When Donnel Pumphrey was at San Diego State, defenders dreaded the prospect of trying to tackle the elusive, 5-foot-9, 176-pound running back in space.
“In all my years of coaching, he just has an uncanny ability to set guys up and make them miss,’’ Aztecs offensive coordinator Jeff Horton said. “He’s a phenomenal make-you-miss runner; making them think he’s going outside, then cutting back to the inside.
“I speak at clinics and take the tapes [of Pumphrey] with me and always say, ‘That’s my cut-through-the-inside-arm drill, and that’s my outside-lean-to get-back-inside drill.’ But it’s all BS. He just does it naturally.