Week Ten's Overnight Sensation: Cordarrian Richardson, Running Back
Each Monday during the 2019 Texas A&M football season, we’ll identify a first or second-year Aggie player who delivered an exceptional performance and earned the distinction of being the week’s ‘Overnight Sensation.’
For much of the season, true freshman running back Isaiah Spiller has been the bell cow of the Texas A&M rushing attack, outside of Kellen Mond, of course. However, on Saturday night against the South Carolina Gamecocks in the Aggies' final home game of the 2019 season, the rushing attack received a big boost.
It came in the form of redshirt sophomore running back Cordarrian Richardson who tallied 130 yards and a touchdown on six carries — an almost unheard of 21.7 yards per carry — and one receiving touchdown to earn himself the title of this week's overnight sensation.
Following A&M’s opening night romp of Texas State at Kyle Field back in August, most people probably expected the Aggies to feature a two-headed monster in the backfield of Jashaun Corbin and Isaiah Spiller throughout the season.
Corbin suffered a season-ending injury the following week at Clemson, forcing Spiller into the bulk of the reps at running back. That left fans in Aggieland wondering, 'Where was Cordarrian Richardson?'
Richardson is in his second season in the Aggie program after sitting out last year following a transfer from UCF. As a borderline five-star coming out of high school, Cordarrian chose the Knights over Jimbo Fisher and Jay Graham at Florida State. Once he decided to transfer, and Fisher and Co. arrived in Aggieland, the rest is, you could say, history.
Coming into Spring Ball back in March, TexAgs co-owner and executive editor Billy Liucci had Richardson as the number one newcomer to watch: “The UCF transfer was ineligible to play but was also unable to practice much last fall while rehabbing a shoulder injury, but since then, Richardson’s work has program insiders – including head coach Jimbo Fisher per our recent interview – pretty excited to see what he’s capable of in his first season as an SEC running back. At nearly 250 pounds, Cordarrian certainly looks the part. He’s an explosive, bruising runner capable of wearing down opposing defenses and producing big plays as a runner or pass-catcher.”
That talent has been on full display in the last few games. Against UTSA and South Carolina, Cordarrian has carried the ball 13 times, is averaging 12.7 yards per carry for two scores on the ground and the aforementioned touchdown through the air.
Richardson's emergence has only come late in the season. Following the win on Saturday, Fisher said it's all based on Cordarrian doing the right thing.
"Well, he decided he wanted to do things right,” Fisher said. “When they decide they want to do things right, we play them. Until then, we don't. I don't mean that in a bad way. He's a good player, and I love him, but there are so many little things before you put a guy into the game..."
For the Aggies' sake, hopefully Richardson continues to do the right thing as the competition only stiffens down the home stretch of the season as the Maroon & White face one of the nation's top defenses in Georgia and the team currently ranked No. 1 in the CFP Poll, LSU.
Richardson’s stats vs. South Carolina:
Carries: 6
Rushing Yards: 130
Yards per carry: 21.7
Total touchdowns: 2
Richardson’s season stats:
Carries: 25
Rushing Yards: 232
Yards per carry: 9.28
Rushing touchdowns: 4
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