Well, it has finally come to pass… the spread has arrived in South Bend. With that arrival, comes the death of the Fullback as we have known it for so many years. It is kind of a shame in my opinion. My favorite position on the offensive side of the ball has always been the fullback.
Names like Bettis, Zellers, Edwards, and Johnson strike such respect and awe in my mind and heart that I am feeling quite melancholy over this whole “spread” thing. Perhaps we should have seen this coming as the nature of college football has changed dramatically in the last 10 years, but even more so in just the last 5 years as the “spread” has gone nuclear.
The last really good fullback that has [played for the Fighting Irish was Rashon Powers-Neal in 2005. Charlie Weis brought a pro offense to South Bend that utilized the fullback in many ways, and like the other great Irish fullbacks of the last 25 years, he was also put in as a tailback for a few downs a game. He was a huge part of the offense that Irish fans never saw again after Powers-Neal was suspended in the middle of the ’05 season. Asaph Schwapp was never able to be anything more than a really big dude, and the move of James Aldridge to FB in 2010 never took off like I had hoped.
I love this position so much, that I am confident that I am the only one to ever win the Heisman in NCAA College Football from EA Sports with a fullback. ( I recruited him as an athlete and switched him to FB).
So goodbye, sweet Fullback of The Fighting Irish. I will never forget you. And in that spirit, I have a video that captures the spirit of the fullback. This is one drive, the opening drive against Boston College in 1995 that went 70 yards for a TD. Only one play was not carried out by Marc Edwards- it was a 3 yard run by Randy Kinder. Enjoy…
