Stewart slipped through fingers
Bill Doba won’t say publicly that Jonathan Stewart is the one who got away from him and his Washington State program, but the look of regret on his face says differently.
Stewart came out of Lacey, Wash., in 2005 as one of the most talented high school players in state history, a running back with unparalleled physical gifts who was considered in some circles the top high school player in the nation.
His choices for playing college football came down to WSU and Oregon.
Unfortunately for Doba, Stewart’s preferences weren’t in that order, and this week he’ll return to the Palouse as a starting running back for the first time – wearing a Ducks uniform.
“We thought he was pretty good,” said Doba, asked if Stewart is the player he though he was two years ago. “He hasn’t proved us wrong, put it that way, unfortunately.”
The coach then let out a prolonged sigh.
“He’s a physical specimen, but he’s a great football player,” said Mike Bellotti, who as Oregon’s head coach doesn’t have to wonder what might have been when it comes to Stewart. “He’s a young runner. He just ran over (people) or did anything he wanted to in high school. And he’s learning now to use blocks, to set up blocks – all the little things that make a great tailback. He is on the verge of being a great tailback.”
The Cougars, meanwhile, have three players splitting carries and, for at least in the last two weeks, the ground game has been stuck in neutral.
“Well, there’s nobody that’s a clear-cut winner,” Doba said of the Dwight Tardy, DeMaundray Woolridge and Derrell Hutsona triumvirate. “Some people would say, if you’ve got three running backs, you really don’t have a No. 1. You really don’t have a great running back.”
Stewart, as talented as he is, wouldn’t have started ahead of Jerome Harrison last year at WSU, but he didn’t start for Oregon, either. Senior Terrence Whitehead got the bulk of the carries in 2005, while Stewart sat and learned the intricacies of the college game.
Now he’s become the Ducks’ featured runner and is averaging just more than 100 yards a game. Although Stewart did carry the ball 53 times in 2005, also returning kickoffs, he said the role change has given this sophomore season a sense of renewal.
“It’s a different experience for me than last year’s experience,” he said. “Totally different. I’m back in the groove of playing more often.”
That Stewart is playing is also a reflection of his added maturity as a player. The tailback has been somewhat injury-prone throughout his career, and missed games last season because of an ankle injury.
Stewart suffered the same problem in the season-opener against Stanford this season, but after an off-season public rebuke from Bellotti, he decided to play through the pain, helping his team to a significant non-conference win against Oklahoma.
“I guess, in a sense, he did call me out,” Stewart said of comments his coach made in a newspaper article from the spring about playing hurt. “That’s one thing I took to heart. I don’t want to be known as a back that has ankle injuries.”
The sophomore said his right ankle, the one injured earlier this season, is feeling better – although he tweaked the left one last week against UCLA.
But don’t think that Stewart is about to skip this week. He may be the one that got away from WSU, but he’s more than happy to come back and show the Cougars just what they missed.
“It’ll be exciting. I wouldn’t say (it’s) weird to go back to my home state,” he said. “I’ve come a long way, but I’ve still got a long way to go.”