Little Dabby Goes Long Way for Wyoming : Sanders Says Dawson Compares Favorably--With Heisman Winner

As possessor of the Heisman Trophy, Oklahoma State’s Barry Sanders is generally considered the best college football player in the land.

But in Sanders’ opinion, this is not necessarily so. He won’t even concede that he is the nation’s best college running back from Wichita, Kan.

When Sanders leads Oklahoma State against Wyoming in the Sea World Holiday Bowl Friday night at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium, his opposite number will be an old buddy from Wichita named Dabby Dawson. And the disparity in name recognition notwithstanding, Sanders insists that Dawson is every bit his equal.

“Dabby is just as fast as I am and just as quick, maybe quicker,” Sanders said between practice sessions this week. “He was just as good a player as I was coming out of high school, and I’m sure he’s just as good now. He just didn’t have the breaks I did.”

A close look at the 1988 statistics lends credence to Sanders’ claim. Although Sanders ran for an NCAA-record 2,670 yards to Dawson’s 1,125 during the regular season, their averages per rush were identical--7.6.

Sanders carried the ball 344 times, or 31.3 per game, as Oklahoma State compiled a 9-2 record and finished third in the Big Eight behind Nebraska and Oklahoma. Dawson carried only 149 times, or 12.4 per game, as Wyoming went 11-1 and won its second consecutive Western Athletic Conference championship.

Sanders scored 37 touchdowns, two receiving, for still another record. Dawson settled for 9, one receiving. Dawson was somewhat more productive as a pass-catcher, gaining 249 yards on 21 receptions to Sanders’ 106 on 19 receptions.

As for the breaks Sanders talked about: He went directly from Wichita North High School to a Division I college program at Oklahoma State. Dawson says he didn’t like the offers he received out of Wichita South, so he played two seasons at Coffeyville (Kan.) Junior College before transferring to Wyoming a year ago.

Both are now juniors, but Sanders has had three times as much major-college experience. As a Division I rookie this season, Dawson made the All-WAC team and was named the conference’s newcomer of the year.

Interestingly, ever-powerful Nebraska tried to sign Dawson out of high school and ignored Sanders.

Why didn’t Dawson go to Nebraska?

“They ran the (option), and I didn’t want to get into that,” he said. “It was the same with Arkansas and Missouri. It doesn’t help showcase a runner’s talents. The carries are split four ways, and you have to get the ball more than five or six times a game to be effective.

“Some Division I schools wanted me, but I didn’t want to go to any of them. OSU stumbled onto Sanders, and now he’s won the Heisman. I feel like I’m a little bit behind him as far as some stuff goes, but this is my first season, and I think I’m coming along.”

Dawson chose Wyoming because he was sold by the straight-forward approach of Paul Roach, the football coach and athletic director.

“When I left Coffeyville, I had no idea where I was going to end up,” Dawson said. “Then Coach Roach came in, and the most important thing was that I could tell he was honest. I had already been through the recruiting process out of high school, so I knew honesty from phoniness.”

Actually, many recruiters thought both Sanders and Dawson were too small to succeed at the major-college level.

“I weighed 165 and Barry maybe 180,” Dawson said. “Now I’m 178, and he’s 195. But we’re both short. I’m listed at 5-9, and I’m really 5-8. Barry is listed at 5-8, and he’s really 5-7.

“Next year I’d like to go up a few pounds. My problem is I have trouble picking up weight. I’ve been eating four meals a day.”

There is a second star running back in the Sanders family--Byron, a fourth-year junior at Northwestern, gained 1,062 yards this year. At one time, Dawson and the Sanders brothers were what might be called shirt-tail relations.

“My oldest sister used to be married to one of their older brothers,” Dawson said. “I still consider them family.”

An inevitable question wherever Dawson goes is the origin of his nickname.

“My real name is Kenneth,” he said. “When I was 1 or 2, my Aunt Dorothy said I was just a little dab. That was the time of that (hair cream) commercial, ‘A little dab’ll do ya.’ So everybody started calling me Dab, and when I was 5 or 6, they made it Dabby. It’s been Dabby ever since.

“At first I didn’t want the teachers to know I was called Dabby, so in elementary and high school, I signed my name Kenneth. Now I’ve grown into it, and it’s OK.”

Dawson, the second-youngest of 11 children, and Barry Sanders were teammates on a Pop Warner League team in third and fourth grades.

“We rotated at tailback,” Dawson said. “Barry would start, and after he got his 100 yards, I’d go in and get mine. Then we’d let the other backs go in.”

Even now, Dawson isn’t a starter, but that is strictly a technicality. After winning the first-string halfback job in spring practice, he struggled through much of the first three games, and Roach figured he would be more relaxed coming off the bench. Peter Gunn--not to be confused with the old TV private eye--has started ever since.

“Most of the time, (Gunn) plays the first series, and then I come in,” Dawson said. “Coach could see I was too hyper. After the first series is over, I calm down.”

Dawson wasn’t handed the job when he transferred from junior college. Far from it.

“I was sixth string when I reported for spring practice,” he said. “I was getting yelled at, and that bothered me at first. The running back coach (Bill Cockerham), Coach Roach, everybody was yelling at me.

“Roach isn’t as tough as a lot of coaches, but he has a way of getting his point across. Once I got used to it, I was all right. I was promoted to fourth string, then third. Finally the running back coach said to me, ‘Dabby, you don’t know the offense very well, but you have more talent than everybody else. We’re going to move you up to the first string.’ That was a thrill.”

Dawson made his debut in a nationally televised game against Brigham Young. He ran for only 26 yards in 10 carries, but the Cowboys gained what was to be their most important victory, 24-14.

“I was nervous,” he said. “It was my first Division I football game, on TV against BYU. I was more concerned about not making a mistake and not getting yelled at.”

Dawson followed with a 125-yard effort against Louisville, then lapsed into a 3-game slump (47, 59 and 33 yards) before hitting his career high of 225 against San Diego State (he scored four touchdowns in the Cowboys’ 55-27 rout of the Aztecs). After that, he had three more 100-plus games, including a 179-yarder against New Mexico.

“Up to the San Diego State game, I was kind of tentative,” he said. “I was scared to make a cutback or some other move for fear I’d fumble. I finally told myself, ‘If it happens, it happens.’ I’ve been fine ever since.

“I could have gone farther that night, but I carried only 16 times. We pass a lot, and sometimes we have five men out in a pattern with no backs.

“I’d probably be ecstatic if I got the ball 25 times in a game. I probably wouldn’t know what to do with myself. The way our team is designed, whenever the running backs get the ball, we treat it as if it’s going to be the last time, because it might just be with the type of offense we’ve got.”

Barry Sanders, of course, seems a sure-fire pro of 1990 and beyond. Dawson prefers not to think that far ahead.

“Everybody dreams of playing in the pros and making all that money, but I’d like to take things one at a time,” Dawson said. “The big thing for me is to get my degree. I’ve got to get that before I think of anything else.”

And what about his first confrontation with his boyhood pal, the guy who went on to win the Heisman? Is he determined to outgain Sanders in the Holiday Bowl?

“Not really,” Dawson said. “I don’t have any personal rivalry with Barry, and I don’t feel that I have anything to prove. I just want to be competitive.”