Although C.J. Washington was raised and educated only a few miles from Wake Forest's BB&T Field, his introduction to many Deacons fans came half a continent away in Waco, Texas.
Baylor's defensive line parted like a curtain, and there was Washington, all 5-8 and 160 pounds of him, scooting through the secondary.
Washington, a redshirt freshman walk-on from Carver High School in Winston-Salem, made the first two carries of his college career last Thursday at Baylor.
The first gained 55 yards for the longest play in the Deacons' 41-13 season-opening victory.
The second, coming a play later, gained 8 yards to the Bears' 17, then Coach Jim Grobe allowed the final seconds to expire.
So Washington never scored, but he did lead the Deacons with 63 rushing yards. That was easily more than the 37 gained by sophomore Josh Adams or the 34 by redshirt freshman Brandon Pendergrass, the only two scholarship tailbacks on Wake Forest's depth chart.
"It was unexpected for me," Washington said of his 55-yard burst. "But once it happened, it was like a sigh of relief to show everybody that I really could do it."
It's a heart-warming story that never goes cold, the overlooked, often undersized player who bucks the odds as a walk-on good enough to contribute to a major-college program.
Washington, a star at Carver who also ran the third leg of the school's state-championship 4x100 relay, was recruited by Navy, Georgetown and Appalachian State.
He wanted something bigger.
"I was really going to go to Navy, but I had my mind set to go here and show everybody that I could play," Washington said. "I'm just pretty much trying to show Wake why they should offer me (a scholarship).
"A lot of people told me I couldn't do it every year, even in high school. I just use that as motivation to show people that I actually could do it."
Washington's promotion to third team behind Adams and Pendergrass resulted from his play last season on the scout team and from a conclusion drawn by Grobe over the past couple of seasons.
When Lucas Caparelli, a scholarship tailback who would have competed for playing time, was dismissed from Wake Forest for posting what was considered a threatening message on his Facebook page, the logical move seemed to be converting fullback Kevin Harris to his original position of running back.
Harris has speed, but not the kind Grobe wants from a running back. The days of strong, powerful backs such as Micah Andrews and De'Angelo Bryant carrying the ball at Wake Forest are over, at least for now.
"What you find in this day, with the size of the defensive front people, if you expect linemen to just drive people off the ball and pancake them, or you expect linemen to hold a block three or four or five seconds, it's just not happening," Grobe said. "That's all defenses work on, hit and release -- take on the lineman, get off the block and go make the play.
"You've got to have running backs who have enough foot speed to get through the creases when you've got one. Now whether they see it and get through it, that's a different story. But we've got guys right now that have that kind of foot speed."
Grobe said he would love to reward Washington's commitment and performance with a scholarship, but the NCAA allows a major-college program only 85. And Grobe recognizes that tailback-fullback Anthony Williams, linebacker Lee Malchow, snapper Greg Bechtel and other walk-ons are also contributing.
Grobe said that no decision would be made until after the season.
"I'd like to give every walk-on kid we've got a full scholarship," Grobe said. "They're going out there without anything guaranteed to them and practicing and working just as hard as anybody else. I'd like to reward everybody.
"So when you do reward somebody, it has to be an extraordinary deal. With C.J., honestly, we've got about five kids right now that are all contributing enough where you say, ‘Hey that's a possible scholarship guy.'
"You just want to make sure anybody you reward has really earned it."
■ Dan Collins can be reached at 727-7323 or at dcollins@wsjournal.com.
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