HOUSTON and ARLINGTON -- Jordan Whittington might still be running on the turf at AT&T Stadium. 

Forget Eric Dickerson. Forget Jonathan Gray. Whittington’s 334 rushing yards, 46 receiving yards and six all-purpose touchdowns for Cuero – with defensive MVP honors, by the way – stands alone as the best rushing performance in state title game history. 

“That was a ridiculous game,” Texas running backs coach Stan Drayton said. “That was unbelievable just watching that kid – I was impressed with the endurance alone.” 

With Whittington’s performance in Cuero’s state championship win over Pleasant Grove, you’d have no idea that he came into the game with just 31 carries for 512 yards as a senior. You’d have no idea that he virtually doubled his carry count for the year on one night. 

But when the Texas offensive coaching staff saw what the five-star wide receiver prospect did in the state title game, their eyes shifted first to a loaded wide receiver class, and then immediately to a shallow running back room. Now, for the first time since middle school, Whittington is playing running back. 

The reviews so far? Remarkable.

“I’ve never seen in my 22 years of coaching a young man having never played a certain position – even in high school – to come in and say, hey, kid, you’re going to play tailback for us and say yes, sir, and take to it like a fish to water,” Texas coach Tom Herman said at AT&T Stadium, on the same field where Whittington broke records. “He’s a natural at it.”