RUSH TO GLORYThe top returning rusher at each SEC school with his 2010 total and yards per carry:Knile Davis* Arkansas 1,322 6.5Marcus Lattimore S. Carolina 1,197 4.8Michael Dyer Auburn 1,093 6.0Tauren Poole Tennessee 1,034 5.1Branden Bolden Ole Miss 976 6.0Vick Ballard Miss. State 968 5.2Trent Richardson Alabama 700 6.2Jeffrey Demps Florida 551 6.0Warren Norman Vanderbilt 459 6.0Jordan Jefferson LSU 450 3.7Carlton Thomas Georgia 272 4.2Raymond Sanders Kentucky 254 3.7* out for the season with an ankle injury indefinitely suspended following bar fightDEEP COULD HAVE BEEN DEEPERNone of the SEC’s top 10 rushers in yards per game were seniors last season, but only half will play in the league this year. Where they are now:Cam Newton Auburn Carolina PanthersKnile Davis Arkansas season-ending injuryMarcus Lattimore S. Carolina back for sophomore yearStevan Ridley LSU New England PatriotsBrandon Bolden Ole Miss back for senior yearVick Ballard Miss. State back for senior yearMark Ingram Alabama New Orleans SaintsTauren Poole Tennessee back for senior yearMichael Dyer Auburn back for sophomore yearWashaun Ealey Georgia Jacksonville State
Tennessee tailback Tauren Poole rushed for 1,034 yards last season and 5.1 yards per carry.
His six 100-yard games tied a Southeastern Conference high, and he had 117 yards against Alabama, becoming the first tailback in 41 games to crack the century mark against the Crimson Tide. Yet when it came time this summer for league coaches to make their preseason all-conference selections, Poole was omitted from the first, second and third teams.
“I guess I didn’t do enough,” Poole said.
After a season in which none of the SEC’s top 10 rushers were seniors, a plethora of returning talent has many believing the league could relive its ground glory of the 1980s. That decade began with Herschel Walker and Bo Jackson and ended with Emmitt Smith and may never be matched, but this year’s deep tailback class at least can evoke memories.