ShareThisBy RON HIGGINS
Tennessee tailback Arian Foster would like to feel good about his 2005 season.
When he took over as a starter for the last five games of his redshirt-freshman season, he became the first Vols' tailback since Chuck Webb in 1989 to record 100-yard rushing games in each of his first five starts.
There's just one difference, though.
During his dazzling string of rushing performances, Webb played on an 11-1 team that won the Southeastern Conference, as well as beat Arkansas in the Cotton Bowl to finish No. 5 in the polls.
Foster played on a 5-6 team that finished with the school's first losing record since 1988.
"It was a bittersweet feeling last year, for me to play that well and at the same time for us not to put wins on the chart," said Foster, who finished with a team-high 879 yards and five touchdowns. "We want wins."
Tennessee can start getting wins on Saturday, when the No. 23 Vols face No. 9 California in Neyland Stadium, and Foster will again have to do his share.
But as Foster well knows, it's rare in the defense-dominated SEC these days to find one back durable enough to carry a rushing attack by himself. Foster tried to do that down the stretch last year _ he had 40 carries against Vanderbilt _ and he ended the year with hurt shoulders and an injured knee.
He welcomes the help he should get this season from redshirt-freshman tailbacks Montario Hardesty and LaMarcus Coker. Both have enjoyed productive preseasons, especially Hardesty, who has battled back from off-season knee surgery.
"We've been at our best when we've had two or three tailbacks," Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer said. "The competition (between Foster, Hardesty and Coker) has been a healthy thing."
Out of the last five times that the Vols have led the SEC in rushing _ '89, '93, '94, '98 and '99 _ they've won the SEC and/or the Eastern Division four times. The '98 national-championship team probably had the most-balanced offense in school history _ 2,536 rushing yards and 27 touchdowns, 2,250 passing yards and 27 touchdowns.
Since Fulmer became the head coach in 1993, he has had a number of potent tailback duos. Some of the best have been Charlie Garner and James Stewart in '93, Stewart and Aaron Hayden in '94, Travis Henry and Jamal Lewis early in '98 and then Henry and Travis Stephens later in '98 when Lewis suffered a season-ending knee injury, Henry and Lewis in '99, Henry and Stephens in 2000 and Cedric Houston and Gerald Riggs Jr. two years ago.
Last season, Riggs, a senior, carried the load until he suffered a season-ending knee injury against Alabama. That's when Foster, who had seen limited action to that point, stepped in and reeled off a remarkable string of performances.
In the last five games of the year against South Carolina, Notre Dame, Memphis, Vanderbilt and Kentucky, Foster averaged 148.4 yards per game on 29.4 carries. He accounted for 147 of Tennessee's 198 rushing attempts (74.2 percent) in that stretch.
What was particularly impressive was that since the Vols' downfield passing game was virtually nonexistent, Foster got big numbers against defenses stacked to stop the run.
The 6-1, 215-pound Foster doesn't appear explosive or overpowering. But his patience and ability to pick his way through a maze of tacklers seems to always result in positive yardage.
First-year Tennessee running backs coach Kurt Roper has gotten an eyeful of Foster by studying last year's game films.
"The thing that I noticed about Arian was the first defender always had a hard time tackling him," Roper said. "He always made that first guy miss, and he was always able to get that extra yard or two to finish a run. He creates good down-and-distance situations for you."
Foster said he doesn't try to avoid contact, but he prefers to evade it. He'd rather get extra yards sidestepping a defender than running over him.
"I learned to run that way growing up," Foster said. "My brother would chase me around, and I'd never let him touch me. I'd duck him and dodge him. He and I call it, 'being like water.' You just see what a defense does, and you flow right off it. My goal is to be water."
Foster doesn't really want to have to carry the ball 30 times per game this season. He got enough punishment last season from that, so he hopes Hardesty and Coker see action, too.
Coker played mostly on special teams in '05. Hardesty, who was challenging for playing time when he hurt his knee in preseason last year, got a medical redshirt after suffering a season-ending knee injury against Ole Miss in early October.
"When I got hurt and had the first surgery of my career, I was bummed for two or three weeks," Hardesty said. "Before that, the worst I'd ever been hurt was maybe a strained hamstring. But once I got over the frustration (of the knee injury), I went back to work."
Hardesty tweaked the knee during summer workouts and has had some swelling in the preseason. But he's determined to play through some pain. He doesn't want to be a spectator anymore.
"I had a good beginning last year, but I got hurt and never had the chance to finish it off," Hardesty said. "It was even worse, because we were losing and there was nothing I could do to help us. That's why I'm so ready for this season."
