If promises are made to be broken, do not tell that to South Carolina running back Demetris Summers.
During a recruiting visit last year, South Carolina coach Lou Holtz made a promise to the Parade All-American running back.
Although Summers was only a senior in high school, Holtz promised to put the ball in his hands on the first play of the Gamecocks’ season.
After Summers returned the opening kickoff to the 25-yard line in the season opener against University of Lousiana-Lafayette, the legendary coach fulfilled his promise, and Summers did what he always does – run for a first down.
It was apparently the right move for Holtz. Summers graduated from Lexington High School in Lexington, S.C. as the state’s all-time leading rusher and finished his career with 9,076 yards, the fourth best total in national high school history. He also broke the South Carolina state record with 127 touchdowns.
ESPN.com ranked Summers the No. 1 running back prospect in the country, and Holtz’s promise landed the highly-touted player.
Summers made a name for himself on the field, not only with the numbers he has posted, but his shifty, flashy, play-making ability.
“You have to be impressed with Demetris Summers,” said Lou Holtz at the South Carolina football media day. “He is the type of back you walk off from practice and say, ‘Did you see what he did today?'”
Summers took the ball on that first play and has not looked back.
The 6-foot-1, 200-pound true freshman ranks fifth in the Southeastern Conference with 75.5 rushing yards per game while splitting time with sophomore Daccus Turman.
He is the second leading punt returner in the conference and ranks fifth in the SEC in all-purpose yards with 115.7 yards per game.
Holtz said that during practice, he and the assistant coaches stand in utter amazement at some of things Summers can do with the ball in his hands.
“We just kind of look at each other and say, ‘Wow!'” Holtz said. “When Demetris runs, he seems to find some running room.”
ESPN.com wrote, “In true freshman RB Demetris Summers, South Carolina just might have the best player in the country that no one has mentioned.”
“Demetris Summers is an outstanding running back,” LSU coach Saban said. “He has made a lot of people miss. He has made some big play runs for them this year.”
In the Gamecocks’ past three games, Summers has 385 rushing yards and three touchdowns.
Against University of Alabama-Birmingham, Summers ran wild for 161 yards and three touchdowns. For that performance, Summers garnered SEC Player of the Week honors from College Sports Report and Collegefootballnews.com.
He displayed an encore performance the very next week in Knoxville, Tenn. as he shook off tacklers and sprinted through the Tennessee defense for 158 yards.
“I think he played an outstanding game against Tennessee,” Saban said. “[He] looks like a combination of a guy who is a pretty good inside runner and picks his way pretty well and break some tackles, also makes a lot of plays bouncing outside. And it looks like he’s got some speed to do that against some pretty good people.”
Despite Summers’ performance through the first half of the season, the Gamecocks continue to feature two tailbacks in their backfield.
While Summers leads the team with 453 rushing yards on 80 carries, Turman is right on his tail with 324 yards on just four fewer carries.
Only time will tell if Holtz makes any promises about giving the freshman more carries.