A Career In A Year

The Saturday afternoon scientists have come up with a formula to measure a passer's efficiency. They have developed a weightlifting index to determine a lineman's overall strength, and, Lord knows why, have decided that the 40-yard dash is the best judge of a player's speed. But quickness? How to measure quickness? There's the Irish test, in which a player is either quick or he plays for Notre Dame. Accurate, yes, but not precise enough. Fortunately, Iowa has developed a method. A team of researchers led by the eminent professor Hayden Fry has unveiled a simple test, five years in the making: Watch senior tailback Tavian Banks in the open field. Now you see Banks, now you see a defender sprawled on the grass.

The most recent demonstration came last Saturday when Banks rushed for 191 yards and two touchdowns on 25 carries in a 38-10 rout of Illinois. After redshirting in 1993 and spending three years as an understudy to Sedrick Shaw, now with the New England Patriots, Banks leads the nation in rushing (208.8 yards per game) and is tied for first in scoring (19.5 points per game, on 13 touchdowns) with Skip Hicks of UCLA.

Admittedly Banks has amassed these numbers against Northern Iowa, Tulsa, Iowa State and Illinois, four teams that completed September without beating a Division I-A opponent. But if you didn't see his second touchdown run against the Illini, a 30-yarder that left two of the Illinois secondary entangled in their own lingerie, you will. It will be shown every time sports-casters discuss Banks's chances of winning the Heisman Trophy. Another definition of quickness is the time it took Iowa to back away from its Heisman campaign on behalf of senior receiver Tim Dwight in favor of one for Banks, a decision Dwight wholly endorses. "He's the main man," he says of Banks. "He's the show."

Actually Banks is Sid Caesar—your show of shows. He's the best college back since Barry Sanders, according to Tulsa coach Dave Rader, whose Golden Hurricane yielded 314 yards to Banks. A native of Bettendorf, Banks is a stereotypical Iowan—warm smile, solid citizen and, uh, blond. Which brings us to who Banks is not. "I didn't dye my hair because of Dennis Rodman," he says. "I liked this guy in a video." Sisqo, the lead singer for Dru Hill, to be specific.

Days before Fry became coach at Iowa in 1979, a high school All-America from Davenport named Roger Craig committed to Nebraska. Fry quickly closed the barn door and has signed most of the best players in Iowa ever since. "I don't know if I've ever told anybody this," Fry says, "but Roger called me his freshman year and wanted to come back here. I told him, 'Roger, you made your decision. Make the best of it.' That was hard for me to say." No player in recent years tested Fry's ability to sign Iowa's best schoolboys more than did Banks, who turned down Nebraska, Miami and Washington.

Few college tailbacks have Banks's quickness combined with his 4.4 speed and 5'11", 195-pound frame. More important, Banks makes his moves without slowing down, a remnant of another sport he used to excel in. Iowa offensive coordinator Don Patterson holds his arms out to the side, index fingers raised. "Tavian can see out here," he says. "That's from soccer."

Banks agrees. "You've got to dribble with the ball at your feet and look up and know where everybody is," he says. As a senior at Bettendorf High, Banks attracted the attention of collegiate soccer powers such as Clemson, Creighton and Virginia. Banks, a forward, played on a U.S. Soccer regional team and, according to former Wisconsin coach Jim Launder, could have made the under-23 national squad from whence came the 1996 Olympic team. "He was unbelievable," says Launder, now at Dayton. "He could take a man on and beat him."

Sounds familiar. On the Hawkeyes' first play from scrimmage this season, Banks went 63 yards for a touchdown. He has had one run of at least that many yards in each of Iowa's victories. Illinois coach Ron Turner described Banks's performance against the Illini team as "great...explosive...exciting." Fry called it "mediocre" compared with some of Banks's previous games. Don't get Fry wrong. He and his staff love Banks, especially for not making a fuss as he waited behind Shaw, who last year finished his career as Iowa's alltime leading rusher. "If the roles had been reversed," running backs coach Larry Holton says, "I would have had major problems with Sedrick."

In other words the coaches took advantage of Banks's uncommon maturity. "I waited a long time," Banks says. "A long time. I talked a lot with my mother [Merrikay] and my brother [LaVance]. They just told me to be patient, that the Lord has a plan. It was always hard."

That he endured is only one sign of his maturity. Merrikay saw another indication in how intently Tavian listened to advice from an old family friend. One night last summer Craig, who played 11 years in the NFL with the San Francisco 49ers, the L.A. Raiders and the Minnesota Vikings and whose mother still lives in Davenport, drove to Merrikay's apartment in Bettendorf to talk to Tavian. "Roger kept emphasizing, 'Your work ethic doesn't end with sports. You carry it for the rest of your life,' " Merrikay recalls. "From an athlete to an athlete, Tavian got more out of it than I could have given him."