Tardy’s on time

Editor’s note: This is the fourth of nine position outlooks on the 2008 Washington State Cougars. Today we examine the running backs. Coming Saturday: quarterbacks.

PULLMAN – Last year at this time, Dwight Tardy expressed a goal. He wanted to rush for 1,000 yards.

The then-redshirt sophomore was well on his way as the final seconds ticked off the Martin Stadium scoreboard against UCLA.

Tardy was headed down the left sideline with a game-clinching 51-yard touchdown run against the Bruins, a career-high 37th carry that would give him another career high, 214 yards rushing in a single game.

But the run also cost him a chance at 1,000 yards. He tore his left ACL en route to the end zone and missed WSU’s last four games.

Is it no wonder that Tardy, back at practice just eight months after reconstructive surgery, won’t publicly share his personal goals for this year?

But when told the offensive line’s goal is to have a 1,000-yard rusher, the junior from Southern California expressed his hope they would succeed.

“We’re all going to go out there and do our best,” Tardy said. “We all have our goals. We all want to rush for 1,000 yards, 2,000 yards, whatever it may be. But our main thing – and what coach (Paul) Wulff has beat into our heads every day – is to execute and compete every day.

“We do that and we’ll be where we want to go in the future.”

The starter: So just how strong is Tardy’s knee?

“Every day my confidence is building more,” said Tardy, who most days practices without support on the knee. “Every day I make a move, I stick my foot in the ground and get vertical. It’s feeling better every day.”

But running backs coach Steve Broussard is still limiting Tardy’s repetitions in practice, keeping him fresh for the 13-game season ahead.

“When I get in there I go hard,” said Tardy of the limited time. “I don’t want to baby it, because if I baby it I’m not going to get any better.”

The reserves: Despite coming off the knee injury, Tardy is the clear No. 1, though Broussard won’t say it’s etched in stone.

“After Tardy, it’s a coin flip,” Broussard said. “And I told them even Dwight’s name is written in pencil.”

Besides Tardy, two running backs return – Chris Ivory and Marcus Richmond – who carried the ball last season.

Ivory, a junior, made three starts and rushed for 313 yards but was limited by injuries and has been slowed by the same maladies this fall.

Richmond, a 6-foot-1, 215-pound redshirt sophomore, saw limited duty last season – he had 14 carries for 56 yards – but is getting the bulk of the carries in camp. Redshirt freshman Logwone Mitz (6-foot, 228 pounds) also is seeing time.

But there is one new face that is turning heads, not only with his quickness but also with his effort.

Chantz Staden, a 5-10, 200-pound junior transfer from DeAnza College in California, has earned Tardy’s respect.

“When you come in you kinda don’t know what to expect,” said Tardy of Staden’s situation. “You’re either going to come in and fold or you’re going to come in and play. It’s a two-way road.

“We’ve got guys who are still making the same mistakes that Coach Broussard was coaching us up on last year. It’s good for (Staden) to come and (show) he wants to play. He wants to play. That’s the difference between (him) and the guy who’s just waiting for the coach to tell him to go in there.”

The outlook: With a new offense come new duties for the running backs. Not only are they expected to do the usual – running the ball, picking up rushers, catch passes out of the backfield – but they are occasionally lining up outside, filling the role of another slot receiver.

“This offense, we have more responsibilities,” Tardy said. “We’re getting better at it, knowing what we’re supposed to do. We’re not making the mental mistakes we were making at the beginning of camp.

“We’re coming along better as a group. We’re starting to read the holes better and our pass (protection) is definitely stepping up.”

He said the main reason is the emphasis on competition in practice. In every team drill, the No. 1 offense lines up against the No. 1 defense.

“It’s the only way to get better,” Tardy said. “It’s the only, only, only way to get better, I feel.

“If you go against a guy who isn’t giving you a good look, you’re never going to get better. To get better, you have to play a better opponent.”