Froggy RB impressive in freshman year

[giacfsp]

Found this in the Star-Telegram:



Frogs' freshman back adds exciting element to offense
By Damien Pierce / Star-Telegram Staff Writer


During TCU's spring drills, Robert Merrill turned the practice field into a sandlot.

The running back swerved through defenders with uncanny moves, and left the Frogs' coaches scratching their heads.

They didn't have a clue if he was a practice field anomaly or the real thing.

"When he was running for the scout team, he was gaining 5 yards on every carry against our first-team defense and that was without an offensive line," TCU coach Gary Patterson said. "I thought our guys couldn't tackle, but it turns out the rest of the conference can't tackle him, either."

In nine games this season, Merrill (5-foot-10, 190 pounds) has gone from practice field wonder to possibly the school's all-time leading freshman rusher.

He needs 47 yards Saturday against Metroplex rival SMU to surpass Lonta Hobbs atop TCU's freshman rushing chart. He has rushed for 983 yards, three touchdowns and is averaging 5.5 yards per carry. Merrill has helped the No. 19 Horned Frogs establish the nation's 19th-ranked rushing offense, and he's just getting started.

"I didn't really think I would have a shot at any records in the beginning of the season," Merrill said. "It's certainly not the main thing I am worried about, but I wouldn't mind chasing a few more records down the road."

Hobbs, who has settled for 503 yards this season mainly because of a nagging ankle injury, gained 1,029 yards last season in eight games.

He did it by running through and past defenders, but Merrill has taken a bit of a different approach.

He's made his runs with more cutbacks and zags than some are used to seeing.

"I would probably break something if I tried to do some of the things he does," tight end Stanley Moss said.

Merrill also isn't the physical runner Hobbs has proved to be. He'd rather make a guy miss than take a tackler head-on.

"He's like Sugar Ray Leonard," Patterson said. "No one ever gets a good shot on him. You can try jabbing at him or giving him an uppercut, but he'll make you miss."

Merrill's ability to avoid the wrath of a linebacker has left him with quite a sampling of dazzling runs.

After replacing an injured Hobbs against Vanderbilt, he had an 18-yard touchdown run that started on the right side of the field. He darted between four Vanderbilt defenders to cut inside and juked a defensive back to get into the end zone.

He had a 58-yard prance through the gut of Houston's defense and has had several other runs that started on one side of the field and wound up on the other.

But his best run didn't even count.

With TCU trailing Arizona 13-10, he caught a pitch, made two defenders miss, hurdled another and raced down the left sideline for an 80-yard score. It was called back because of a holding penalty that occurred behind him.

"I think that was my favorite run," Merrill said. "There were so many big blocks and I just liked the way everything opened up."

Merrill has found such running lanes most of the season. He's either created them with one simple move or watched a gap open up.

It's just like he was running on the practice field.

"It's hard not to watch him," quarterback Brandon Hassell said. "You always want to watch to see what he is going to do."
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Running into the book

Robert Merrill needs 47 yards to become the top freshman rusher in TCU history. How he ranks on the freshman list in yards rushing:

Yr Name Carries Yds. Avg. TD
2002 Lonta Hobbs 157 1,029 6.6 12
2003 Robert Merrill 178 983 5.5 3
1984 Tony Jeffery 165 840 5.1 9
1997 LaDainian Tomlinson 126 570 4.3 6
1982 Kenneth Davis 113 549 4.9 5

[methodistmustang]

I almost cried when I saw Robert Merrill get recruited by TCU. He alone probably beat our entire class. You should have seen him at SA Taft...I saw him play Mesquite High in the finals...man..he was the only thing they had. He singe-handedly took them to the state finals and almost won it for them. I am also very worried about the Denton Ryan QB they picked up last year...man are we in for it with those two starting.

[BennettBacker]

Merrill's a stud - no question. I wouldn't worry about James Battle yet. According to the preview on the homepage, Hassell's still the starter. And if anything should happen to him, there's no way Patterson would burn Battle's redshirt for a single game. He'd throw a senior walk-on DT out there under center before he'd waste a year for his prized freshman QB.

[Corby]

I think he meant in future years that duo will be special, not today.