Dubois: Vision key element for LSU backs

• By CARL DUBOIS
• Advocate sportswriter
• Published: Aug 21, 2008 - Page: 1C - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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Jacob Hester led LSU in carries last season for too many reasons to list here. Some of the overlooked are worth discussing as we wait to see how the 2008 running back committee evolves.

Hester’s field vision didn’t receive as much attention as his big hands and tight grip, but combined with football savvy it was perhaps his most irreplaceable asset.

A younger back would see a hole develop in the line and, having blown through such holes for most of his young life, charge it with little grasp of the big picture unfolding around him.

Instead of the 20-yard run the young man envisioned, he’d get 2 or 3 because by the time he reached the hole, someone had closed it.

Hester, experience in his favor, could size up the same hole, read the blocking and the defensive adjustments and the other tea leaves and discover a gap was soon to open elsewhere.

That tiny crack wouldn’t be appealing to a young pup with visions of a long sprint downfield, but Hester could see a few chess moves ahead and anticipate.

He knew the other hole, the one making false promises, would close, and he’d carve out a 10-yard gain by reacting, by letting the game come to him.

His ability to bulldoze through a crowd for the tough yard is another story that’s been told and retold.

No need to rehash that.

Richard Murphy is LSU’s best this season at seeing the field and understanding in the backfield what it offers and how it deceives.
Former offensive coordinator Jimbo Fisher spoke highly of this trait in Murphy before the 2006 season, and it’s evident Murphy is the heir apparent to Hester in that regard.

Charles Scott has the size and explosiveness to be the next fullback-running back.

Keiland Williams has the requisite speed, agility and strength to be dangerous in open space, as he showed Virginia Tech in LSU’s 48-7 victory last September.

Creating or finding space for Williams is the challenge for offensive coordinator Gary Crowton and Williams.