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At first, if you didn't listen carefully, it seemed as though Devontae Booker was bragging, like he was just another young, knuckleheaded athlete who thought the edge of the world sat at the end of his own view, at the end of his purview.

Turned out, he was telling the truth, being modest, even.

He was better than he said he would be.

I liked him the first time I saw him run.

We all did.

We liked him a whole lot more the 292nd time, when he rolled up the last of his 1,512 rushing yards at the end of a remarkable junior season, his first at Utah. And there's more — more carries, more yards, more liking — where that came from.

A few days now before the start of fall camp, the Ute running back is one of the biggest reasons for college football fans around here, of any persuasion, to be excited about what's coming next. Expectations for Booker are blasting through the ionosphere. He's on a hundred preseason watch lists. He could be a candidate for the Heisman. He could lead the Pac-12 in rushing yards. He will be at the center of Utah's offense.

But let's back up and get a running start at where Booker currently finds himself.

Before the beginning of last season, before he had carried the football a single time in a live game for the Utes, before he had done anything at all at Utah, there were whispers in the building that the 5-foot-11, 212-pound back out of Sacramento, out of some place called American River College, might be something extraordinary.

Certainly, he thought so.

Asked about his expectations for his role with the Utes, Booker stood on the field at Rice-Eccles Stadium, squinting into a buzzard-hot late-summer sun, beads of sweat rolling down his face from a morning workout, and said: "My expectation is to start, to gain over a thousand yards, to get this offense rolling again and to be the running back Utah fans want to see."

After a moment or two of hearing him, noting the way in which he said what he said, I liked the man even more. He wasn't just making noise. He had decided for himself what the season would bring before the season actually brought it. In my mind, right then, a star was made sure.

He wasn't done talking, though. He wasn't done saying what was real: "I bring a lot to the table. I run hard between the tackles. I've got breakaway speed. I'm a home run threat. I ran the 40 in 4.4."

Yeah, amid all the preseason verbal caution, a couple of things were apparent: Booker was good, he knew he was good and he wanted to let everyone know what he knew. All he needed was the chance to prove it. For him, it was a matter of opportunity and time, not talent.

Utah running backs coach Dennis Erickson seemed to know it, too. His August evaluation of Booker went like this: "He does everything really well. He's the most physical runner we have. He's a good pass protector. And he has a lot of speed. … I'm excited to see what he'll do."

It took a while, but Booker's time eventually came.

Over the first three games, he averaged 10 carries and totaled 78, 67 and 34 yards. Thereafter, he got almost all the carries, all the yards.

Booker went for 178 yards against Washington State, 156 at UCLA, 229 at Oregon State, 102 against USC, 146 at Arizona State, a game during which he had 37 carries, 65 against Oregon, 58 at Stanford, 142 against Arizona and 95 at Colorado.

He also caught 43 passes for 306 yards and a couple of touchdowns. In all, he scored 12 TDs.

Without him, Utah's offense would have been dead.

One of the most impressive aspects to Booker's game was and is his ability to pick up yards after initial contact. He led the Pac-12 in that regard last season, gaining 815 yards after being hit. Nobody else was close to that number. It ranked fifth among backs in major conferences.

Booker actually picked up more yards after contact than he did before. That's the real measure of balance and toughness for a running back. Defenses had to hit him multiple times to get him to the ground.

Some old-time RB, a fellow by the name of Joe Don Looney, once said: "A good back makes his own holes. Anybody can run where the holes are."

Booker can do both.

Even when everyone in the stadium knows he's the one with the football in his hands. You think over that stretch last fall when he had 33, 32, 26 and 37 carries during a four-week span that the Bruins, Beavers, Trojans and Devils weren't fully aware where the ball was going, loading up the box in preparation?

They knew and still couldn't stop him.

Over the last five games, Booker's workload was backed down a bit, averaging a mere 16 carries, but Kyle Whittingham has said he expects his star back to get about 30 carries a game in 2015.

If he does, and he averages what he got last time around (5.2 yards per carry), and the Utes qualify for another bowl game, Booker would break the 2,000-yard mark. If Utah establishes any kind of consistency in its passing game, Booker could go well beyond that lofty number, given that defenses would no longer simply sit on the back, knowing what they shouldn't know.

That's what Booker did in high school during his senior season, when he gained 2,884 yards and scored a ridiculous 45 touchdowns.

Either way, Devontae Booker will once again be the most important part of the Utes' offense, be something extraordinary, be something to look forward to, even in July. He is, using his own words, the running back Utah fans want to see.

GORDON MONSON hosts "The Big Show" with Spence Checketts weekdays from 3-7 p.m. on 97.5 FM and 1280 AM The Zone. Twitter: @GordonMonson. —

Devontae Booker, 2014 season

Opponent Carries Yards TDs

Idaho State 10 78 2

Fresno State 10 67 0

Michigan 11 34 0

Washington State 24 178 1

UCLA 33 156 1

Oregon State 32 229 3

USC 26 102 1

Arizona State 37 146 0

Oregon 18 65 0

Stanford 17 58 0

Arizona 23 142 0

Colorado 25 95 1

Colorado State 26 162 1

TOTAL 292 1,512 10