Like it is: Cobbs facing perhaps his biggest challenge

WALLY HALL
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

FAYETTEVILLE -- His letter jacket hung open, blocking cold that he didn't feel.
Cedric Cobbs was into watching the Arkansas Razorbacks win over Louisiana-Monroe.
At that moment, he didn't miss playing but easy games have never really been his thing.
Cobbs likes challenges.
He would have loved to play the previous week against Georgia. But full of painkillers he had enough trouble just staying awake. Cobbs was less than 24 hours out of surgery when the Bulldogs and Hogs hooked up.
Now he looks as if he could rock-and-roll all night long.
There's little discomfort in the right shoulder that was operated on and he's back in class, having missed just one test because of the surgery.
Mostly what he's done the past two weeks is think.
Cobbs is a thinker. Always has been and always will be.
He plays scenarios in his mind as easily as he does games on the field.
As a senior at J.A. Fair, he once said he had visualized how he looked in both Georgia and Arkansas uniforms, and that while it wouldn't factor into his decision, he thought he looked better as a Razorback.
Before last year's Cotton Bowl he had played the game in his mind several times before New Year's Day came.
The Hogs, underdogs, won and he was the MVP.
Yes, he's a pretty good thinker.
Not perfect though. Before the season opener, he had seen himself getting 300 yards on 15 carries against Southwest Missouri State.
Instead, he got met by about a half-ton of defense every time he touched the ball.
Which was part of what he had thought about the past couple of weeks.
"I wasn't having the kind of year I thought I would," he said. "I wasn't playing like I know I can."
There had been tons of distractions starting as far back as last December when ESPN The Magazine dubbed him the best college running back prospect in the nation.
Sports Illustrated followed up a couple of months later.
Then there were photo shoots for covers of magazines and even talk of the Heisman Trophy, although it is Michael Vick's to lose.
Heady stuff for a 19-year-old who unloaded luggage at the bus station after football games his senior season.
Even after games when he had rushed for 178 yards on 10 carries, he went straight to work and unloaded 178 bags from 10 buses.
Was there too much attention?
"No, not really," he said. "I handled that OK I think."
How about the extra weight? Cobbs was up to 227 pounds and was bench-pressing 400 pounds.
"No, I can carry that weight, but I was back to about 217 after two-a-days anyway," he said.
Some say Cobbs was popping around in the backfield looking to make 80-yard runs instead of 5-yarders.
Others say the Razorbacks line hasn't found the same hard-nosed approach to every down it had a year ago, and some claim that may have been because it knew Cobbs could make up any deficiency.
"All I know is that I wasn't playing like I'm capable," he said.
Right now he would like to run track during the indoor season. Whether it was the hurdles, sprints, 400 or 800 meters, Cobbs has always liked the challenge of head-to-head racing.
Right now he wants to be an encouragement for his teammates.
Right now he believes they will improve.
Right now he is starting to think about next season.
"Next season, I'm going to be better," he said.
Is he playing next season, one game at a time? Figuring his statistics and counting the victories? Placing the awards on his wall?
He smiled: "No. I'm just thinking about what I need to do to be the best I can be."
On the whole, Cobbs misses football, and it will get worse as the meat of the schedule arrives. Still, for the first time since seventh grade, he's enjoying being just a student.
Cobbs has endured his first real injury and second surgery (the first was a hernia operation) and the prognosis is excellent.
Cedric Cobbs is already beginning to challenge himself -- again.

This article was published on Wednesday, October 11, 2000

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