Texas Tech University Athletics
Running into the Record Books
September 23, 2011 | Football
September 23, 2011
by Britton Drown
Texas Tech Athletics Communications
Vision. It's a crucial element in junior Eric Stephens' game. As a running back. As a return specialist.
As a playmaker.
His eyes pilot him. They're with him in the backfield, and when he's all but alone on the goal line, waiting patiently, but seemingly just as anxiously, for a towering free-falling kickoff to finally reach his hands.
It's an adrenaline rush as he describes it--but he trusts his eyes. The ones that have guided him through holes opened by his brotherhood of blockers, eluded him around defenders. The same eyes that after just two complete seasons with the Red Raiders, landed him permanently into the Texas Tech record books where he surpassed college football Hall of Famer Donny Anderson's Texas Tech long-standing career kickoff return yards mark.
"His quickness is probably the biggest thing." Anderson said. "Quickness allows you to get in the positions that most of the athletes cannot get, especially on kickoffs."
But this story begins much earlier than this. Before Stephens made a name for himself in Lubbock as someone who consistently finds ways to litter stat sheets with his name, and long before he set any records.
To be exact, it begins 3,414 yards ago.
See, Stephens follows his eyes on gameday, but it was a change of heart that ultimately landed him in Lubbock, and led him to become an established running back on the Red Raider football team.
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As a standout running back from Timberview High School in Mansfield, Texas, Stephens sifted through scholarship offers from schools across the country, including Boise State, Duke and Vanderbilt.
The strongest of which came from Minnesota, a school he temporarily committed to.
Despite the distance, Minnesota resembled the type of program Stephens grew comfortable with in high school. The coaches connected with him during the intense recruitment process, but most of all it was familiar.
As his senior year arrived, he was nearly set to make the 1,000-mile trip away from home.
But for Stephens, family was too important. The 5-foot-8 195-pound workhorse of a running back couldn't picture playing football on a field and for a school that was across the country. During that fall semester of his senior year, he called the Minnesota coaching staff and informed them that he had chosen to remain close to home and play at Texas Tech.
"It was tough," Stephens said. "I like to be a man of my word and stick to what I say. To tell them that I was backing out of what I told them was hard for me."
Stephens wanted his mother Tonia, who had been by his side since he began playing football, to watch him as his career progressed into college.
Playing at Texas Tech enabled just that to happen.
"She loves to come to the games," Stephens said. "Her not being able to travel easily there [Minnesota] had a big impact on me coming here."
And Tonia was there in the stands at Jones AT&T Stadium in 2009 when Stephens dressed out for his very first college game as a Red Raider.
"She's very thankful," Stephens said with a smile. "I know she was grateful when I made the decision."
It could be said the difficult decision eventually played out just the way Stephens planned. Despite early trepidations of moving to Texas Tech, a school with perhaps the most prolific offensive system in America, his career took off in a hurry.
 Donny Anderson | |
Oh, Stephens has made plays. He made an immediate impact during his freshman campaign in 2009, which culminated in a 136 all-purpose yard performance in the Alamo Bowl.
Last season, he led the Red Raiders in all-purpose yards averaging 150.1 per game in just his sophomore year which ranked 16th in the country.
But the impressive and versatile running back is looking to do even more this year. As a junior, Stephens will have an expanded role that includes leadership aspects on a team littered with newcomers and first-year starters.
"He has got experience," head coach Tommy Tuberville said. "He needs to be a good leader too with all of the younger guys behind him."
It's a role that Stephens is embracing as the 2011 season progresses. For him, it comes down to continuing to produce on the field and making plays.
And he says there are sure to be many plays to come.
"I still don't feel like I have done anything special yet," Stephens said. "The [career kickoff return yards] record is just a minor thing in something big that I want to do here. It's a long road ahead."
| "I feel like I have yet to accomplish what I came here to accomplish." |
"It's just an honor and a privilege," Stephens said of the comparison.
During his prolific career as a Red Raider, Anderson was one of the most versatile and electric players to ever play at Texas Tech. He did nearly everything on the filed, and even 47 years later, his name is still scattered throughout the Texas Tech record books.
He did it all as a Red Raider. Anderson was a running back, returned both punts and kickoffs and even punted.
It's an approach to the game that he sees in Stephens.
"That's just being alert and mentally ready to play every Saturday. It's very important." Anderson said. "The more you can do the more you can shine."
Anderson certainly shined during his career at Texas Tech. He was named to the All-Southwest-Conference Team three times, was named an All-American during both the 1964 and 1965 season before being drafted in the first round of the 1965 NFL Draft to the Green Bay Packers where he played for legendary head coach Vince Lombardi.
For Stephens, it's his experience as a running back that allowed him to seamlessly develop into a key kick returner for the Red Raiders during his first two seasons.
"It's a lot like being in the backfield when you are out there in space." Stephens said. "You have got to find a hole and when you do, it's going to be a big play."
As for Anderson, he doesn't necessarily mind that the 5-foot-8 Stephens has moved passed him in the record books.
"Records are only kept so people can break them." Anderson said with a laugh.
Perhaps the most exciting part of this story is that it's not yet over.
"It's been a blessing that it has worked out this way," Stephens said "But I feel like I have yet to accomplish what I came here to accomplish."
