The murmurs began last spring. Then, the murmurs turned to chatter during training camp in August. Now, the word is out: Devin Mockobee is the real deal.

"I'll tell you what, he's just been a pleasant surprise," said running backs coach Chris Barclay. "You know, one of these days, you guys will listen to me."

Barclay sensed early on the walk-on redshirt freshman had "it," that nebulous intangible and skill-set that make running backs good. Barclay knows. He was a star runner back in the day at Wake Forest.