How did he compare physically to AD?
I just get sad everytime I hear the name Marcus Dupree...and I think damn...what could have been!
Originally Posted by Harry Beanbag
Thicker frame, not as violent. Similar speed.
And 25 years ahead of him.
God, what a freak that dude was. The run against Missouri is an all-timer.
Marcus Dupree was like Earl Campbell with breakaway speed.
Stronger, a tad faster and with a better burst. he also had a weird glide motion that rivalled AD's balance in terms of shaking off would be tacklers.
AD had/has a superior brain and work ethic, however.
"I don't know karate, but I know ka-razor!" - James Brown
Didn't run nearly as physical.
Evidently the fiesta bowl is legendary. Still holds the rushing record for that bowl.
And he did it while dinged up and overweight.
I think it was 239 yards. If the game had been played in October he would've rushed for over 300. Watch the tape, it's incredible.
The Fiesta Bowl, I think, was where he racked up the yards....and played less than a half?
He butchered linebackers like dull beasts.
"I don't know karate, but I know ka-razor!" - James Brown
Yeah he only had like 17 carries and had 239 yards and was pretty banged up. (ribs, broken finger) He could have won the Heisman his sophomore year...
He got some huge runs in that game because the ASU coaches were adamant that the DBs and LBs took the longest routes possible to closing off his big runs. They'd take HUGE angles to close him off, because they knew they had no chance of holding him to a 20-yard gain. They'd give up 40, and hope it kept him from a touchdown.
I guess that strategy worked cause we got the loss.
A good read, if you're interested : "The Courting of Marcus Dupree", by Willie Morris. Tells all about him, his family, and Philadelphia, Miss. Morris (actually a UT grad) spent the entire football season living there, chating up folks, etc. As I read the book, I think that the Dupree story was really just a back-drop to re-visit Philadelphia; as Marcus' senior year was the 20th (or 25th?) anniversary of some very bad goings on in Neshoba County. Either way, good writing, good stories.
It was close to the 20th anniversary of the Mississippi Burning case which happened in 1964 (the murders of Cheney, Schwerner and Goodman).
But I can understand his point. The difference in Neshoba county in the early 80s versus the early 60s was like night and day. The very notion that there would be all this to-do about a black athlete in east Mississippi just a generation before would have been unthinkable.
Yup, you have placed your finger precisely on the point of the book.
I live here and can still feel some of those old open wounds.
But it's getting better with each passing year. It really is.
And, not trying to get too far off track, but Willie Morris is a legend among Mississippi authors.
He was another one of those who was failed by his upbringing. He never had to do anything he didn't want in jr. high or high school, he didn't even really practice in high school. To me that is the fault of the coaches and parental figures to not instill some sort of work ethic. For awhile he thought Switzer was a hard-*** coach....
All-World physical gifts and a box of rocks for brains...
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