Monday, August 23, 2010
By Ken Gordon
Columbus Dispatch
COLUMBUS
They are nicknamed “Boom” and “Zoom,” but the key to the emergence of Daniel Herron and Brandon Saine last year was that it became harder to figure out which was which.
Previously, the two Ohio State tailbacks had been labeled:
Herron was the plugger, a three-yards-per-carry back who lacked the creativity to find holes and the breakaway speed to exploit them.
Saine was the sprinter, the former track star who too often tried to go around defenders rather than through them.
The stereotype bothered Herron (Warren Harding).
“‘I think I can break away and make big runs,” he said. “You can’t really listen to what people say; you just have to do your job and prove them wrong.”
Saine, on the other hand, agreed that it took him some time to develop into a tougher, more physical back.
“Straight out of high school, you can see it every time — young tailbacks head straight outside, and you don’t get anywhere because there’s no getting around the edge [in college],” he said. “It’s a huge adjustment.
“The coaches tell you, ‘As soon as you can, get your shoulders to the goal line,’ because that’s where it’s at.”
Early in the 2009 season, coach Jim Tressel seemed to feed into the labels. He leaned much more heavily on Herron.
Against Southern California, Herron had 17 carries and Saine had one. Through four games, Herron had 64 carries and Saine 32.
In late September, Herron suffered an ankle injury that kept him out of most of the next four games. That gave Saine a taste of being a featured back, and when Herron returned to full health, the duo blossomed.
From Halloween on, Herron began breaking more big-gainers, including a 53-yard touchdown run against New Mexico State and a 23-yard gain at Michigan. He even stole a page from Saine’s specialty ‘” catching passes ‘” with a 12-yard TD reception that clinched the win at Michigan.
In Herron’s first four games, he averaged 3.65 yards per carry. In his final five games, he averaged 4.13.
“I think we really got better watching each other,” Herron said of his backfield partner. “He did a great job running the ball, and I learned a lot from him.”
Meanwhile, Saine was showing that he was capable of lowering a shoulder into a defender and fighting for the tough yards. He earned a career-high 20 carries against Penn State and recorded his second career 100-yard game with 103 against Iowa.
“If you shy away from [contact], it’s going to be worse than what it would be if you deliver the blow,” Saine said.
Tressel consistently says he’s happy to have “two great backs.”