ALL HAIL THE QUARKBACK!
“I think the small, fast running back has a place in football,” said Les Miles, the L.S.U. coach, whose reigning national champion Tigers were pummeled by Florida, 51-21, on Oct. 11, when Demps rushed for 129 yards, including a 42-yard touchdown. “It’s probably a role that will expand the way football is going.”
Running backs on the whole tend to be snack-sized as far as football players go: a quick survey of the top ten rushers in the nation this year reveals only one, Andre Anderson of Tulane, who is listed at 6′0″. (BTW: that is his Fantasy Nobility name: Andre Anderson of Tulane, Ruler of Estates and Sirer of Kings.) Even the “power backs” in the top ten–Donald Brown of UConn and Shonn Greene of Iowa–are at 5′10″ and 5″11′, respectively.
Thus Miles suggesting there’s a role for the smaller back refers to even smaller backs than you might think, the Chris Raineys and Jeff Demps of the world, generously listed in the 5′ 5″–5′9″, 150-180 pound range. Since the spread offense is going nowhere and neither are they, these gifted gentlemen need a name, a category, and a definition, and we’re here to provide it. The new verbiage, codified:
Quarkback (?kwork-bak), n. A running back loosely defined as being 5′9″ or less and weighing between 150 and 180 pounds and possessing 4.4 speed or less. Derivation: internet slang.
Example: Jeff Demps, Florida quarkback, ran so fast on his third quarter dash to the endzone he inflicted second-degree burns on SEC official Penn Wagers as he passed him.
Glad we could help. (Andrew wants part ownership, or at least inspirational credit from this entry. Granted in heaps.)
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1
sb says:
A blindingly fast micro-back is now known as a “quarkback”…it is now so, and shall be used henceforth. Further, Affiant sayeth not.
October 27th, 2008 at 11:54 am
2
sb says:
Uh, that is if they cannot be known as a “rainey-demps back”…
October 27th, 2008 at 11:55 am
3
Digital Headbutt says:
Barry Sanders: the original quarkback.
October 27th, 2008 at 12:00 pm
4
MaconDawg says:
So when you say “glad we could help” are you referring to the quarkback monikor or flamethrowing Penn Wagers? Because as an SEC football fan you have to admit that one’s a little ambiguous.
October 27th, 2008 at 12:03 pm
5
zzgator says:
Aaaand the picture isn’t of Demps because…?
October 27th, 2008 at 12:07 pm
6
Stacy Keibler Luvs Me says:
Quarkback Down-Side Dept:
The downside of the little fast back is the danger of getting whacked up-side the head by monsters with bad attitude. Exhibit A:
USC’s 6′4″ Safety monster, Taylor Mays, whacked Arizona’s Keola Antolin so hard, I think Keola is still wondering if he is back in the islands and not the desert right now. (If I were good at YouTubing, I would link the hit right here.)
October 27th, 2008 at 12:10 pm
7
Texas_Dawg says:
Bring that Demps/Rainey sweep stuff on, imho. I’ll take that all day over facing Coffee/Scott behind good OLs.
October 27th, 2008 at 12:14 pm
8
GoalieLax says:
great, so now people are going to start stealing the little burners Navy gets…thanks a lot Hat – you suck
October 27th, 2008 at 12:18 pm
9
Crabapple Buck says:
No wonder we lost. That block in the back was never called!
and ZZ – no picture exists of Demps running because shutter speeds haven’t advanced that far yet.
October 27th, 2008 at 12:19 pm
10
beckett929 says:
i prefer the term iBack Nano… coined after the Jaquizz Rodgers performance against USC.
And mentioned the ‘Zona game.. the key is to not build your offense around that guy if you dont have capable backups. WfVU have like, a half dozen of these on the roster. Granted Jock Sanders is not Noel Devine, but hes capable of filling that gap when hes not there short-term…
October 27th, 2008 at 12:24 pm
11
hobeg8r says:
Just think of all the other words whose definitions will be impacted now that quarkback is part of our vocabulary.
For example:
Microburst: n.
Definition:
(a) A microburst is a small, very intense downdraft that descends to the ground resulting in a strong wind divergence.
(b) A microburst is the very small amount of time it takes for a quarkback to clear the defensive line of the opposing football team thereby resulting in large amounts of yardage gained.
