown man in his mid twenties) add strength and durability to the running back rotation. Carson averaged 5.6 yards a carry in spot duty as a freshman, and Marshall has the work habits and athletic maturity to also contribute right away.
Sometimes, the unthinkable happens, and a team suffers a rash of injuries at one position. Oregon fields four top-quality running backs, and they may add another signee in these last crucial three weeks of recruiting (decisions as momentous as James’ often have domino effects). For the Ducks, if they did have the misfortune to encounter a run of pulls and strains at running back, the roster is loaded with athletes that could carry the ball in a pinch. Oregon has probably ten players on the roster who were 1000 or even 1500-yard rushers as preps, including John Boyett, Josh Huff, Colt Lyerla, Terrance Mitchell and Devon Blackmon. Worst case scenario, they’d get a crash course in practice, and point them north to the Jumbotron. This is a program that doesn’t make excuses.
Courtesy of Mike Wines and Oregon Duck Soup, here’s a video of LaMichael James 2011 highlights:
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