Jones huge on any other day
Posted on Sunday, November 4, 2007
FAYETTEVILLE — Felix Jones ran the football 12 times for a career-high 163 yards and a career-best 3 touchdowns in Arkansas’ 48-36 victory over South Carolina on Saturday night.
He won’t make many headlines.
That’s because backfield mate Darren McFadden piled up 323 yards on 35 carries, including an 80-yard fourth-quarter touchdown run that topped Jones’ 72-yard scoring run earlier in the game.
Welcome to Jones’ world, a place somewhere under McFadden’s considerable shadow. It’s a place Jones doesn’t mind inhabiting, though. In fact, he’s thriving there.
“He’s a great player, but he’s also so humble and so unselfish,” running backs coach Tim Horton said. “He’s just a first-class kid.” Jones lived up to Horton’s billing in the moments after the Razorbacks’ victory.
“We have to give it up to the offensive line,” Jones said. “They came out with the intensity, and it started up front. They created the holes for us, and we just hit them at full speed.
“ I have to give it up to Peyton Hillis, too. He really made that big, long touchdown happen for me. He made a big, big block.” Fair enough, but doesn’t Jones deserve some of the credit ? He did, after all, help stake Arkansas to a 21-3 first-quarter lead with touchdown runs of 40 and 72 yards, then helped the Hogs withstand a Gamecocks rally with a 7-yard scoring run late in the third quarter.
“I can give myself a little bit of credit, but they’re the ones that have to take the pounding and pounding each play,” Jones said of his offensive linemen. “Without them, I’m just back there by myself looking crazy.” More accurately, it’s Jones who has been making defenses look silly for much of the season. He now has 1, 026 rushing yards this year, the second consecutive season he has run for more than 1, 000.
Jones’ three touchdowns against South Carolina gave him 11 for the season, and his long scoring runs gave him seven of 35 yards or more. His average of 8. 81 yards per carry, tops in the nation, jumped to 9. 30 after he averaged 13. 6 yards per run against the Gamecocks.
“He sees the holes well, and then when he’s 1-on-1 with the defensive backs, he’s got the moves to get by him,” center Jonathan Luigs said. “All he needs is a little crease. He’s got the speed to take it all the way, just like you saw [Saturday ].” Horton echoed Luigs and added that Jones possesses the rare ability to accelerate through a hole almost as soon as it develops.
“He’s got great vision, but the thing about Felix is that he can not only see it, he’s got that burst to get through it,” Horton said. “A lot of people can see it, but they ain’t fast enough to get through it.... Then he can make that guy miss and turn a 15-yarder into a 50-yarder real fast.” Jones did that Saturday night, though his performance undoubtedly will be overshadowed by McFadden’s exploits. That’s no problem for Jones, who is content to be part of what he called “the baddest backfield in the nation.” “What people don’t see is them laughing and carrying on, hanging out off the field.... They’re teammates, and that’s what they want to do for each other, just like lightning and thunder,” Luigs said.
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