True freshman tailback David Richard knows he has big shoes to fill following the early departure of 6-1, 249-pound Granite-sized Mack truck T.J. Duckett to the NFL, but the 6-2, 230-pounder thinks his size-14 feet fit perfectly in the Spartan offense.
Size does matter here for the apparent heir to the long-term replacement of our beloved No. 8.
So does speed. Richard’s 4.5 in the 40-meter dash will make us believers again in the ground attack.
Clad in a green Spartan T-shirt with cutoff sleeves, which showcase his bulging bread carriers following a practice this week, Richard reflects on the loss of Duckett, the Spartan running game and the size of his muscles.
“I don’t know,” he says. “They’re pretty big, though. I usually get compliments.”
Refueling of Spartan pigskin carriers in the post-“Diesel” era starts Saturday against Eastern Michigan. Senior fullback-turned-tailback Dawan Moss and true-freshman backs Jaren Hayes and Richard look to carry the heavy load once shouldered by Duckett.
The Spartan offense’s insurance in the passing tandem of juniors quarterback Jeff Smoker and wide receiver Charles “Chuck” Rogers leaves us wondering if the running game can keep pace with MSU’s air assault.
“A lot of people think our downfall is our running game,” Richard says. “We’re going to surprise a lot of people.”
The USA Today’s All-USA Team, SuperPrep and PrepStar All-American set school rushing records at Hazelwood East High School (St. Louis) with more than 4,000 yards and more than 60 touchdowns.
He’s good.
And he’s improving, yard by yard, carry by carry.
“I got a lot faster,” he says, “and the power. It was easy to bowl over defenders in high school. I’ve been trying to use my power here because I thought, ‘Hey, I’m 230 pounds myself.’”
The biggest surprise may come to opposing defenses that meet Richard’s 230-pound frame. His legs like tree trunks. His arms like branches. His feet like roots.
“You have to plant your foot and get after it,” he says.
Ouch. Surprise.
They’ll also meet a leaner 226-pound Moss who down-sized 32 pounds from fullback to ease the transition of the younger backs as the starting tailback.
Ouch. Surprise.
The only relief may come in Hayes whose 180-pound body will cool off the opposition with his wind-making 4.32 in the 40, as he passes through EMU like Gumby’s Pokey Stix through a college freshman.
There he goes. Surprise.
“(Hayes is) light and fast and you can’t see him behind the offensive line,” Richard says.
But you’ll see Richard.
“I won’t be nervous,” he says. “When you run out that tunnel and 75,000 people see your first play out there, there will be butterflies but I’m ready.”
And so as the dawn breaks on the 2002 football season here in the stadium by the Red Cedar, the next chapter in the Spartan rushing book starts.
“This is a new era,” he says, “because last year it was T.J. and sometimes Little John (Flowers). Now it’s Dawan, Jaren and myself and we’re hitting every which way.”
Ouch. Surprise.
Kevin Hardy, State News associate sports editor, can be reached at hardykev@msu.edu.
