Who’ll be the leading rusher?

By Joe McAdory

Kickoff at Jordan-Hare is still more than an hour away, but I can’t help but wonder who tonight’s leading rusher will be.

The candidates:

* Ben Tate, Auburn—Needs only 119 yards to surpass Stacey Danley as the Tigers’ eight all-time leading rusher. Tate has 2,308 yards to date.

* Onterio McCalebb, Auburn—Has 282 yards in three games. But will slick turf slow the speedy freshman?

* Eric Smith, Auburn—Has only 8 rushing yards against 74 through the air. But if Auburn gets up big, he could see significant playing time.

* And the dark horse ... MiQuale Lewis, Ball State—Rushed for 1,736 yards last season but has just 141 this year. Is tonight his breakout game?

Did I miss someone? Kodi Burns? Mario Fannin? Anthony Gulley? Somebody else for Ball State that I’ve never heard of?