BRUINS HAVE BIG SHOES TO FILL AT TAILBACK; TRIO RUNNING IN HICKS' FOOTSTEPS.Byline: Jon Wilner Daily News Staff Writer The question caught Skip Hicks Brian "Skip" LaVell Hicks (born October 13, 1974 in Corsicana, Texas) is a former American football running back in the NFL. In his four seasons, Hicks played for the Washington Redskins and the Tennessee Titans. by surprise. Standing outside the Washington Redskins' training facility last month, Hicks was asked how UCLA UCLA University of California at Los Angeles UCLA University Center for Learning Assistance (Illinois State University) UCLA University of Carrollton, TX and Lower Addison, TX will replace the 1,671 yards and 26 touchdowns he produced last year. He paused for a moment, then smiled meekly and stared at the cement. ``They'll be fine,'' he said. He was being modest. ``I don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. if you can replace a Skip Hicks,'' said Bruins coach Bob Toledo Bob Toledo (born March 4, 1946, in San Jose, California) is an American football coach, recently hired as head coach at Tulane University. He is best-known as the thirteenth head coach at UCLA. . ``He was pretty good.'' Hicks is the No. 5 rusher in UCLA history (3,140 yards) and the Pacific-10's career touchdown leader (56). He could run over an opponent or run by him. He was a good receiver, a capable blocker and he altered the way teams defended UCLA. What he was, UCLA no longer has. When the Bruins open the 1998 season Saturday against Texas, they will lack a star tailback for the first time in five years. The running-game responsibility - shouldered with style and substance by Hicks and Karim Abdul-Jabbar in recent seasons - now falls on three players whose combined college yardage yard·age 1 n. 1. An amount or length measured in yards. 2. Cloth sold by the yard. Noun 1. (703) would have been a good month for Hicks or Abdul-Jabbar. UCLA's streak of four consecutive 1,000-yard rushers is in serious jeopardy. ``We'll have a good one-two punch one-two punch n. 1. A combination of two blows delivered in rapid succession in boxing, especially a left lead followed by a right cross. 2. Informal An especially forceful or effective combination or sequence of two things. that's just as good or better than Skip,'' said second-string tailback Keith Brown Keith Brown can refer to: People
Brown, a junior from Phoenix, has 421 career yards and a high game of 88, against Oregon last year. He's strong and shifty shift·y adj. shift·i·er, shift·i·est 1. Having, displaying, or suggestive of deceitful character; evasive or untrustworthy. 2. but not particularly fast. Nagging injuries and a bout of food poisoning food poisoning, acute illness following the eating of foods contaminated by bacteria, bacterial toxins, natural poisons, or harmful chemical substances. It was once customary to classify all such illnesses as "ptomaine poisoning," but it was later discovered that last spring - ``Durell (Price) bought some strange meat at a Mexican market,'' he explained - have slowed his progress. The starter, for now, is 5-foot-7 sophomore Jermaine Lewis Jermaine Lewis (born October 16, 1974 in Lanham, Maryland) is an American football wide receiver in the NFL. A star high school athlete at Eleanor Roosevelt High School, he was a two-time team MVP as a running back while also starring as a sprinter on the track team, setting , of Antelope Valley. Lewis (282 career yards) prefers to hide behind his hulking hulk·ing also hulk·y adj. Unwieldy or bulky; massive. hulking Adjective big and ungainly Adj. 1. linemen until a hole appears. Lewis is strong for his size, but alas, 180 pounds is 180 pounds, and he is more susceptible to arm tackles than are bigger backs. Despite averaging 5 yards per carry last year, he is best known for the yard he did not make: fourth down at Washington State's 1, two minutes left. ``You can't think about the pressure,'' Lewis said. ``You have to have a level head. Skip left big shoes to fill, and we all feel we're capable of filling them.'' The third tailback, freshman DeShaun Foster of Tustin, is the most intriguing. Physically, he's a hybrid - big but not huge, fast but not blazing. He has sensational vision and balance, and his credentials are impeccable: 3,398 yards and 54 touchdowns last season, one of the greatest seasons in California prep history. Is Foster ready for top-25 competition? For that matter, is Lewis? Is Brown? If not, the Bruins will try to replace a 1,200-yard (Hicks) with two or three 500-yard rushers. ``That doesn't look as good statistically, but the good thing is you aren't beating one guy up,'' said offensive coordinator Al Borges. ``The chances are we aren't going to have a (1,200-yard runner), but that's OK. We'll be a full three-deep with confidence when DeShaun gets (the offense) down.'' UCLA will tinker the running game to accommodate its existing tailbacks. Hicks thrived on sweeps and pitches, which utilized his speed to the corners. The current group lacks Hicks' speed but runs well between the tackles. The offense has been tweaked to reflect that. ``We always have a balanced offense,'' Brown said. ``We'll be fine, if me and Jermaine prove we can run effectively.'' Lewis has no doubt. He waited nearly three years for this opportunity - since Abdul-Jabbar's departure to the NFL NFL abbr. National Football League NFL (US) n abbr (= National Football League) → Fußball-Nationalliga after the '95 season propelled UCLA to the top of his wish list. All along, through a frustrating redshirt season (1996) and the fourth-down fiasco at Washington State, he made the starting job his priority. Now is the time. ``I know replacing Skip is a huge load - that's already been expressed to me,'' Lewis said. ``But I love it. That's every football player's dream.'' Or it's UCLA's nightmare. READY OR NOT Jermaine Lewis (pictured), Keith Brown and DeShaun Foster are competing for the starting tailback job vacated by Skip Hicks. Here's a look at their career rushing totals. (Foster's are for his senior season at Tustin High School Tustin High School is a public high school located in Tustin, California, United States. Tustin High School is officially a Title I school (where 40% or greater of the school's student population come from families defined to be low-income) and a former California ). Player Yds Avg. TD Hicks 3,140 4.9 48 Brown 421 4.0 5 Lewis 282 5.0 2 Foster 3,398 10.5 54 CAPTION(S): 2 Photos, Box PHOTO (1) Jermaine Lewis Michael Owen Baker/Daily News (2) UCLA's starting tailback is sophomore Jermaine Lewis of Antelope Valley, whose 282 career yards pales in comparison to Skip Hicks' 3,140 yards. Bob Halvorsen/Daily News File Photo BOX: READY OR NOT (see text) |
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