Jackson standout steps up to the next level at Mizzou

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- A layer of Bermuda grass belatedly grabs at his heels as Mario Whitney takes two quick steps to his left. Then, with a barely discernible plant of Whitney's toe, the defensive line is caught swimming against a rip tide.

Heads swivel. Fingers claw at nothing more substantial than the hint of a jersey sleeve. Suddenly, Whitney is 10 yards into the secondary.

Super, Mario.

It is only the fourth practice, the second day, of rookie camp for MU football. Undoubtedly, the veterans of Tiger football will teach this 6-foot, 185-pound prep star from Jackson, Mo., a thing or two. But, already, you can see why there was so much excitement over the signing of Super Mario, as shifty as the character in the namesake video game.

Super Mario, indeed.

"I first heard 'Super' my sophomore year," Whitney said Wednesday afternoon. "The first carry I had, my first varsity game, I scored a touchdown. The headline in the paper the next day was 'Super Mario leads Jackson.' I've had that name every since.

"It was a 10-yard carry, off tackle," Whitney said. "Not super, just a 10-yard run."

Still, the headline writer proved prophetic.

Over 560 carries in three varsity seasons at Jackson High School, Whitney averaged 9.3 yards a carry. No other Missouri high school football player has ever done that.

Whitney ran for 5,027 yards and scored 544 points in those three seasons on the football fields of southeast Missouri. He scored 90 career touchdowns. His senior season alone, he ran the football 290 times for 2,782 yards and 43 touchdowns. In one game, he ran for 463 yards. No other Missouri high school football player has ever done that, either.

To watch Whitney run is to see water find its way around around a rock that protrudes from the bed of a brook. It is so natural, so inevitable.

Missouri's running backs coach Brian Jones, who spent the two days of rookie camp with Whitney as his only pupil, smiled at the metaphor.

"He's very gifted," Jones said.

He has so much to learn.

"He's a natural runner," Jones said.

Missouri coach Gary Pinkel has been peppered for two days with questions about Whitney's place in Missouri's football future. The emphasis has been on the immediate.

"He's at the bottom of the depth," Pinkel cautions. "He's the No. 7 or 8 tailback right now. If he gets into the top three running backs, you evaluate how many touches you think a guy like that would get a game.

"Maybe he would run the ball five or six times a game and throw it to him three or four times, get him into the perimeter."

Whitney didn't just star in football in high school. He ran a 10.43-second 100-meter dash and covered the 200 meters in a state-record 20.90 seconds at the state track and field meet his senior year.

"We know he's very fast," Pinkel said, smirking at the obviousness of his comment.

Missouri has a brute of a tailback, Zack Abron, coming back for his junior season after running for 783 yards a year ago. Abron averaged 5 yards a carry last year. The Tigers also have speedy Tyrone Roberson and Tim Starks, little used a year ago, to provide a counterpoint to Abron.

Whitney might be headed for a redshirt, or perhaps tried as a punt or kickoff returner.

"They recruited me for a purpose," Whitney said. "My purpose is to come in and, maybe not right away but hopefully someday, produce. I hope I'm what they wanted in a back.

"If I have to return kicks all year, that's fine with me. I just want to get on the field, any way possible."

There is a humility about Whitney. There is also self-confidence.

"As soon as those other guys get here, I'll get to see what they're doing and I'll be able to know what it takes to be up to two or three," he said.

In Wednesday morning's session, Whitney and Jones worked on Whitney's footwork. Whitney was apparently tipping off certain types of runs -- sweeps as opposed to off-tackle plays as well as cutbacks -- by his first step.

"We have to understand who we're trying to affect, who we're trying to influence, who is keying on us," Jones said. "The defense will key off steps.

"We want to make them look as similar as possible on every play." Whitney picked up the change quickly.

"That was it!" Jones hollered. "That was it!"

Whitney shook his head back and forth.

"He said I did it right," Whitney explained, "but I wasn't happy with my own performance because it didn't feel right."

There is so much for him to change, Whitney said.

"I need to gain weight," he said. "Right now, I'm not the biggest back that we have around here."

He and Roberson, in fact, are listed as the smallest running backs, each at 185 pounds. Roberson is two inches shorter than Whitney.

"I need to gain weight and work on endurance," Whitney said. "In the Big 12, they expect a running back to carry the ball."

Whitney will never be the plow horse that Brock Olivo was for the Tigers. He may never carry the wallop that Devin West did. Perhaps the early attention is too much.

Super Mario?

"I don't like that," Brian Jones admitted.

But even Pinkel was caught up in singling out Whitney when asked about a close-of-practice drill in which every player was required to concentrate -- in slow motion -- on the particulars of the process of running.

"We told them to forget everything they know about running," Pinkel said. "Except for Mario Whitney, who can run pretty good."

And even Whitney knows as much.

"From the time the ball is snapped to when the whistle blows, I don't know what's going on when I get the ball," Whitney said. "It's natural. You don't have time to think. Then, when you're looking at film, you go, 'I did that!' It's happened so many times."

As for the "Super Mario" nickname, Whitney figures what was once fine needs to be replaced.

"Hopefully, I'm going to outgrow that name and grow up to a bigger one," he said. "It's kind of a kid-ish name."

Whitney contends he is ready for what is to come. He scoffs at those who contend he is a small-town flash trying to dazzle on a larger stage.

"When people tell me I might not be able to compete at the Big 12 level, that makes me want to try even harder," Whitney said. "It makes me want to work harder, prove 'em wrong, basically."

There is no fear of failure.

"Fear, no," Whitney said. "Expectations and anxiety, a little bit, yes. I have a lot of those.

"My expectations are high for myself. I like to think that I can do whatever I set my mind for. But being here with all these guys, it makes me a little edgy. They know what they're doing and I'm just a newcomer, learning."