North Carolina State University Athletics
Ted Brown's ACC Rushing Mark Could Be in Jeopardy
7/25/2000 12:00:00 AM | Football
By Tony Haynes
Remarkably, it's a record that has stood for more than two decades. When his incredible college career ended in 1978, running back Ted Brown left NC State as the ACC's all-time rushing leader with 4,602 yards.
In the 21 year period since, a number of great running backs have come and gone, but none have even so much as out a scare into Brown's mark. Since 1978, the ACC has seen the likes of Amos Lawrence, Mike Voight and Leon Johnson of North Carolina; Thomas Jones, Tiki Barber and Terry Kirby of Virginia; Jerry Mays of Georgia Tech; and Warrick Dunn of Florida State.
Yet, Ted Brown still stands alone as the ACC's career leader in rushing. But this year, a major threat looms on the horizon.
Maryland's LaMont Jordan, who put together the third best rushing season in league history with 1,632 yards last year, needs 1,376 yards this fall to pass Brown.
Realistically, opposing defenses will have a difficult time keeping Jordan out of the record books, but the senior from Forestville, Md. is facing another opponent that could sideline his aspirations. According to Terrapins coach Ron Vanderlinden, Jordan is in a fight to retain his eligibility for the upcoming season.
"Hopefully his academic situation will clear up before practice starts," Vanderlinden told reporters at the annual ACC Football Kick off earlier this week. "I'm not upset. It's just the nature of the beast."
Standing 5'11 and weighing 216 pounds, Jordan possesses a unique blend of speed, power and lateral quickness. In some respects, he's very similar to the man he's chasing in the ACC record books.
Though he wasn't as big as Jordan, Ted Brown was strong enough to break tackles at the line of scrimmage and fast enough to outrun most defensive backs.
"Very seldom did Ted run over anyone, but he would run through arm tackles because of his great lower body strength," said Brown's former NC State teammate, Johnny Evans. "At one time, Ted held an NC State record for the greatest amount of pounds for a squat. He had a very strong lower body, which allowed him to run out of arm tackles and bounce off people. But rarely would you see Ted lower his shoulder and try to bowl over people. I think the reason he was able to stay so healthy in his career is that he didn't take a lot of head-on shots. Jordan strikes me as the kind of guy that will try to flat-out run over you."
To go along with his career rushing mark, Brown also owns ACC records for career touchdowns (51) and 100-yard rushing games (27).
No Wolfpack fan in attendance will ever forget that overcast day in 1977 when Brown busted loose for 251 yards against coach Joe Paterno's nationally ranked Penn State Nittany Lions. But Jordan may very well have topped Brown's one-game masterpiece last year when he ran for a school record 306 yards on 37 carries in the season finale against Virginia.
Assuming he's eligible academically and healthy this season, Jordan will be given every opportunity to make a serious run at the record.
"There's no question that their coaching staff will make him the feature back, not because he's close to the record, but because he's their best player," Evans said. "If it gets down to where he needs some big rushing games near the end of the season, I think you'll probably see the coaching staff feed him the ball."
Jordan's hot pursuit of Brown's milestone will continue on September 9 when Maryland opens its season against Temple.
