POLL: Carrying Quizz

THERE WASN'T MUCH in the way of fan criticism of Mike Riley last year -- that tends to be the case when you lead the Rose Bowl race for the majority of the season. There was, however, some speculation heard in and around cyberspace late in the year, and it centered around the season ending injury to the Beavs' sensational running back, Jacquizz Rodgers. And so it leads us to ask you the question..

With Jacquizz Rodgers, how much is too much?

Quizz, listed at 5-7 and 191 pounds, carried the pigskin 259 times in 11 games in 2008. Injured early in Week 11, Quizz had only four carries against Arizona before heading to the sideline.

On one hand, an average of about 25.5 carries a game sure doesn't sound like an overly large workload. On the other hand, no one in the Pac-10 carried the ball more than Quizz, despite the Beaver running back missing the last 2 3/4 games of the season. And his season highs were 37 carries against USC; 31 at UCLA and 30 against Arizona State.

But Quizz' carry numbers would have placed him only fourth in the Pac-10 the previous year -- three Pac-10 running backs had 275 or more carries in 2007-08, including Yvenson Bernard's 275 touches in 11 games. Then again, Bernard also missed time with a shoulder injury that year.

It's hard enough to find and develop one great running back, let alone two. Running backs also need to get into a flow to be at their most productive. And college football history is rife with backs who felt they didn't get enough carries in a game or season.

So here's the question: Would less be more when it comes to Quizz and the Beavs?