He May Be the Next Great USC Tailback, or the First Emanuel

There is a consuming passion among USC supporters as to who will be the next great tailback and Heisman Trophy winner.

Mike Garrett was USC’s first Heisman winner in 1965 as a tailback in the modern I-formation. O.J. Simpson followed in 1968. Then, there was an 11-year wait until Charles White was so honored in 1979.

Marcus Allen kept the string going in 1981, but USC fans are insatiable. Is there any running back of that caliber on the horizon?

Some believe that it may be freshman Aaron Emanuel. He is expected to play regularly for the rest of the season as USC tries to overcome a faltering start with two losses in the first three games.

Any evaluation of the muscular Emanuel is premature at this juncture--he has played in only one game--but the expectations are there.

The watch on Emanuel began when, as a junior at Quartz Hill High School, he gained 2,354 yards and set a Southern Section season record with 33 touchdowns.

The interest heightened when, as a senior, he averaged 6.9 yards a carry and scored 17 touchdowns. That certified his place on every major high school All-American team and made him the most sought-after running back in the country.

It wasn’t surprising that he enrolled at USC. He says he has been a USC fan since he was in sixth grade, when White was accumulating yards for the Trojans.

It wasn’t anticipated, however, that he would make much of an impact in his freshman season. That wouldn’t be in keeping with the traditional order of progression for USC tailbacks.

White is the last tailback who started as a freshman at USC. But that was only for one game in 1976 against Stanford, when he replaced an injured Ricky Bell.

Emanuel could be a trend-setter. He’ll either start Saturday against Oregon State or share playing time with senior Fred Crutcher.

Coach Ted Tollner is eagerly looking for someone to provide a spark to a running game that is fairly productive from a yardage standpoint but is a zero on the scoreboard. USC has yet to score a touchdown by rushing, which must be frustrating to an experienced offensive line.

Emanuel made his debut in the third quarter of a 24-0 loss to Arizona State Saturday night at Tempe, Ariz. A star wasn’t born that night, but the raw talent was evident. He gained 76 yards in 14 carries, broke some tackles and showed a glimpse of his potential.

Emanuel said that he got an inkling that he would play when he overheard Tollner talking to Frank Falks, who coaches the running backs.

“Coach Tollner said, ‘I want to take a look at Aaron.’ I played like I didn’t hear him, but my heart started pounding,” Emanuel said. “I walked away and started stretching. Then, I saw Coach Falks coming towards me and he said, ‘You’re going in on the next series.’

“I thought, ‘Well, this is it. Something you’ve been waiting for a long time.’ I was nervous, but the butterflies were knocked out of me on the first play.”

Emanuel was held to no gain. On second down, he gained 18 yards, at the same time displacing a linebacker’s butterflies.

He got some feedback later from David Fulcher, Arizona State’s All-American free safety.

“He was a little bit mouthy,” Emanuel said, smiling. “He said things like: “You’re messing up. You went to the wrong school. That’s why you’re fumbling the ball.”

Emanuel fumbled once, went the wrong way on another play that resulted in quarterback Sean Salisbury’s fumble and shared a turnover with reserve quarterback Rodney Peete on a missed handoff.

Tollner expected a freshman in his first game to make a few mistakes.

Although Emanuel came to USC with trumpets blaring in the background, it didn’t seem likely that he’d play extensively. After all, he was a freshman and USC seemed to be well stocked with quality tailbacks--the steady Crutcher; sophomore Ryan Knight, the heir apparent to Crutcher; Steve Webster, a redshirt freshman, who has big-play potential, and Zeph Lee, who is remembered for a school-record-tying 94-yard touchdown run against Utah State at the start of the 1984 season.

Emanuel worked with the freshmen at UC Irvine for one week and, when the upperclassmen arrived, he disappeared.

“I ran some 40-yard tests and my legs were tired and beat the next day,” he said. “I didn’t stretch out like I should have, tried to take off too fast and pulled a groin muscle. That put me out of all scrimmages until we came back to USC.”

Emanuel said he was depressed and that his biggest concern was what the coaches might be thinking about him.

“Here I come in highly touted and they don’t have a chance to look at you,” he said. “They may have thought I was injury-prone. But both Coach Tollner and Coach Falks told me that everyones gets injured and I would just have to be patient.”

So Emanuel apparently had two strikes against him, his competition and his injury.

But he exudes a quiet, low-key confidence and it was evident when he was asked about his expectations.

“I thought I could come in and contribute,” he said. “I didn’t want to redshirt. If I redshirted, I would be giving up without giving it a shot.”

He was, of course, aware of his competition, saying, “If you play with the best, you get better. I could have easily gone to a school that had only one senior tailback. But this was a challenge and exciting.”

Emanuel said that Crutcher, the veteran, has been supportive of him.

“He tries to help me out in any way he can,” Emanuel said. “He said that if I get a chance to start later in the season that I should take advantage of it. I have great respect for Freddie. I call him Dad, and we kid around like that.”

As for the other tailbacks, Emanuel said: “There isn’t any conflict. We all realize that we have come to a tailback school and you have to push for your position. I have nothing against them and I’m sure they have nothing against me. What it boils down to is that we’re still a team.”

At the moment, it’s a team that was expected to repeat as conference champion is only 1-2.

“A lot of people are saying that USC isn’t worth anything now,” Emanuel said. “But we have a chance to be a great team. If we eliminate our mistakes, people will see a brand new USC.”