[See Jeffery Demps]
October 27th, 2008 at 12:35 pm
12
zzgator says:
Of course Crabapple…silly me.
October 27th, 2008 at 12:35 pm
13
TAFKastOSUB says:
Why do I get the feeling that all of these spread offenses and quarkback players are just like the no down payment home loans and tricky financing that has nearly crippled our economy?
What’s wrong with having to put 20% down on a house and what’s wrong with having to have a 6′0″ – 6′2″ 230lbs with 4.5 speed who can take a beating and wear a defense down?
It seems like these tricky/speedy offenses are geared towards sloppy play and just having enough speed to make up for it.
October 27th, 2008 at 12:40 pm
14
Ryno says:
How effective are these tiny backs in blocking situations. I admittedly haven’t watch much of the Gators this year – so are Demps/Rainey able to chip defensive ends and block downfield effectively?
October 27th, 2008 at 12:41 pm
15
Year2-Dave says:
Re: Ryno
Brandon James appears to be the only quarkback Meyer ever gives blocking assignments to, and he does a decent job. He gives just enough of a hit on the defender to buy Tebow time to get rid of the ball or scramble, but he doesn’t hold a block for any appreciable amount of time like Kestahn Moore does.
I can’t recall Rainey or Demps being asked to block yet, but James isn’t bad for his size.
October 27th, 2008 at 12:54 pm
16
Year2-Dave says:
Also, Brandon James is pretty good at downfield blocking. He can hold most corners at bay for a surprisingly long amount of time. Again, I have yet to see Rainey or Demps asked to do this, but James does it well.
October 27th, 2008 at 12:57 pm
17
beckett929 says:
TAFKastOSUB —
How’s that worked out for the Buckeyes the past few years? College football, aside from at Alabama, is a speed game.
And don’t consider what WVU have done the last 5 years as ’sloppy play overcome by speed’… its perfect execution of a zone-blocking scheme that gets that speed, which again you dont have, into space and forces linebackers to run side to side. As fast as even the SEC and Big 12 linebackers are, they cant catch a 4.3 guy running in open space. In their last 4 games against SEC teams, that team and their scheme combined with the speed and execution, has rushed for over a half a mile against UGA, Miss. State twice, and Auburn (who until thurs, despite their offense was a top 10 defense).
You keep your slow Beanies… the rest of the country is into this thing called “scoring”.
October 27th, 2008 at 1:05 pm
18
Noel Devine's Gold Teef says:
Finally, gettin’ a little props on this sight, mane.
What’s that golden blurr you saw streakin down the sideline Thursday night, you might ask? My gold teef shining on the way to endzone, biatch!!!
October 27th, 2008 at 1:13 pm
19
Crabapple Buck says:
beckett929 –
Beanie ran for 146 on 20 carries against LSU last year. Speed didn’t beat us. Penalties, turnovers, missed TD passes, missed FG’s and a stout LSU playing power football beat us. Too bad you missed it. Beanie had enough speed to outrun LSU for 65 yards on one of his first carries.
October 27th, 2008 at 1:18 pm
20
hobeg8r says:
Ryno:
When Demps/Rainey are in, they are either a decoy (going into the middle with a fake hand-off thereby drawing the DE inside) which then allows Tebow to take it outside….or
When they do get the hand-off, downfield blocking is being handled by the WR’s – Moore, Cooper, and Murphy. Cooper has turned into an excellent blocker.
October 27th, 2008 at 1:25 pm
21
Pete the Streak says:
@17 – not so fast, my friend.
As defenses begin to recruit ever more speed at the expense of brawn, this wonderful spread thingy will become neutralized, and the first programs to return to smash-mouth will dominate once again.
Remember when the Wishbone was unstoppable?
Me too.
TAFK@13, I get the same feeling. As soon as defenses go all in, and commit solely for speed, the fat boys will break them in half.
Everything is cyclical.
