By Daniel Smith
Media Services Assistant 

CU head football coach Dale Steele has described Campbell's rushing attack as a running back by committee approach. Opponents have viewed the multiple option attack as a three-headed monster. Two of the mainstays among the CU running back corps during the program's five-year existence have been redshirt seniors C.J. Oates and Carl Smith.

As Campbell football entered its fourth season of competition in 2011, the team's rushing game had carried CU's offense over the first three years of play. After finishing last in rushing offense per game during the team's inaugural season in 2008 with just 68.4 yards per game, the Camels went from worst to first in 2009, leading the league with 189.7 yards per game. In 2010, Campbell again led the league in rushing yardage, improving the ground game to 207.7 yards per game.

Although the first year in 2008 saw the Camels finish last in the Pioneer Football League in almost every statistical category, Oates and Smith each saw the potential for something special.

"That first offseason, the offensive line and running backs committed to working hard over the summer," Oates said. "I felt like we could finish in the top three of the league (in rushing), and to finish first the next year just confirmed my belief."

"The credit for improvement from that first year really belongs to Coach O and the offensive line," Smith added. "They were all here over the summer, watching film, working out. They really made the difference."

The duo of Oates and Smith have formed a friendship that began their first year on campus, 2007, when the team could only practice (doing so even on Saturdays) as each player redshirted in preparation for the 2008 season. With similar backgrounds, they each came to Campbell eager to be a part of the football program's foundation after being restarted after 58 years.

Oates was recruited out of Hobbton High School and calls his decision to attend Campbell "one of the best decisions I've ever made." Smith was informed of the school by his football coach at Southwest Edgecombe High School, and after visiting decided that it was a good fit for him as well.

Each player came from small towns not too far away from Buies Creek – Oates from Faison, and Smith from Pinetops. Oates' hometown is an hour away from campus, and the fact that his family and friends are able to come and watch him play was one of the deciding factors when he was choosing a college to attend.

"It's a great feeling because my family is very supportive of me," Oates said. "That's been a big thing in my career that I really appreciate."

Smith, whose home is 90 minutes from campus, says that his family is the main motivation for why he plays the game as well.

"I've been through a lot during my football career, and I'm focused on playing for my family," Smith says. "The first thing I do when I walk out of that tunnel is look for them. That's why I play the game; it's a feeling I can't describe."

The players remember back to when they arrived on campus and nicknamed each other "Thunder and Lightning." Oates owned the school record for rushing yardage in a game coming into this season (having rushed for 143 yards against Carthage in 2008), but after having to sit out a game this season against Butler following a concussion, Smith picked up the load and broke the record with 148 yards rushing to lead the Camels to a 38-23 victory over the Bulldogs.

Ironically, after the Butler game, Smith and Oates had the exact same career rushing yardage during their careers with 1,559 yards.

"I wouldn't be surprised if we finished our careers with the same yardage," Smith laughed when hearing about the statistic. "I remember when I first got here how my parents would call and ask how the group of running backs was getting along. You would think there could have been some hard feelings when you're fighting for a position, but with C.J. it was never about competition. It's seems like we've grown together at the hip since then."

This past week at Marist, Smith broke the 2,000 yard barrier for total offense in a career after rushing for 104 yards. Oates is only 47 yards away from breaking the same plateau himself. Going into the Marist game, Smith was fourth among active players in the PFL with 14 career touchdowns, while Oates was seventh with eleven touchdowns during his career.

Oates and Smith share many of the same favorite memories that have been made on the football field. For most of those around during the inaugural season, the first win over Carthage (the game in which Oates rushed for a then-record 143 yards on 36 carries) was a highlight. Oates also recalls the Morehead State victory, which marked the first PFL win for the Camels in program history.

Smith's highlight (other than the team victories) comes from his record-breaking performance this season against Butler. After Rashaun Brown was lost for the year in the preseason and Oates was sidelined with a concussion, Campbell's three-headed monster at the running back position was down to one guy.

"That's something I had not done since high school," Smith said of taking the majority of the carries. "I had that in-the-zone feeling that they couldn't stop me."

As the pair looks back on their college football careers, they hope that the generation of players to come will appreciate the sacrifices made by those who helped restart the program.

"I'd want them to know that it wasn't easy, but we were hard-working players," Oates said. "We did a lot that first year when we were just practicing to get ready. We saw a lot of people come and go, but we did our best to leave the program in good hands."

"It was tough when we had a different running back coach every year at the start," Smith said. "We came in as true freshman and didn't have upperclassmen to show us the way. We tried to set our own way with character by going to class, getting good grades and working our tails off to be the best."

It's been said that character isn't revealed when times are easy, but that it's when the storms come with adversity that you really see the true character an individual has. Campbell football has endured its share of adversity during the program's first five-plus years of football in the modern era. Fifth-year seniors like C.J. Oates and Carl Smith have been there for the entirety of it and have seen to it that the program improved each year. As they conclude their college football careers, the duo will be able to look back along with many of their teammates at a football program that is covered with their handprint.