At the start of the season, Louisville head coach Charlie Strong declared his running back, Bilal Powell, to be the ‘face of the program.’ What Strong didn’t say was Powell would be one of the faces of the conference, as well.

And that’s what the senior is quickly becoming five games into the 2010 season — arguably the best running back in the Big East. His big games and highlight reel runs have turned the former backup into a star.

After rushing for just 392 yards on 108 carries last season, he already has 689 yards on 91 carries. That’s good for second in the conference, behind only Connecticut’s Jordan Todman.

‘(Powell’s) a back that can get behind his pads, and he’s fast enough where he can outrun people,’ Strong said in the Big East coaches’ teleconference Monday. ‘If he needs to, he can drop a hit and run over people.’

Powell, along with Todman and Pittsburgh running back Ray Graham, is at the top of the Big East in rushing halfway through the season. Two months ago, no one could have seen that coming.

Entering the season, Todman and Powell certainly weren’t the consensus picks to be No. 1 and No. 2 in the Big East in rushing. Instead, Pittsburgh’s Dion Lewis and West Virginia’s Noel Devine were. That pair was expected to contend for the Heisman Trophy.

Todman, along with UConn (3-3, 0-1 Big East) as a team, came into the year with high expectations. Unlike the rest of his team, he’s exceeded those expectations en route to a season that has him among NCAA leaders.

The junior is third among FBS players with 152.2 rushing yards per game. He’s racked up 761 yards on the season already, despite missing one game due to injury.

Last season, he split carries with Andre Dixon, and both backs ran over 1,000 yards; but this season, he’s shouldered the load pretty much on his own.

‘That running back, Todman, he’s something,’ Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano said leading up to the UConn-Rutgers game last week. ‘I see a lot of Ray (Rice) in him when he is running the football.

‘There is a reason he’s as productive as he is.’

When it comes to Graham and Powell, neither back came into the season as heralded as their partners in the backfield.

Graham played backup to Lewis as he ran for 1,799 yards and a Big East Offensive Player of the Year award as a freshman in 2009. This year, it’s Graham who has run for 100-plus yards in three of the four games he’s played this season, while Lewis has struggled. Graham’s 277 rushing yards against Florida International were the second-most in a single game in Panthers history.

It’s a history that includes all-time greats, such as Tony Dorsett and Curtis Martin.

‘Ray Graham is playing really well; he always has,’ Pitt head coach Dave Wannstedt said. ‘He’s probably made a few more plays than Dion. (But) we’re going to need them both.’

Louisville’s out to a 3-2 start, and much of the credit is due to Powell, who, for casual fans, came out of nowhere this season.

Under former head coach Steve Kragthorpe, Powell never really got a chance to be the star back, as teammate Victor Anderson won the Big East Rookie of the Year award in 2008.

But when Strong came in, he gave favor to Powell. And he never looked back.

Powell started his season off with a bang, an 80-yard rushing touchdown in Week 1 against Kentucky. He has seven touchdowns to go, with his nearly 700 yards on the ground, and has scored in every game this season.

He’s come into his own more than ever the past two weeks. Rushing totals of 157 and 204 yards (on just 18 carries) show that. He broke off a 47-yard run and had a 57-yard reception for a touchdown at Arkansas State, and in a 56-0 win against Memphis Saturday, Powell took a carry 74 yards to pay dirt.

‘He’s a player that works very hard, doesn’t say anything,’ Strong said. ‘I told him ‘We’re only going to be as good as Bilal Powell is.’ And he’s responded very well.’

Strong, in his first year as head coach, has invested plenty in the 25-year-old senior running back. So far, it’s paid off, as Louisville has a winning record as it enters Big East play.

High risk, high reward. And Powell is reaping the benefits so far this year.

‘He’s just not only an outstanding football player, he’s an outstanding person,’ Strong said. ‘That’s why I feel it’s important for him to be the face of our program. A young man who responds to everything, does everything you ask him to do.’

Big man on campus

QB Chas Dodd

Freshman

Rutgers

Last week: 18-of-29, 322 yards, 2 TD’s

Rutgers had plenty of faith in sophomore quarterback Tom Savage entering the season. And it was well warranted, after he threw 14 touchdowns to just seven interceptions in his freshman season.

Oh, how things have changed since the beginning of September, though. After throwing just one touchdown in three games, and then injuring his throwing hand and ribs, Savage was replaced by true freshman Chas Dodd. And Dodd might not give the job back, even when Savage is healthy.

After playing a near-full game against Tulane two weeks ago, Dodd stepped in for his first career start Friday night.

In prime time. Against conference foe and rival Connecticut.

The freshman threw for over 300 yards and two touchdowns, throwing a game-tying touchdown pass with three minutes left in the fourth quarter, and led the Scarlet Knights 45 yards down the field for a game-winning field goal with 13 seconds remaining. Rutgers (3-2, 1-0 Big East) defeated UConn (3-3, 0-1) 27-24.

‘I think he’s done a nice job all through training camp and is certainly a little bit ahead of the curve as far as a football standpoint,’ Schiano said Monday. ‘When he got his opportunity, he really took advantage of it and played well.’

mcooperj@syr.edu

Published on October 13, 2010 at 12:00 pm

Contact Mark: mcooperj@syr.edu | @mark_cooperjr