They call him 'Ced, but he doesn't say much. And not enough is said about him.
Aca’Cedric Ware is having a better season than you realize. And, in what has sometimes seemed like a lost year for USC, he’s more important to the Trojans than you think he is. Regarded by most outside his locker room as the second or third best running back on the team, Ware might be its single biggest X factor over the final games.
Just let me explain.
USC, as it should have when the season started with a true freshman quarterback, is trying to become a run-first offense. And it is going to lean on Ware, fresh off the first 200-yard performance of his career.
“What I’m hoping from this offense is a level of consistency, and it starts with the running game. It always will,” coach Clay Helton said. “I was so proud of [Ware] to have a 200-yard game and to be able to carry the load like he did the other night. He’s a blue-collar kid, he shows up every day. It doesn’t matter if it’s a game or practice, you’re going to get his best.
“There’s probably men that run faster, probably men that are bigger, maybe stronger, but every day you’re going to get his best effort, and usually his effort is 100-yard games.”
The senior out of DeSoto, Texas, has had a strangely efficient senior season, averaging a robust 7.0 yards per carry. That would be the highest total for a USC running back since Allen Bradford in 2010 (7.2), and the highest for a Trojans leading rusher since Reggie Bush in 2005 (8.7).
“Great runner, physical runner,” defensive end Christian Rector said. “I think he’s one of the best running backs in our conference right now.”
Well, he is when you feed him enough. Listed at an even 6 feet, 205 pounds, Ware is a classic rhythm runner, needing a high volume of touches to get going. He’s logged 10 carries in just nine different career games and yet gained 100 yards in six of them.
His average yards per carry in the aforementioned nine games: 7.4. His average in the 23 other games in which he had a carry: 3.1.
“You get a feel of how the offensive line is blocking, you get a feel [for] how the defense is moving, and that’s when you start seeing different stuff,” Ware said. “Where the cutbacks are going to be, where this hole is going to be. It helps the eyes, and it helps the instincts.”
And it helps the soul. Ware experienced a different type of culture shock than his Texas counterpart Ronald Jones upon their joint arrival at USC in the summer of 2015. He initially adjusted well to his new environment, flourishing in his first training camp amid a star-studded signing class while Jones needed time off from practice to get acclimated to living in L.A.
Where Ware struggled, and Jones thrived, was on the playing field, the former having to come to terms with being the fourth-string back and rarely touching the ball in his rookie year.
“I grew that chip [on my shoulder] since I stepped on campus,” Ware said. “I came from a state where I was one of the top running backs. Although I shared the ball at my old school, I never had to sit behind somebody -- I was always playing. Coming here and having to sit down, it could start to mess with me a little bit. It just blew my mind a little bit. I just had to learn to be patient and wait my turn.”
Ware waited and waited and waited. In Year 1, he watched as Jones broke the school’s freshman rushing record and Justin Davis grew into the feature back. Those two continued to claim the lion’s share of carries in 2016 until Davis went down about midway through the season. Jones' carries subsequently doubled while Ware made the most of his few opportunities.
After turning a then-career-high 12 carries into 103 yards against Arizona, Ware was confident enough to bet Jones that he could run for 200 yards the following week against Cal. Jones went out and ran for a career-best 223 yards; Ware finished with 130 on 20 carries. It would be a full calendar year before he would see 10 carries again.
He had to further swallow his pride last year when Stephen Carr came along and quickly catapulted to the No. 2 spot behind Jones, who by then had evolved into a workhorse. When RoJo missed the Cal game, it was Carr who got the starting nod and the 20 carries that came with it. Only once did Ware receive more than eight carries in 2017. Accordingly, he gained 122 yards and a touchdown.
“I grew a sense of humility and appreciation for the game,” Ware said. “Basically I learned that football is not going to last forever and sometimes you’re going to get your shot and some people don’t. And when you get your shot, you got to take advantage of every opportunity that you get. Basically that’s what I’ve learned -- just a love for the game and knowing that every time I get the ball I got to try to make something happen.”
With all eyes on a healing Carr this summer, and more intrigue surrounding Vavae Malepeai and freshman Markese Stepp, Ware quietly went about his business and won the starting job. Many saw it as Helton favoring tenure over talent. Two months into the season, that’s clearly not the case.
Tim Drevno, USC’s running backs coach who’s now also tasked to oversee the offensive line in the wake of Neil Callaway’s release, cited Ware’s durability and drive as secrets to his success.
“I just remember back in spring ball, there was maybe a couple practices where Cedric was the lone running back and he took almost every rep. He wants it,” Drevno said. “He wants to be great at what he does. You can see his competitiveness edge and who he is as a person and how he truly loves the game of football.”
