CORVALLIS - During a nine-on-nine drill at Summit High School last summer, Oregon State running back Ryan Nall knew his "little brother" had something special.
Artavis Pierce, then a freshman running back who had only recently arrived at OSU, broke consecutive runs early at a team camp in Bend that left his mentor awestruck.
"If we were playing 11-on-11, they would have been touchdowns," Nall said. "That's when I knew he had the potential to really take off and be a Pac-12 running back. ... At that point it was definitely more instinct than playbook.