RB Respect Month Vol. 3, Day 19: Jerious Norwood ends the Ron Zook era at Florida (2004)
Pure toughness!
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Welcome to day 19 of Running Back Respect Month! Yesterday, we basked in the glory of all 42 of Reggie Bush's touchdowns at USC. Here's where we're at today, and how the rest of the month looks:
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Today: Jerious Norwood vs. Florida (2004)
RB Respect Month Vol. 3, Day 19: Jerious Norwood ends the Ron Zook era at Florida (2004)
I can only imagine how Mississippi State running back Jerious Norwood felt in the fourth quarter of the Bulldogs' 2004 game against Florida. Through 24 carries, he'd taken a beating at the hands of a physical Gators defense. In the first quarter, star linebacker Channing Crowder met him head-up in the redzone:
In the fourth quarter, he took an even worse shot from LB Todd McCullough:
Somehow, he pounded out a tough third-and-two conversion up the middle on the next play. A few plays after that, he jumped into the endzone to give Mississippi State a 31-24 lead, but took another big hit. This one kept him on the ground for over a minute:
When he eventually got up and ran off the field, Norwood had 24 carries for 88 yards (3.6), and a touchdown. How does he make RB Respect Month with meager numbers like that? Because ran for 118 yards in the fourth quarter alone, including a game-winning 37-yard TD with less than a minute left, as the 1-5 Bulldogs shocked the No. 20 Gators:
