Recent conference realignment news has left many talking more about dotted i's and crossed t's than X's and O's, but with the first game of UI's season coming up Thursday, there actually are some football-related storylines worth tracking.
Deonte' Jackson is one of those storylines.
This guy should be the face of the program this season because he's a true Vandal — meaning he's still here.
A) Jackson stuck around in Moscow even though Dennis "Benedict Arnold" Erickson, the head coach who recruited him, left after just 10 months on the job. Jackson celebrated his decision by rambling for nearly 1,200 yards as a redshirt freshman.
(You can't see it, but I was sticking my tongue out at Coach Erickson as I typed that last sentence.)
B) This senior running back from Arkansas has been through a frustrating four years — redshirt and three years of playing — fighting off injuries. Leg stuff. Ankle tweaks. Back problems.
C) The 5-foot-9-inch, 199-pound battler has gone from redshirt to unquestioned starter to talented-yet-injured sideline pacer to third-stringer — and he's still here. Last season he was consistently put in awful, destined-to-fail situations as basically a direct-snap specialist.
And he still averaged 4.4 yards per carry.
This season he'll likely have a chance to go out on a high note as one of two featured backs. He has a great opportunity to prove wrong everyone who has called him a washed-up nobody.
How do you disparage a guy who's stuck through this much stuff and remained devoted to his team? You can't. Or, at least, you shouldn't.
Here's to 800 yards and happy endings.
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