Apparently, the Cardinal can't replicate Toby Gerhart, but their returning offensive linemen are so good that any of the tailbacks for the Cardinal can run like him.
Do five running backs — Usua Amanam, Tyler Gaffney, Anthony Wilkerson, Jeremy Stewart and Stepfan Taylor — add up to one Gerhart? One game against an overmatched foe is not enough of a representative sampling to know for certain, but Harbaugh said he wouldn't be changing the game plan Saturday night when the Cardinal plays UCLA at the Rose Bowl in the Pacific 10 Conference opener for both teams.
"We're prepared to play the talented guys, and if one guy rises up and is the lone carrier of the ball, then that's the way we'll play," Harbaugh said. "[But] if you want me to make a prediction, it's probably going to be like it is now."No running back carried more than eight times or gained more than 50 yards against Sacramento State, but the Cardinal still wound up with 213 yards on the ground.
This does not bode well for a UCLA team that was gashed for 313 yards last week by the Kansas State Wildcats.