Gophers running back David Cobb ranks sixth nationally in rushing at 144.4 yards per game and third in carries per game at 24.8.
The thing that jumps out to me is Cobb's determination and his ability to turn nothing into positive yards.
Cobb is not particularly fast, but he runs hard and he manages to turn a 4-yard gain into 8 to 10 yards by keeping his legs moving and refusing to go down after that initial contact.
The Gophers and NCAA don't track yards after contact as a statistic, but I'm guessing a high percentage of Cobb's rushing total has come after that initial hit. He's able to move the pile and gain extra yards.
I asked some of Cobb's coaches and teammates about his toughness in those situations.
"When we watch film, you'll see that a couple of guys missed their block and then he can make you look so good because he makes guys miss and gains an extra three, four yards," center Tommy Olson said. "It's cool to watch."
"Watching film, we would watch the runs just to watch Cobb," wide receiver Isaac Fruechte said. "Obviously, we're watching the runs for our blocking, too. But when you just rewind it a few times and just watch Cobb run, it's impressive. Sometimes it looks like there's nothing there and he's getting positive yardage all the time."
Said offensive coordinator Matt Limegrover: "When you go back on Sunday and you get the end zone copy and go, 'Man, there just wasn't a lot there' and all of the sudden it's a 9‑yard gain. That's pretty special quality. There's a lot of kids as high school running backs, they're just bigger, faster, stronger than whoever they're going against so they're going to have 200 yards a game. But it's that special kid that can translate over when he's going against everyone else who is as big and strong and fast when he can find a way to turn those 4‑yard gains into 10, or 10‑yard gains into 20. That's when you know you got something special."
