Little big men: OSU's Rodgers brothers

The story of how the Rodgers brothers began remaking Oregon State football begins in January 2007 in a film room at Laney Community College in Oakland, Calif. ¶ It was there that OSU offensive coordinator Danny Langsdorf found himself talking with Laney coach John Bean about another player, when Bean told him about a high school all-star game he had just coached.

"He said, 'You ought to look at this kid,' " Langsdorf recalled. " 'He's really unrecruited.' "

The kid was James Rodgers, a 5-foot-7, 185-pounder from Lamar Consolidated High School outside Houston whom Langsdorf said "was just all over the field" in the film he soon began eagerly watching.

Saturday, Rodgers, a receiver, and his younger brother Jacquizz, a freshman running back who leads the Pac-10 at 119.7 yards rushing per game, will be all over Husky Stadium, trying to help the Beavers to a school-record fifth straight win over Washington.

Stop them, and UW will have a chance at its first win of the 2008 season.

Fail, and the Huskies will instead become the latest chapter in the growing legend of the Rodgers brothers, who each rank among the top five in the Pac-10 in all-purpose yardage, accounting for a combined 276.3 per game.

After his visit to Laney, Langsdorf watched the film again on the flight home, trying to figure out why James Rodgers had no real interest from any Division-I school — his only solid offer was from I-AA Texas State.

He then got the OK from Oregon State coach Mike Riley to make a quick trip to Lamar, located in the town of Rosenberg, a half-hour or so outside Houston.

"I wanted to find out what was wrong with this kid because he looked so good on film," Langsdorf said.

The answer, says Lamar coach Lydell Wilson, "is just being 5-7. All the other schools came in and said, 'Yeah, coach, he stands out more than all the other kids on the field, but he's 5-7.' "

Wilson plans to be at Husky Stadium for Saturday's game, his first chance to see the brothers play in person for OSU.

In fact, Arizona and LSU each took long looks at James Rodgers before deciding the height was too much of an obstacle.

OSU, with a long history of success with shorter running backs such as Ken Simonton and Yvenson Bernard, decided to take a chance on James, rushing him in for a visit on the last recruiting weekend of the year.

"I just thought, there's got to be somewhere on the field for this kid in our system," Langsdorf said.

Despite the long distance from home, James Rodgers took the offer and he quickly surpassed all expectations, rushing for 586 yards last season, many coming on a reverse-type play called a "fly sweep," scoring the winning touchdown against Oregon while also catching 19 passes.

"I was really excited they came in [and recruited him]," James Rodgers said. "I've been in Texas my whole life, so a chance to get to Oregon and see something different was my thing."

While James flourished in Corvallis last fall, Jacquizz was doing the same at home, rushing for a Texas state-record 136 touchdowns in his career.

Unlike James, Jacquizz had more interest from recruiters based on his astounding stats, though many still couldn't get past his height — he's listed at 5-6.

The two are 14 months apart, raised by a single mother who was 16 when James was born. An uncle, safety Michael Lewis of the 49ers, helped raise them and sparked their interest in football.

Langsdorf hadn't known anything about Jacquizz when he made the initial visit to Laney, and says the school never looked at offering James as a package deal.

But it pretty much worked out that way, even though Texas A&M and Boston College, among others, each made late runs at Jacquizz, just in case.

"I kept my options open and Oregon State was just the best fit for me try to come in and play early," Jacquizz said. "That was my main thing."

He thought he'd be a spot player this year, maybe a third-down back. But with Bernard gone, the Beavers needed a starter, and Jacquizz won the job in fall camp, breaking out nationally with 186 yards in an upset of USC on Sept. 25.

"I'm not surprised really [by the success], but I wasn't planning on having the role I have," he said.

Riley also says he's not surprised and that he never worried about the height issue. At 193 pounds, Jacquizz Rodgers had more than enough bulk to make up for a few lost inches.

"We always say when we recruit guys, the best predictor of production is past production," Riley said. "And he had a lot of it."

And who knows? That little visit to Laney could pay off even more someday. The two have an 11-year-old brother, Michael, whom James says "has the moves already."

Bob Condotta: 206-515-5699 or bcondotta@seattletimes.com