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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Deuce On The Loose At Ole Miss
8/12/2000 | Football
Aug. 12, 2000
By Ralph D. Russo
Associated Press
- Official Deuce McAllister For Heisman Website: www.TheDeuceIsLoose.com
LUDLOW, Miss. - Deuce McAllister ran for just 809 yards in 10 regular-season games for Mississippi last season, not even good enough to lead the Rebels.
So, it might come as a surprise outside the Deep South that the big back with the catchy name is being touted as Ole Miss' first Heisman Trophy candidate since Archie Manning 30 years ago.
It even surprises McAllister.
"Being a sports fan myself, the first thing you do is look at the numbers," he said. "If you look at my numbers, especially the rushing yardage, I finished fourth or fifth in the SEC. You think, 'These guys are crazy. How are they going to promote this kid?"'
But McAllister is much more than numbers. There are many other reasons he has created the highest expectations in years for the 18th-ranked Rebels.
"He is probably one of the most complete players I have seen," Arkansas coach Houston Nutt said. "A back that runs behind his pads and can be physical. He can give you a move ... and he has speed to run away from people."
Nutt got a good look at McAllister last season. "Too good," he recalls.
The Razorbacks were on the receiving end of McAllister's best performance. He returned the opening kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown en route to a school-record 317 all-purpose yards in a 38-16 Ole Miss victory.
Limited by a shoulder injury, McAllister had just nine carries against Vanderbilt, but his 88 yards and 46-yard touchdown run were enough to impress all-conference linebacker Jamie Winborn.
"He's one of the best backs in the nation, if not the best," Winborn said.
Vanderbilt coach Woody Widenhofer, who spent 17 seasons as an NFL assistant, said: "I think Deuce has got all the tools to be a great pro. He's got size, power and speed."
NFL scouts agree.
The 6-foot-1, 225-pound McAllister has drawn comparisons to the Indianapolis Colts' Edgerrin James, the 1999 offensive rookie of the year, and is rated the top prospect by the NFL scouting combines for the 2001 draft.
With the shoulder injury that slowed him all last season healed, Ole Miss coach David Cutcliffe expects to let Deuce loose all over the field.
"Deuce McAllister is deserving as a Heisman candidate," said Cutcliffe, who coached a pair of Heisman runners-up in Heath Shuler and Peyton Manning when he was quarterbacks coach at Tennessee.
"He is the best all-around football player I've been around."
McAllister led the Southeastern Conference with 1,629 all-purpose yards as a junior in 1999 and says his goal is 2,000 in 2000.
He'll usually line up as a tailback, but he'll also be used in tandem with running back Joe Gunn, who became the SEC's second-leading rusher filling in for McAllister last season.
He'll return kicks, occasionally line up at wide receiver, and don't be surprised to see him take a few snaps at quarterback. Cutcliffe came up with that idea last year and ran it often in practice.
"We can basically run the whole offense with me at quarterback," McAllister said. "I know a lot of the routes. Throwingwise, I may not want to try them."
The former junior soccer star is also convinced he could nail a short field goal.
"I'm trying to get the coaches to give me a shot at kicking," he said.
As long as he's on the field, Mississippi fans probably won't mind what he does.
"Deuce for Heisman" bumper stickers have been pasted on cars throughout the Magnolia State. After the Rebels' spring game, he spent 2 1/2 hours signing autographs.
It's all a bit overwhelming for the polite country boy.
The Ole Miss media guide lists McAllister's hometown as Morton, Miss. That's not quite right.
Morton, a town of 3,200 about 45 minutes east of Jackson, is where McAllister went to high school. He grew up in a modest wood and brick ranch house a few miles away in the rural community of Ludlow.
Make a couple of right turns off the main highway, pass a small soybean field, a few dozen bales of hay and, "When the pavement turns to gravel, my house is the third on the left," McAllister said.
"It is definitely the country. No doubt about it," he said.
Even in his hometown, where he was Dulymus (pronounced do-WE-mus) until a football coach at Morton High School renamed him after the number on his uniform, McAllister is constantly in demand.
Visitors to Carl and Cornelia McAllister's home, often toting footballs and jerseys to be signed, are common nowadays.
McAllister says he is not comfortable with the increased attention. He doesn't want the Heisman hype to overshadow his real goal.
"I have never won in football," he says looking down at his bare fingers. "I don't have any rings. I want a ring.
"The Heisman Trophy would be great, but I want something that each player on the team can take home and wear and show."
