Shock Linwood had to laugh when he heard Baylor coach Art Briles say he "had to overuse him a little bit the other night . . . out of necessity."

By most standards, toting the ball 29 times would be construed as overusing a running back, particularly when you consider that he was coming off a 28-carry workload the game before. That's 59 carries in a span of eight days.

The body's not made to handle that kind of punishment.

But back at Class 2A Linden-Kildare (Texas) High School, where the 5-foot-9 Linwood played quarterback, running back, outside linebacker and safety and also returned kicks, that would have been like a day off.

With 25 players on his high school team's roster, "at most," Linwood was lucky if he came out for one play the entire game.

"Coming from a smaller school, you're going to have to play at least two or three positions, just because of the numbers," Linwood said. "I played both ways, offense and defense, so I'm used to getting a lot of reps during the game."

For the season, the redshirt sophomore is averaging right at 20 carries and 104.5 yards per game. That's doable.

But in the first three Big 12 games, with Johnny Jefferson and Devin Chafin both banged up, Linwood's workload has increased to an average of 24 carries and 136 yards.

"He's like the Energizer bunny - he keeps going and going," Briles said. "He never stops, never gets tired, never complains. But it still takes a toll on your body. I would say, in a perfect world, we'd like to have him carry it 18 to 22 times."

The thing is, Shock is one of those guys that seems to get better the more carries he gets. And he's better in the second half than he is at the start of the game.

Against Texas, he had just 46 yards on 10 carries in the first half, but finished with 148 yards and one TD on 28 attempts. In Saturday's 61-58 come-from-behind win over No. 9 TCU, the difference was even more dramatic. After a first-quarter fumble and being held to 16 yards on eight first-half carries, he had over 100 yards in the fourth quarter alone and tallied 178 yards on 29 rushes.

In the postgame interviews, Linwood described it as "running angry."

"Since the game is over, I've cleared it since then," he said. "But during the game, it's just a play that you can't clear it because it's always going to be on your mind. You just have to clear it mentally, but you can still have it in you so that you can use it as firepower and motivation not to fumble again."

Briles wants to see that anger and passion out of Linwood at the start of the game, instead of waiting to get hot in the second half.

"One of my sayings has always been that you don't wait for something bad to happen to get good," he said. "Be good to begin with. Don't wait for someone to slap you, and then all of a sudden you're mad and ready to fight. You better be ready to fight from the get-go. So, we've got to work on the mentality of it. But Shock's a great football player. He's a guy that provides passion, because he runs with everything he's got. And he's got a lot. Everyone in our locker room respects that guy."

That goes back to his redshirt season, when Linwood actually started out as part of Wide Receiver U.

"They still joke around about me being in there (in the receivers' position meeting room)," he said. "Sometimes, I just want to go out there and play the position, because I like playing everywhere on the field. it doesn't matter if I'm at running back, receiver, or quarterback, I just go out there and have fun."

That was back when Briles and the Baylor coaches were still trying to figure out where to play Rashodrick Antoine Linwood. Recruited as an athlete, Linwood had earned Class 2A all-state honors at running back after rushing for 2,105 yards and 25 touchdowns, but was also honorable mention all-state at quarterback.

"It was mostly just running the ball, but I had a couple 100-yard passing games," said Linwood, who also threw for 729 yards and five touchdowns as a senior at Linden-Kildare.

Instead of sticking at receiver and being part of a talented corps that includes Antwan Goodley, Levi Norwood, Corey Coleman and KD Cannon, Linwood got moved to running back before spring training in 2013.

"I guess that was when they decided that my skills were better at running back than receiver," he said.

It looked like Linwood jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire with a stacked running back position led by Lache Seastrunk and Glasco Martin. Also in that position meeting room were Chafin and Jefferson.

But when both Seastrunk and Martin went down with injuries in the eighth game of the year, Linwood burst on the scene and made the most of his chances. He posted four 100-yard games, including 182 yards in a 41-12 blowout of Oklahoma and 187 the next week in a 63-34 victory over Texas Tech.

Trying to fill the shoes of Seastrunk and Martin, Linwood said there was a certain amount of pressure at first. "But I told myself that I just needed to play the game the way it needs to be played," he said.

"I've been in that position before, and it's just the game of football. I already know how to play it, so I just have to go out there and play it."

Named first-team Freshman All-American by Sporting News, Athlon, Scout/CFN and Phil Steele, Linwood set the school freshman rushing record and ranked as the Big 12 Conference's leading rusher with 881 yards and eight touchdowns on 128 carries (6.9-yard average).

Linwood calls it a "blessing" that he broke the record previously held by 2011 Heisman Trophy winner Robert Griffin III. When you think about a Baylor running back tradition that includes Walter Abercrombie, Alfred Anderson, Cleve Franklin and Jerod Douglas, it's amazing that Linwood stands above them all.

Easily his most forgettable moment during that redshirt freshman season was the Oklahoma State game, when Linwood fumbled on the goal line and was held to just 29 yards on 14 carries.

"It's still with me, I'm not going to lie and say it doesn't," he said. "Things happen, so you have to adjust to it. You just have to go out there and use it as motivation."

With Seastrunk and Martin both gone, and Jefferson and Chafin slowed by injuries, Linwood has had to carry his load and then some this season. He ranks first in the Big 12 and 23rd nationally, rushing for 627 yards and eight TDs on 119 carries (5.3-yard average).

"Shoot, that little kid's a baller. I love that kid to death," senior quarterback Bryce Petty said. "To me, he's one of the most underrated running backs not only in this conference, but in the country. The guy is about as consistent as he can be. Anytime we need a spark, he somehow seems to give it to us."

That was never more evident than the fourth quarter of Saturday's game against TCU. After the Bears fell down by 21 points, Linwood picked up 106 yards on 10 carries in the last 11 ½ minutes to help Baylor score 24 unanswered points in one of the greatest comebacks in program history.

"His ability to take a hit and keep running, his balance, is outstanding," said junior offensive tackle Spencer Drango. "I think he shed like four guys at one point. His heart and his will is just outstanding. He never got down on himself, even after he fumbled. It was a setback for us, but we came back and found a way."

That balance and ability to keep his feet is part of what makes Linwood such a productive back. Asked to describe himself as a runner, he said, "I'm a very well-balanced running back, see the holes very well, low cuts, great pad level. . . . I see myself as a physical, tough runner that can also make a move on a defender as well."

A general studies major, Linwood said he's not sure what the future holds for him as far as a career, but "I'm just praying to God that it's going to be a good one."

"As a kid, you always dream about playing in the NFL," he said. "I just have faith in myself in whatever I do."

DID YOU KNOW?
Although No. 32 was once considered the premier number for the elite running backs - O.J. Simpson, Franco Harris, Jim Brown and Marcus Allen all wore that jersey - Linwood calls it a "family" number. He wears it in honor of his mother, Yushanda Linwood, whose birthday falls on 3-2 (March 2).