Enduring pain, seeking gains

Davis, Lattimore top deep roster of recovering SEC backs

Arkansas running back Knile Davis (center), who was averaging 99.9 yards a game before he tore a ligament in his left knee last season, is one of several SEC running backs making a comeback from significant injuries.
Arkansas running back Knile Davis (center), who was averaging 99.9 yards a game before he tore a ligament in his left knee last season, is one of several SEC running backs making a comeback from significant injuries.

— Knile Davis had the following message for his fellow SEC running backs during the conference’s media days last month.

“Yeah, I do feel like I’m the best running back in the SEC,” Davis said. “Not being conceited or anything arrogant. I feel like if you asked any other running back, they’d say the same thing.”

In a way, Davis was voicing the confidence that helped propel him to All-SEC status in 2010, when he was the top conference rusher not named Cam Newton.

In another way, Davis was giving some high-level ribbing to a pair of SEC running backs he considers friends: South Carolina’s Marcus Lattimore and Texas A&M’s Christine Michael.

The trio share a bond. They’re all coming off major injuries from 2011.

“I’ve talked to Marcus Lattimore and Christine Michael, both of them,” said Davis, who reportedly emerged from his first full-contact work of fall camp in good shape late Friday. “They’re great guys and they’re doing good. They’re back and ready to go, just like I am, and I wish them luck.”

Lattimore, the only back who received more All-SEC votes than Davis in preseason media polling, tore the anterior cruciate ligament and suffered cartilage damage in his left knee last Oct. 15 in a victory at Mississippi State. Lattimore was recovering from that injury when he got a call from Davis, who missed all 2011 with a broken left ankle.

“I was like, ‘Man, I know what you’re going through. Keep your head up,’ ” Davis said. “Ever since then we’ve texted back and forth and kept up with each other.”

Said Lattimore, “Knile is my boy. We just talk about who’s going to have the most touchdowns, who’s going to have the most yards. It’s not really a rivalry. We’re both fighting for the same goal, and that’s the SEC championship.”

Michael was averaging 99.9 yards per game when he tore his left ACL in a loss to Oklahoma on Nov. 5, and Arkansas fans can recall his career-best 230-yard effort in the Aggies’ 42-38 loss to Arkansas on Oct. 1.

“Christine Michael, he’s from the same area I’m from, so we know each other as well,” Davis said. “It’s really just respect for each other. We all want to compete and be the best.”

Davis, Lattimore and Michael are notable among an extensive list SEC running backs battling back from significant injuries.

Missouri’s Henry Josey suffered a devastating knee injury - called “a tragic fluke - a one-in-a-million type of injury” by team physician Pat Smith in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch - last Nov. 12 in a victory over Texas. Josey had rushed for 1,168 yards, averaging 8.1 yards per carry, at the time of his injury and needed repairs to his patellar tendon, meniscus, both cartilages and his medial collateral ligament. Josey is unlikely to play in 2012 and his football career is in jeopardy.

Kentucky’s Josh Clemons was the team’s leading rusher when he suffered a torn meniscus in his right knee last Oct. 8 in a loss to South Carolina. Clemons underwent an arthroscopic procedure last Tuesday that revealed “loose stuff” that had to be cleaned up, Coach Joker Phillips told the Louisville (Ky.) Courier-Journal. Clemons is doubtful for the Wildcats’ season opener on Sept. 2 at Louisville.

Alabama’s Eddie Lacy, expected to take the lead role in the powerful Crimson Tide rushing attack, has been nursing a sprained knee and ankle the last week and is not likely to be 100 percent when the season opens.

LSU’s potent backfield hasn’t been at full strength either, with juniors Spencer Ware and Michael Ford missing time with what is being reported as minor injuries. LSU Coach Les Miles said Thursday “both guys will be healthy come game week.”

The race for the SEC’s rushing title should feature a wide-open field.

Davis and Lattimore, the preseason All-SEC backs, are the favorites, but the group would have to include Michael, Vanderbilt’s Zac Stacy, who is the league’s top returning rusher, Lacy, Mississippi State’s LaDarius Perkins, Florida’s Mike Gillislee, Auburn’s Onterio McCalebb, and perhaps one from LSU’s stable of Kenny Hilliard, Alfred Blue, Ford and Ware.

Davis, whose strong finish lent balance to Arkansas’ high powered offense the second half of the 2010 season, offered this analysis to support his opinion that he’s the SEC’s best back.

“I think that because of the work I put into it, and I just don’t feel like you could ask for a better back,” he said. “I think I have everything that you need in a running back. That’s it.”

Sports, Pages 21 on 08/26/2012

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