October 27th, 2008 at 1:26 pm
22
Mr.Pelican Pants says:
Noel Devine is the prime example of a quarkback, but he is STRONG, you cant arm tackle him and you cannot get a head on collision because he is too fast, like trying to catch a pissed off squirrel, you can corner him, but he will wait for you to make a mistake and run downhill by you….WfVU has some big O-Linemen that can move and “chip block” not really a block, more like getting in your way for 1 second so they can get to the 2nd and 3 rd level to spring Devine, thus his 15 yrd average…did it against a really good Oklahoma Def. team and a really average Auburn injury plagued Def team…playing teams like that is really like going to a track meet, and when its on, its REALLY on, but if you can do something like physically knock Devine or Pat White out of the game, then it blows up—-see Pitt game last year……
Sproles was the first “quarkback” to give Oklahoma fits and to actually survive in the NFL….Devin Hester is a rare combo of speed and size…..now coaches will be combing 100m high school sprinters, hell even college, to get that extra step….works well on offense, dont know if a quarkback type corner would work well in the SEC on defense because of the size disadvantage vs a Julio or AJ Green type receiver…..unless head to head with a known Quarkback—-6th grader in size with Olympic trial speed…
THE only way to beat these teams is to have an offense that can methodically EAT up the clock with long drives to KEEP their offense off the field since they can score like lightning strikes….if ya cant do that then you are forced to abandon the run and throw, and if you cant score with them, you lose—-see LSU vs Florida….the way to beat Florida is to blitz Tebow like Michigan did…to where he cant even complete a pass to a Quark Back
October 27th, 2008 at 1:28 pm
23
beckett929 says:
but according to your orginal argument, speed makes up mistakes and sloppy play… so wouldnt you want to have a break-away back?
The fact is, 3rd and 12 for a power-back led team is a throw down. With teams like UF and WVU, there are enough options on the field BECAUSE OF THE SPEED, that its not a throw-only down. Draws, options, pitches… the playbook is still totally open because Demps, Devine, and even at the QB position in White… have enough speed to make something happen on the edge, make one guy miss and pick up 20 yards on any given play. Some dude named Chris, that thought “Beanie… yeah that doesnt sound soft’… cant do that on a consistent basis.
Devine’s stats against, again, a top 10 Auburn defense — 17 carries, 207 yards.
October 27th, 2008 at 1:28 pm
24
yoyofutbawl says:
There have always been “quarkbacks”. Think Joe Washington, Johnny Rodgers, Greg Pruitt, et al back in the 70s. Gayle Sayers went about 5′10-11/180 – not big at all. Walter Payton was a quarkback at 170-175 lbs coming out of HS – the SEC skools thought he was “too small”, as they did with a 5′8″ Wilbert Montgomery, both Mississippi kids.
For those too young to know, Wilbert started at RB for the Iggles for around 10 years when Jaws was their QB.
October 27th, 2008 at 1:38 pm
25
NativeSon says:
@ 13
“It seems like these tricky/speedy offenses are geared towards sloppy play and just having enough speed to make up for it.”
Yea! And what’s up with all this “mobile running/throwing QB” nonsense? Sure, they use that in a spread O, too, but, I mean who needs a …. oh, wait.
You’ve got one of those, now don’t you. Problem being, apparently your offense does not have quite enough – dare I say it – speed to make up for his sloppy play.
October 27th, 2008 at 1:41 pm
26
BamaCPA says:
Man, if I didn’t know better, I’d say the Artist is reading Nick Saban’s recruiting manual.
You and Nick are tight, aren’t you ?
October 27th, 2008 at 4:03 pm
27
Rockabye Reggie Nelson says:
Mind-bogglers:
1) Noel Devine could have gone to Florida.
2) Jeff Demps and Chris Rainey have made people just about forget Percy Harvin.
October 27th, 2008 at 4:41 pm
28
JB says:
@14
WVU takes pride on the blocking provided by the receivers and backs, including the fire hydrant ballcarriers:
Devine @ 2:25 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lctEafcYIcs
Just for fun:
Lyons http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r07tmiDOMO0
Pat White http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2DmuK91efw
October 27th, 2008 at 6:37 pm
29
MCab says:
I’ve always proposed a league of quarkbacks to be called “The 5-6 Mafia.” Sorry about the keyboard. Wackety. Shmackety. Doo.
October 27th, 2008 at 7:44 pm
30
beckett929 says:
JB — that Pat White block was in his first or second start… it was that moment we knew all knew in the stands he was going to a legend…
October 27th, 2008 at 8:40 pm