27 days to Florida Gator football: #27 Neal Anderson

[Escambia94]

Charles Neal Anderson grew up in the podunk town of Graceville, Florida and rose to greatness as a member of a 1-2 backfield with John L. Williams under head coaches Charley Pell and Galen Hall. He remains third in all-time rushing yards behind Errict Rhett and Emmitt Smith. With John L. Williams, Ricky Nattiel, and Kerwin Bell all on the same team, the Gators offense was a Juggernaut as the Gators finished 9-1-1 in SEC-best and nationally elite years 1984 and 1985. He was a team captain in 1985, 1st team All-SEC in 1985, an AP honorable mention All-American in 1984 and 1985, and the recipient of the Gators’ Fergie Ferguson Award in 1985. Neal had fourteen games with 100 yards or more rushing, 639 carries for 3,234 yards rushing and thirty touchdowns, forty-nine receptions for 525 yards receiving and two touchdowns, and ninety-seven yards passing.​

 

[Leakfan12]

In 1982, the Gators had four future first round picks with Anderson, James Jones, Hampton, and John L Williams in at running back. How did they split the ball?

 

[Escambia94]

The lineage goes like this:

• 1979-1982: James Jones - All SEC 1981/1982, UF leading rusher 1980-1982
• 1981-1984: Lorenzo Hampton - (blocking fullback)
• 1982-1985: Neal Anderson - All SEC 1985, UF leading rusher
• 1982-1985: John L. Williams - second team All SEC 1984/1985 (fullback)

Jones and Anderson were primary runners. Hampton was primarily a blocker for both Anderson and Williams. Williams was the secondary runner behind Anderson. Williams was 20 pounds heavier than Anderson, but was too gifted a runner to use only as a fullback. Hampton was the same size as Anderson, but was a better blocker. Jones was a beast--the other three were all 5'11", but he was 6'2" and was as heavy as Williams.
How did they split ball carries? Teamwork. These teams were very selfless. Mike Shanahan was the offensive coordinator from 1980 to 1983, and he led a very selfless offense. Shanahan had a penchant for building running backs. In the early days he platooned running backs to get production. By the 1990s he figured out how to milk out production from one running back found later in the NFL Draft. Anderson and Williams had a bit of help from the Great Wall of Florida after Shanahan left, but Galen Hall's traditional I-formation gets some of the credit.