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Isaiah Pead is so good even the most interesting man in the world drops everything to watch him play:
It was a game that made Isaiah Pead a household name not just in Cincinnati but around the country. On national television with the #5 ranked Cincinnati Bearcats facing a very motivated and dangerous #25 ranked West Virginia squad in a sold out Nippert Stadium, sophomore Isaiah Pead stepped onto the field with his Bearcats brethren. And on the biggest of all stages in the biggest of all games He. Went. Off. 175 yards rushing on just 18 carries, averaging almost 10 yards per touch, and a touchdown to cap off his night. He also gashed WVU with runs of 52, 43, and 18 yards. When the dust settled, the Mountaineers didn’t know what hit them. Where did this guy come from? Cincinnati’s offense under Brian Kelly was a pass-happy scheme that throws the ball as much as it can and doesn’t stop throwing until the quarterback’s arm falls off. Right?
Not with a weapon like Pead in your arsenal.
From that point on Isaiah Pead was a mainstay in the Bearcats offense and there was little he couldn’t do for his coaches. Get the tough yards? At 5’10” 200 lbs, no problem. Catch the ball out of the backfield? With hands like glue, piece of cake. Make something out of nothing? With a patented stutter step and ankle-breaking juke, easy as pie. Hurdle an 8-story building? You say ‘jump’, he asks ‘how high?’ And boy does Pead love to hurdle. He does it at least twice per game and makes me jump out of my seat every time. Basically Pead doesn’t like to get tackled. Hates it, even. Go figure. And what he’s done to prevent that from happening has garnered his own chants from the UC student section and caused highlight reel after highlight reel after highlight reel after highlight reel to be created. I’ve even gotten in on the act:
Pead had appeared in most games in the 2009 season and even got a fair share of carries in 2008 as a true freshman. But for most of his career prior to exploding against West Virginia, he had to wait in line behind John Goebel and Jacob Ramsey. Even though he was splitting carries with upperclassmen, Pead still accumulated about 600 combined rushing/receiving yards and 9 total touchdowns. But WVU was Pead’s coming out party as he established himself as the most talented back on the team. He went on to have more stellar games in 2010 as UC’s featured back such as Oklahoma on a national stage (169 yards), Miami (197 yards and a TD), Louisville (145 yards), and Rutgers where Pead had the best game of his career with 250 total yards and 5 touchdowns. As the Bearcats’ best player in 2011, Pead had eight (8) 100+ yard games and 15 combined touchdowns on his way to 1,500 yard season.
Over the course of his career as a Bearcat, Pead has compiled 3,288 rushing yards, 27 rushing touchdowns, back-to-back 1,000-yard rushing seasons, 721 receiving yards, and 6 receiving touchdowns. Keep in mind Pead didn’t put up these numbers in the SEC or Big 10 where they primarily have run-first offenses built around behemoth linemen carving the path. He was running under coaches Brian Kelly and Butch Jones where offenses were operated out of the shotgun and run plays were typically slow to develop. He couldn’t build momentum rushing north-south like in the I-Back or Ace sets as he had to run horizontally to take the football before cutting upfield between his blockers. This only makes his feats even more spectacular.
Saturday when Pead stepped onto the field for a final time he did so the same way he did two years ago against West Virginia. He embraced playing in a big game by rushing for 149 yards and a touchdown. He continuously ground out 8-9-10 yard gains methodically pushing the Bearcats up the field. The touchdown run was vintage Pead; running lanes blocked ahead of him so he simply cut in a different direction and ran the ball in making it look easy, of course. The score sealed Cincinnati’s victory and the team’s fourth 10-win season in five years. Nearly all of these wins could not have been accomplished without the work of their star running back.
Pead stepped off the field of the Liberty Bowl playing his final game as a Bearcat. He’ll go down as one of the best running backs in Cincinnati history and has his place permanently scripted in the record books. His 1,259 rushing yards and 12 rushing touchdowns this season puts him 4th in both categories. He’s also 3rd on the list of career rushing yards and rushing touchdowns. But what Bearcat fans will probably remember most are the jaw-dropping plays, ankle-breaking jukes, and racehorse-like wheels by the man they call iPead. He’ll certainly be missed by this humble blogger as he was simply fun to write about. He will be drafted in April and certainly has what it takes to excel at the next level.
No matter what is next for Isaiah Pead he is always and forever a Cincinnati Bearcat.