Thurman Thomas had Barry Sanders at Oklahoma State. Eric Dickerson played alongside Craig James at SMU. Auburn's Cadillac Williams was teamed with Ronnie Brown. At Arkansas, Darren McFadden shares the ball with Felix Jones. Even the most dynamic running backs need a capable backup.

And that's especially true in the brutal Southeastern Conference, where ferocious defenses try to impose their will with punishing hits.

" I learned 13 years ago when I got to Ole Miss that you'd better have more than one [tailback ], " Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville said Wednesday on the league's weekly teleconference. " If you go in with one, you're not going to make it. "

Even with Jones occasionally taking his place, McFadden currently leads the SEC in average number of carries, running the ball 28. 5 times per game. Whether he will be able to keep that pace going is subject to conjecture at this point. But Razorbacks coach Houston Nutt said he's not opposed to using McFadden as much as he can.

" Barry Sanders averaged about 31 carries, " Nutt said. " Same with Thurman Thomas. We know Darren is going to get his carries. If he's healthy, he gets better as the game goes. He gets stronger as the game goes. So you want him in the game. " But Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer said that running backs must be treated delicately over the course of the season. They can wear down easily if featured too much in the offense. " Defenses have gotten so physical and there are so many hits those guys take that it's almost necessary [to have another one available ], " Fulmer said. " We have always tried to have three ready. We have three when we're playing well. " Right now, Nutt's stable is stocked. Jones has carried the ball 28 times. Michael Smith has 11 rush attempts. Yet, McFadden is the workhorse - as he proved last Saturday in Arkansas' 41-38 loss to the Crimson Tide. In that game, McFadden amassed 195 yards on 33 carries. But Tuberville wonders if any running back is capable of doing what McFadden has already accomplished over an entire season. " It would be almost impossible to start a Herschel Walker or a Bo Jackson at the beginning of a 12-game regular season and say we are going to run 25 times, " Tuberville said. " You'd have to be awfully lucky for them not to miss one, two, three games or possibly more. "

Keeping it real The Gamecocks are ranked No. 12 in the nation. But South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier is far from optimistic about his team's chances against No. 2 LSU this Saturday.

" Sometimes you've got to be realistic, " Spurrier said. " If something happens and it doesn't work out, we've got Mississippi State, we've got Kentucky, we've got Vanderbilt - we've got a whole bunch of teams coming up that we match up pretty evenly with. "

Right now, Spurrier said, LSU appears to be the class of the SEC. The Tigers have the league's stingiest defense. In three games, they have allowed just a single touchdown and they have outscored their opponents by a combined 130 points.

" You always coach one game at a time. But in the back of your mind you've got to say we're not going to be mentally devastated if it doesn't work out, " Spurrier said. " On the other side, we hope the ball bounces our way and get in the type of game that comes down to a field goal here or there. Our guys are going to come down there ready to compete. " Logistical nightmare ?

Urban Meyer is the first to admit he's a worry wart. But the Florida coach's latest concern even seems a tad ridiculous. Meyer is fretting about what could happen on the relatively short trip his team will take from its hotel in Tupelo, Miss., to Oxford, where the Gators will face Ole Miss this Saturday.

" With a 20-minute, 15-minute or 10-minute bus ride, the margin of error is not very high, " Meyer said. " When it is an hour bus ride... I suffer from paranoia on weekends. I want to make sure we play the game and not worry about what time we get there. We had that happen a couple of years ago. " Apparently not everything went according to plan for Meyer and the Gators at Alabama in 2005, when the Crimson Tide thumped Florida 31-3. " Our players were not ready to perform, " Meyer said. " That was the coaching staff's fault. "

Feeling the Burns Now that Auburn freshman quarterback Kodi Burns has seen game action, how will he be used the rest of the season ? It appears he will split time with Brandon Cox, who started the season behind center for the Tigers. Last week, Burns, who played at Fort Smith Northside, entered the game after Cox tossed a pair of interceptions on his first two pass attempts. Burns then ran for 87 yards on 22 attempts and also completed 8 of 12 passes for 65 yards. " He's going to be a great quarterback in the conference, " Tuberville said. " Being a freshman, he doesn't know as much obviously as Brandon does. Kodi gives us a dimension in the backfield that can make plays and make people miss. He's a big part of the gameplan. He'll get better each week. "