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Johnson, others will get chance Wednesday, May 14, 2008 By Harry King LITTLE ROCK - The mostly yellow school bus, "Razorbacks on the Road" in red on a white top, rolled up first and Texarkana athletes staked out an area of the grandstand near the track. Next, the competitors from Lake Hamilton traipsed to an area past the first turn, pitched their maroon and gold tent on the outside of a fence, and put a monitor of sorts in place. By the time I moved to the inside lane for the fourth time to avoid the six-wide hurdles, I wondered if Dennis Johnson was in the Texarkana brigade. I recalled that the Razorback running back-to-be was a sprinter of some reputation and, on my next trip by the grandstand, I decided the young man in the white T-shirt was Johnson. Wrong, one of the coaches said. Johnson was a row in front of the T-shirt. Zeroing in, he is put together much differently than the last great in-state running back, Darren McFadden. At 5-foot-8 or so, he is much shorter than the former No. 5. But, it's the lower body that is so distinctly different. Johnson's underpinnings are tree stumps; McFadden's are almost bird-like. In fact, Johnson looks much more like a prototype NFL back than McFadden, the first pick of the Oakland Raiders. At this point, we're only talking about shapes and sizes, not projecting success in the Southeastern Conference, but Johnson and De'Anthony Curtis of Camden Fairview will get plenty of opportunities with the Razorbacks this fall. In Bobby Petrino's offense, running backs are needed. That might come as a surprise to those who anticipate a pass-pass-pass attack under the new coach. During his four years at Louisville, the Cardinals always ran the ball more than they threw it. In 2003, it was 518 run, 395 pass and the following year it was 534 run, 359 pass. The gap narrowed in his last two years, but both years, there were about 100 more running plays than passing plays. In 2006, in Louisville's first signature win under Petrino, the Cardinals ran the ball 31 times for 95 yards and completed 13-of-18 for 294 yards. The final was 31-7 over a Miami team that was No. 12 at the time, but went on to a season that cost Larry Coker his job. In Sports Illustrated's 2005 college football preview, Petrino said, "Basically, I believe if you're ever going to win a national championship, you have to be able to run the football in the second half." Clearly, Casey Dick will hand the ball to somebody several times. At the end of spring practice, the depth chart at running back had 5-7, 173-pound Michael Smith and 5-foot-10, 206-pound Brandon Barnett 1-2. Johnson is supposed to be 5-8, 192; Curtis is listed at 5-10, 211. In Hawgs Illustrated's recruiting edition, Petrino mentioned the home run potential of both freshmen. "I think the first time I watched a video, I didn't realize just how fast he was, how explosive he really is," Petrino said of Johnson. Johnson was second in the 100 meters in 11.16 in the Class 6A-South track meet last week and third in the 200 in 22.50. That was his first competition since straining a hamstring on April 11 and he will compete this week in the state meet at Lake Hamilton. When asked why he chose Arkansas, Johnson told Hawgs Illustrated: "De'Anthony Curtis called me and said that we could be the next Darren McFadden and Felix Jones up there starting next year." ------- Harry King is sports columnist for Stephens Media's Arkansas News Bureau. His e-mail address is hking@arkansasnews.com. |
