"DeShaun Foster had a 300 yard rushing performance against a Top Ten team
with a very good defense. The way he finishes runs is amazing ? he dishes
out blows when he runs with the football. He is, without exception, the
best running back in college football." -- Rod Gilmore, ESPN.com
"All he wanted to do was "Show America." Well, DeShaun, we were left
mesmerized. Move over QBs, this running back has sprinted right into the
forefront of a race where nobody's early lead is safe." -- ESPN Heisman
Watch
It was your basic, 60-minute primer on "How to Win the Heisman." DeShaun
Foster juked past Miami's Ken Dorsey here, straight-armed Nebraska's Eric
Crouch there and sprinted off into the warm Pasadena sunset Saturday.
If UCLA's electric tailback isn't the leading contender for the Heisman
Trophy now, he certainly has bullied his way into the top group, along
with Dorsey and Crouch.
Foster did it with bust-out moves of 92 and 64 yards and an early 21-yard
body cruncher he might come to remember as the single most impressive run
of his collegiate career.
The 64-yarder in the third period was pretty, even if he did get nudged out
at the 1. The 92-yarder in the final minutes was almost the icing on his
Heisman-contending cake.
But the best one, the one you might want to tell your grandkids about some
day, was the 21-yard jolt in the first quarter.
First, Huskies linebacker Ben Mahdavi had him in his grasp and lost him.
Then cornerback Wondame Davis rushed up and must have thought he was
leveled by an SUV. Next, it was corner Chris Massey's turn. When he wakes
up today, Massey might still have Foster's cleat marks on his chest. --
Steve Bisheff, Orange County Register
DeShaun Foster is everything that I thought he would be. I have been saying
all year that he is the best back in the country. On Saturday, he ran
himself into the Heisman picture.
A lot of people in the East don't get to see him, so he hasn't received all
the accolades. But he is the best back in the country. He certainly got
the attention of the nation with his 301-yard, 4 TD effort in the Bruins'
35-13 win over No. 8 Washington.
Foster is the best in the country at yards after contact (YACs), but he
showed against Washington that he is the entire special package of size,
speed, power and balance. He did it all. He ran and scored every
conceivable way a running back can run. Keith Jackson and I sat in
amazement. We said during the telecast that you don't want to analyze the
guy, you want to sit back and admire him.
-- ABC analyst Tim Brant following the Washington game.
"In the seconds it took him to sprint nearly the length of the field for that late touchdown and rouse the relaxed crowd, Foster went from a young man guarding his Heisman Trophy dream like a shameful secret to a serious contender for the big prize."
(Read the rest of "Foster carries Heisman tune" here)
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Kevin Modesti, dailynews.com
"As for UCLA, keep your eye on DeShaun Foster. If he goes off, he'll push himself forward into the thick of the Heisman race. He is the best running back in college football. Check out how hard he runs and the way he runs through arm tackles. He finishes runs. He's always falling forward or delivering a blow to the tackler. Gotta like that." - Rod Gilmore, ESPN.com
"You punch into a computer the prototype running back, somebody who looks very similar to DeShaun Foster will emerge," Washington coach Rick Neuheisel said.
"He is a gifted physical specimen. Obviously, he's very competitive. He's got great speed, he has great vision, it doesn't look like the first guy who gets to him ever gets him down. This is a very talented player."
"We face running backs every week that are pretty good, but we face the best running back in the country every day at practice," UCLA linebacker Robert Thomas said. "It's easy for us to go out there and play the other running backs, because they don't run as fast and as hard as DeShaun.
"It's a blessing to have him on our team and to face him every day. We go out and face other running backs and it seems like the scout team."
"Is it just us, or did Foster have that "look" of a Heisman running back on his 17-yard touchdown run (at Oregon State). The way he brushed aside would-be tacklers and then tiptoed down the sideline into the end zone, well, he is the total package. Right now, he is the best running back in the country." - ESPN Heisman Watch
"What more can you say about DeShaun Foster?...I don't know if there is a more impressive running back in the nation." - ESPN analyst Rod Gilmore.
"There is nobody better at gaining yards after first contact than this guy. He's the best running back in the country. " - ABC analyst Tim Brant.
From the Los Angeles Times: Toledo has coached plenty of running backs in his 33 years in the business.
Karim Abdul-Jabbar and Skip Hicks at UCLA. Rodney Thomas and Greg Hill at Texas A&M. Derek Loville at Oregon. And Toledo was defensive backs coach at USC when Ricky Bell, Charles White and Marcus Allen were there.
But he puts DeShaun Foster in a class by himself.
"Nobody's better than he's been," Toledo said. "He reminds me more of Marcus than any of them. He looks nice running with the football. He's got great vision and he glides and he's powerful. The thing about him is he's faster than Marcus was. [Foster's] the best tailback I've ever coached."
