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 | Class:
Senior
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| Hometown:
San Antonio, Texas
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| High School:
Taft
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| Height / Weight:
5-10 / 203
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| Position:
TB
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| Birthdate:
01/17/1983
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| Experience:
3L
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TCU's top rusher in each of the last three seasons... his 2,771 career yards rank third among active players in Division I-A, trailing only Northern Illinois' Garrett Wolfe (3,236) and Oklahoma's Adrian Peterson (3,033)... places sixth on TCU's career rushing list... on the preseason All-America checklist by the Football Writers Association of America... has 10 100-yard games to tie Lonta Hobbs for seventh on the Frogs' all-time chart... shared 2005 TCU Offensive Most Valuable Player honors with quarterback Jeff Ballard... his total of 1,860 yards rushing in his first two seasons with the Frogs trailed only former TCU great and 1955 Heisman Trophy runner-up Jim Swink (1,953)... broke the Frogs' freshman rushing record, set the previous year by Hobbs (1,029 yards), when he went for 1,107 in 2003... his 25 career starts rank second among active TCU players, trailing only Herb Taylor (36), and are 12 more than the next-closest Frogs (Tommy Blake, David Hawthorne).
2005:
Topped all TCU backs with 911 yards rushing and 14 receptions... placed sixth in the Mountain West Conference with his average of 75.9 yards per game... totaled a team-best 10 touchdowns as he ran for a score in eight of 12 contests... recorded his 10th career 100-yard game with 109 yards on 11 carries in the EV1.net Houston Bowl win over Iowa State (Dec. 31)... had a 20-yard scoring run for TCU's first points of the game against the Cyclones... both of his two-touchdown games came in 23-20 TCU wins over San Diego State and Utah... Co-Mountain West Conference Offensive Player of the Week after rushing for a season-best 170 yards and two scores at San Diego State (Oct. 29)... his 21-yard run for his second touchdown of the night tied the contest at 13-13 with 5:02 to play in the third quarter... also ran for two scores while adding a 9-yard reception in a win over Utah (Sept. 15)... his 2-yard rush with 11:56 to play provided the go-ahead touchdown in the 17-10 win at Oklahoma (Sept. 3)... topped 80 yards on six occasions... rushed for 94 yards on 16 carries as TCU clinched the MWC championship with a 33-6 win over Colorado State (Nov. 5)... went for 99 yards on 20 attempts at SMU (Sept. 10)... put together back-to-back games of 81 and 85 yards, respectively, in wins over Wyoming (Oct. 8) and Army (Oct. 15)... had a season-best four catches against both the Black Knights and New Mexico (Oct. 1)... added 67 yards on the ground versus the Lobos... named TCU's Male Student-Athlete of the Month for October.
2004:
Named to the pre-season all-conference team by the league's coaches but was hampered in the early fall with a right hamstring injury that kept him from running at full tilt for the first half of the season... did not have more 60 yards rushing in a game through the first six contests... carried a season-high 30 times for 137 yards in the win over Houston... had 24 carries for a season-high 149 yards against Southern Miss... went for 143 yards on 34 carries and three touchdowns in the season finale against Tulane.
2003:
Started the season as the third team tailback and ended the year as a second team all-Conference USA selection, a member of the C-USA all-Freshman squad, a first team Freshman all-America according to Scripps/FWAA and a second team Freshman all-America according to The Sporting News... broke the TCU freshman rushing record set by Lonta Hobbs in 2002... carried 201 times for 1,107 yards, an average of 5.5 yards per carry... it was just the ninth 1,000-yard rushing season in TCU history... did not appear in the backfield in either of TCU's first two games... posted three consecutive 100-yard rushing performances to begin his career... in his first game in the backfield, he rushed for 119 yards and a touchdown on 29 carries against Vanderbilt... carried 31 times for 148 yards in a win over Arizona in his first career start and did not relinquish that role for the remainder of the season, making 10 starts... went for a career-high 204 yards on 22 carries at Houston, including a career-long 58-yard dash... had five 100-yard rushing games.
2002:
Redshirted as a true freshman.
High School:
Rushed for 2,891 yards as a senior at Taft High School in San Antonio with 39 TDs, including more than 200 yards in the Class 5A state semifinal... also logged 192 receiving yards and returned 17 kickoffs for 455 yards... led Taft to the Division I state championship game... selected to the 23-member 2001 Old Spice Red Zone Lone Star All-Star team by Dave Campbell's Texas Football magazine... earned all-district, all-city and all-state Player of the Year and Offensive Player of the Year honors... posted 4,201 career rushing yards and 52 touchdowns... rated the ninth best back in the nation and second in the state of Texas by Rivals.com... was a member of the Lubbock Avalanche Journal State Top 100, the San Antonio Express-News State Top 50 and the Austin American-Statesman Fab 55... high school football coach was Lee Bridges... lettered four times in track and three times in football... selected TCU over Oklahoma State, Texas A&M, Nebraska and Colorado.
Personal:
Robert Edward Merrill III was born January 17, 1983... parents are Robert and Rose Merrill... is a speech communications major... enjoys raising aquatic animals such as turtles and snakes... cousin of Wane McGarity, who played for the Cowboys and Saints.