Ware’s commitment to all aspects of the position has also made him USC’s most reliable back. Pro Football Focus has him as the highest graded player on the offense -- 83.0, the college equivalent of Pro Bowl production.
“The guy’s a tough guy,” Drevno added. “I think he’s a heck of a pass blocker. I think he does a good job with his patience, letting the play express itself and understanding where the hole is and how people are blocking it. He’s done a great job with ball security.”
Ware has also done his part to protect his team -- that is, from forming bad habits and falling into a potentially deeper hole. Upset about their effort in practice early in the season, Ware uncharacteristically spoke out and challenged the locker room publicly following the loss to Texas. Ware didn’t mince words despite not being a team captain, relying on his own example and not personal success to punctuate his point.
Known for being lighthearted, often dancing behind the scenes and always smiling, Ware’s unsuspecting words were taken seriously by his teammates.
“He only does things for the team,” linebacker Cam Smith said. “And it’s just fun to watch those kinds of guys succeed.
His salvo preceded a three-game win streak and might have been his finest hour until last week in Corvallis, when Ware ran for a career-high 205 yards and three touchdowns. The performance, which included scoring runs of 57 and 62 yards, electrified a USC defense that closed out the game on a high after enduring a rough stretch in the middle of the game.
Having a legitimate run game -- the Trojans have topped 200 yards just three times all season -- can make a world of difference for a tiring defense. The latter has been a common issue, while the former has been fleeting.
“When I do see it, it definitely hypes me up, it hypes up the defense,” Rector said of a strong rushing attack. “If they’re playing to a higher level, we’re definitely going to step up and play at that highest level too.
“The offense being able to sustain drives and give the defense a break, that means we’re able to fly around and get after it. And then get them back off the field and give the ball back to the offense. And that crushes the other team and their spirits.”
The numbers say giving the ball back to a primary rusher is especially crushing. Since the 2016 season opener, USC is 23-2 when one of its running backs gains at least 65 yards. The Trojans are 3-8 when one doesn’t. This season, USC is 4-0 when boasting a 65-yard rusher and 1-4 without one.
Ware, who averages 5.7 yards per carry for his career, has proven he just needs the requisite work. But he knows he still has his skeptics, as his best games have typically come against subpar competition.
“Honestly, I still don’t feel like I’ve really proven anything,” Ware explained. “I still feel like it’s a lot left on the table that people want to see and see if I can do. I’ve always been hard on myself. I’ve always been a tough critic on myself. And I got a never-satisfied mentality. That’s another thing I’ve built since I stepped on campus. You can never be satisfied and a 200-yard game is great, but there’s a few runs in that game where it could have been 280 yards or 300. It’s one of those mentalities that I can’t be satisfied and I feel like I got a lot more to show.
“I feel like I can run on any defense and get 100 yards on any defense. That’s the mentality I take every week. Not just because the defense is good or not good. I feel like as an O-line and the running backs as a core, we can run the ball on anybody.”
That last part obviously remains to be seen. USC, after a 332-yard outburst at Oregon State, still ranks just No. 98 in the country in rushing offense. Ware believes the production was the product of Drevno directing joint meetings with the running backs and offensive linemen throughout the week in the aftermath of the coaching changes.
The newfound chemistry was apparent.
“I just broke it down real simple for them that they can understand and execute it,” Drevno said. “Techniques, communication, understanding the blocking scheme, where our landmarks need to be, where the backs are hitting the hole, what kind of defense and how they’re going to defend it.
“Everybody was on the same page and we felt strongly about the plan. It came out really nice.”
If USC keeps it up, Ware, who had just 422 rushing yards through the first eight games of the season, could become one of the school’s more unlikely 1,000-yard rushers. It’s a milestone Ware said he “never thought about” and one he didn’t seem particularly aware that he was closing in on. He’s at 627 yards -- it’s worth noting, he essentially gained those yards over seven contests, as injuries limited him to just one carry between the Washington State and Utah games -- and has 3-5 games remaining.
With his college career winding down, it's become evident that Ware, contrary to what he says, has proven a few things -- notably, that he always belonged at USC.
“Sometimes your most important year is your last,” Helton said. “For young people they think it’s their first. But really it’s your last year in college that you want to have your best year before going on to the next level. I think ‘Ced is showing a lot of people that he can be the next Buck Allen, he can be the next Justin Davis. He can perform not only at this level but on Sundays too.”
How he performs on the ensuing Saturdays, and perhaps a Friday night in Santa Clara, could dictate how this crazy USC season ends.
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