February 23, 2009

Olin Buchanan
Rivals.com College Football Senior Writer

What should building teams do when facing more established programs?

Surprisingly, the answer may be to turn and run.

Despite that, recent championship results seem to reinforce the philosophy that running is the best way to win a race. And successful running teams usually have a player who rushes for 1,000 yards, the benchmark for excellence.

"I think having a 1,000-yard rusher is still a barometer of rushing success," said new New Mexico coach Mike Locksley, who counts former Illinois All-American Rashard Mendenhall among several 1,000-yard backs he has coached during his career. "If you have a guy like Rashard Mendenhall or [former New Mexico tailback] Rodney Ferguson that can carry the load, then you feature him."

That philosophy was common in the '70s and often paid off with championships. From 1971-82, eight national championship teams featured 1,000-yard rushers.

Then, Bernie Kosar passed Miami to a national title in 1983 and everything changed. Over the next 13 seasons, Colorado's Eric Bieniemy was the only 1,000-yard rusher on a national titlist. But it looks as if the pendulum has swung back the other way, as six of the past eight national champions ? all but Florida in 2006 and '08 ? have had 1,000-yard rushers.

While Florida didn't have a player reach the plateau, eight teams that won conference championships or conference division titles did. And although no Gator hit four digits, Florida had five players rush for more than 400 yards. That's a trend Locksley says will continue.

"There is a change in college football and we're taking on some of the premises of the NFL in that most teams are using a two-back system to keep players fresh and keep a running back from getting banged up," Locksley said. "We had Rashard Mendenhall rush for over 1,600 yards and led the Big Ten in rushing [at Illinois in 2007], but over the years we've had running back-by-committee, too. A lot of teams have transitioned to the two-back system, and that's why there may be a decline in 1,000-yard rushers."

New Mexico is tied with California for the current streak of consecutive seasons with a 1,000-yard rusher, at seven. Ferguson hit quadruple digits in each of the past three seasons, while DonTrell Moore did it from 2002-05.

Aside from Mendenhall, the other 1,000-yard rushers Locksley tutored are Maryland's Lamont Jordan in 1999, Bruce Perry in 2001 and Chris Downs in 2002 and Florida's Ciatrick Fason in 2004.

New Mexico's streak could be jeopardy. Ferguson completed his eligibility, as did his backup, Paul Baker. The Lobos' top returning rusher is sophomore James Wright, who rushed for 348 yards. Locksley may need immediate production from incoming freshmen Desmond Dennis of Atlanta and Kasey Carrier of Pearland, Texas.

"That [streak] is something we'd like to see happen, and I hope it does happen," Locksley said. "It's a barometer of success."

Olin Buchanan is the senior college football writer for Rivals.com. He can be reached at olin@rivals.com.