The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Blazer Running Back Howard Not Under The Radar Anymore
9/4/2014 12:00:00 AM | Football
By Steve Irvine
www.uabsports.com
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ---- Recruiting interest is not always an accurate indicator of college football success.
Need an example?
Running back Jordan Howard received exactly one solid offer after a strong prep career at Gardendale High School. Troy offered to bring him in after a grayshirt season and Mississippi State had some early interest. Some others called but the only program that offered him was UAB.
UAB linebacker Jake Ganus is one of many around the UAB program that is content with the way recruiting went for Howard.
"I'm not complaining because we got him," Ganus said. "He definitely flew under the radar. As soon as he got here, I went against him a lot. Him being a freshman, they wanted to test him out and put him against the first team D. We knew right away."
Not that it really matters now but there are reasons that Howard fell through the recruiting cracks. And talent had little to do with it. He hurt his knee in spring of his junior year, limiting his workouts, and then suffered a pelvis fracture which kept him out for six weeks that summer. He was unable to attend any college camps or scouting combines and unable to show college scouts what he could do.
"I know one of my teammates told me that Tennessee, who was recruiting him, told him they wouldn't offer me because they didn't think I was fast enough," said Howard, who rushed 2,876 yards in two varsity seasons and scored 21 touchdowns in 10 games as a senior.
The rugged 6-foot-1, 224-pound Howard is more than content how recruiting worked out for him, even though it often wasn't easy to hear some of the comments.
"I figured God was going to send me to where he wants me to be and UAB was the right place," Howard said.
Howard didn't play in last season's opener but was an integral part of one of the top running back tandems, along with Darrin Reaves, in Conference USA by the season's conclusion. He rushed for 60 yards on 14 carries in his collegiate debut at LSU and had a season-long 52 yards run three weeks later against Vanderbilt. A four-game stretch later in the year include 159 yards against FIU, 154 yards against Middle Tennessee and 123 yards against Marshall. At the season's end, he had 881 rushing yards on 145 carries, resulting in a healthy and team-best 6.1 yards per carry.
"There is something about him," Ganus said. "The way he runs, he's so physical but yet fast. If you don't bring everything you have to tackle him, he's going to break it or he's going to get extra yards. You will not tackle him and knock him back. He's going to get four or five more yards, that's how he runs. I think that just speaks to who he is as a person with his determination and will."
UAB head coach Bill Clark didn't get to see his top running back during the spring because Howard was coming back from shoulder surgery. It didn't take long during fall camp, however, for Clark to evaluate Howard's talent.
"I hear people talking about the top backs in the country and I think he's going to end up being one," Clark said. "He's got a step, he's got vision. The bottom line was once we saw what he could do, if you saw us in any scrimmages, we hardly let him play."
Howard ended fall camp fresh and should remain that way as long as he shares the carries with senior D.J. Vinson. The two combined for 285 yards on 41 carries with Howard scoring twice and Vinson adding another touchdown in the win over Troy. Anyone questioning Howard's speed might want to turn on the tape of his 55-yard run in that game and watch him run away from a Troy cornerback who, at first, appeared to have a good angle to catch him.
That was just the start of what should be a big season for Howard.
"I have a lot more confidence and a lot more focus," Howard said. "I know what I'm actually doing. Last year, everything was just running around. I know how to read my blocks better, I know how to pass protect better. I've become a more complete player."
