I think it was Ronnie that was injured. And instead of rotating BJ more, they just stuck with Carnell. Which was not a bad thing. It is just widely believed that a fresher Carnell was better than a tired Carnell. As evidenced in 2004 when the carries were more even between RB and CW.
RUSHING Att Yds Avg TD
Carnell Williams 241 1,307 5.4 17
Ronnie Brown 95 446 4.7 5
Brandon Jacobs 72 446 6.2 3
Tre Smith 37 141 3.8
Apparently it was RB that was hurt some that season.
Notice the 6.2 yd avg. That would have been nice in those 4th quarters.
Nobody's asking you to remove Tubs form your shrine, just to entertain the fact that we had a superbowl winning RB that was not given as many carries as he could have had to help a team that needed a little extra help.
PFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT....
You remember shit not as it was, but as you want it to be. All the pee wee coaching in the world won't change that.
We had Ronnie. We had Carnell. Those two guys were the primary backs. Neither were seriously hurt in 2003, Carnell just got the bulk of the carries because he was healthy. Ronnie tweaked a hamstring early, we started to depend on Carnell and that's just the way things rolled. Carnell was injured in 2001 and 2002 (and Ronnie topped 1000 yards, including a beatdown of Penn State)
In case you forgot, the coaching staff at that time wouldn't play people unless they knew their assignments -- blocking and the whole scheme. Remember Kenny Irons sitting out early one year because he wouldn't get his head out of his ass and pick up the blitz?
You don't know why Jacobs was used as he was. You don't know what was promised to Carnell to get him to change his commitment from Tennessee to Auburn. Bet starting was one of the things he was guaranteed. Bet being the first option was one.
Would Jacobs have stayed if he'd gotten ten or 11 more carries? You give him more carries and you're taking them away from Ronnie and Carnell. Both were picked in the first round of the draft. They were sorta good in their own right.
There is only one ball, CC. Just one. Don't care who you are, you can't have three people carrying it. 72 carries is a lot for a number three back. And regardless of how you remember it, that's what he was. Third option.
Tuberville had his faults. Not playing Brandon Jacobs wasn't one of them. If either Carnell or Ronnie had (as expected) come out early, Jacobs would have stayed and been a strong number two in 2004. They didn't. He wasn't. He left.
But bash away. That's what some of you are best at. Tuberville is the devil.
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