-Reno, Nevada
Okay, so if you haven't heard yet, Nevada is really good at football.
Now that that is established, here is the main reason Nevada is so good:
Their players get fat under the table contracts? No.
Their coach has known ties to BALCO? Nope.
Their field is lined with coke instead of white paint? Not that either.
Their good because they can run the football with the best of them and this year they may have fielded the greatest young running back duo of all time. Two freshmen All-Americans have the opportunity to form a dynasty in the biggest little city in the country.
The Trophy Winner
This season, Terrence McCloud rushed for a total of 1,658 yards and 17 touchdowns on his way to the WAC Freshman of the year Trophy and a spot on the Doak Walker award list. Coming in as the 3rd best RB recruit in the national big things were expected of him and he delivered.
McCloud dominated WAC defenses and was virtually unstoppable. He averaged 8.8 yards a carry, which is almost unheard of for a season. Needless to say, he was regarded as the best freshman in the country.
The Second String
Enough about the praised five star recruit; let's talk about the second-string running back Charles Parker. Who wants to hear about a second-string back? Well, everyone wants to when the team's second-string back is considered by many as one of the top backs in the nation.
While backing up McCloud this year, Parker piled up 88 carries for 1050 yards and 16 touchdowns, with a video game like 11.9 yards a carry. Yeah, the second string had even better numbers than the first string at one point in the season, but you have to factor in that McCloud missed three games and was was not 100 percent at the end of the year.
As a Duo
Well, if not thoroughly impressed by their individual numbers, just think that one needs to add these two sets of statistics together to get a feel for the WolfPacks running game as a whole. Together in 2015, the duo rushed for a whopping 2,248 total yards on the way to a Fiesta Bowl win and #2 AP ranking. This is an average of 10 yards every time one of these two beasts gets the ball.
If this duo can stay healthy and maintain these types of numbers, they will be without a doubt the best tandem of running backs college football has ever seen. They have already joined the likes of Reggie Bush-LenDale White (USC), Laurence Maroney-Marion Barber (Minnesota), and Darren McFadden-Felix Jones (Arkansas) as one of the greatest duos in history, but if the numbers keep piling up, and the WolfPack keep on rolling, they will go down as the
all-time greatest tandem in college football.