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Hammer’s hammy heals; Pace back in place
By JOE SCALZO
YOUNGSTOWN
Torrian Pace is a running back with a fire hydrant’s body.
At 5-foot-10, 230 pounds, he’s 41/2 inches shorter and 70 pounds heavier than boxer Kelly Pavlik. He’s as much fun to tackle as a cactus and looks as indestructible as his nickname, “The Sledgehammer.”
And yet, on Aug. 5, Pace was stymied not by a tackler, but by turf.
Wearing just a helmet and shorts for the Penguins’ first practice, Pace turned upfield during a drill and felt a sharp pain in his hamstring.
It was YSU’s first practice of fall camp.
And, until Thursday, it was Pace’s last.
“It came out of nowhere,” he said of the injury. “As soon as it happened, I ran over to [trainer] J.D. [John Doneyko] because I knew I had to get it fixed and I didn’t want to make it any worse.”
Hamstring injuries are notoriously fickle. Instead of gradually healing like, say, an ankle injury, they can linger for weeks.
Pace knew the worst thing he could do was come back too soon — especially since the season hadn’t started yet — so he spent the last few weeks on the sidelines. While his fellow running backs were stealing headlines, Pace was stretching, icing, heating and waiting.
“My teammates kept telling me, ‘It’s going to be a long season,’” said Pace, a redshirt freshman out of Chantilly, Va. “I kept working with our trainers and just did everything I could to get back.
“It was very frustrating but I’m glad that God healed me with an amount of time to get back before the season started.”
Running back has been arguably the strongest position for YSU this camp, with incoming freshmen Adaris Bellamy, Allen Jones and Jordan Thompson drawing raves from the coaching staff.
That may have bothered some players. Not Pace.
“I was very happy to see the young running backs come in and do their thing and excel, especially in these two weeks,” said Pace, who may have looked better than sophomore starter Jamaine Cook during spring practice. “They just grasped the concepts and the plays and they don’t look like freshmen. They look like veterans.
“I’m always rooting them on, always trying to coach them up. We help each other out and we don’t care what age group we are.”
Although all of YSU’s backs are capable of breaking tackles, none has the power of Pace.
In fact, one of the team’s struggles this summer has been in goal line situations, where a 230-pound guy can come in handy.
“He brings a little something different to the ballgame,” said YSU coach Eric Wolford. “He likes to slam it up in there.
“As long as he keeps his pads down, he usually does pretty well because he’s a load to tackle.”