You lose the best tailback in the country, a guy who could run around you or over you -- his choice -- and you pay. That's not the law of averages. That's the law of football. Miami tailback Willis McGahee, a Heisman finalist, an All-American, is so good that Buffalo drafted him in the first round, blown-out knee and all.

So who do the Hurricanes find to replace him? The last guy to beat McGahee out of a job. That's the law of Miami football. One star goes down, another replaces him. Sophomore Frank Gore averaged nearly a first down (9.1 yards) on every carry as a freshman in 2001 behind Clinton Portis -- and ahead of McGahee. In March 2002, Gore maintained his advantage over McGahee before tearing the meniscus and anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee. Gore might have tried to come back last season, if McGahee hadn't spent every Saturday doing his best Jim Brown imitation.

	Miami RB Frank Gore is '95 percent' back from a knee injury he suffered last spring.

Instead, a year later, Gore is doing his best Frank Gore imitation. "He had a hell of a spring. He did a lot more work than we wanted to give him," Miami running backs coach Don Soldinger said. The back behind Gore, oft-injured Jarrett Payton, strained an Achilles tendon and missed about half the spring. Payton could start anywhere. Wisconsin coach Barry Alvarez, on the subject of Payton, sounds like Judy Garland singing The Man That Got Away.

Behind Gore and Payton are Talib Humphrey, Quadtrine Hill and Tyrone Moss, the Pompano Beach, Fla., signee that Soldinger expects will contribute immediately next fall. "He'll be here in June, rent a room close to school, and he'll start lifting and doing what he has to do," Soldinger said. "I've always played a lot of guys at running back. Sometimes I worked three guys in. You need to do that. They're not beat up. The pros like it."

When you think of how Miami won five national championships in 20 years, you think of smart quarterbacks and a lot of defense. But stop and think about the running backs. Soldinger has coached them for eight seasons. In the last four years alone, he has sent Edgerrin James, James Jackson, Najeh Davenport, Portis and McGahee to the NFL, with James and McGahee going in the first round.

This fall, it will be Gore and Payton, assuming both are healthy. Soldinger believes they will be. Gore, the coach said, "is 95 percent. The balance will be done between now and August in the weight room. He's got to do core work. The core is the key -- the hips and the legs. That's why Portis was so great. He's got to push himself. A little bit up top: neck, shoulders. He's a 320-pound bencher. Where he needs to really work is his legs. He'll be fine. His running ability is unbelievable."

At Miami, you can say that again. And again, year after year.

Ivan Maisel is a senior writer at ESPN.com. He can be reached at ivan.maisel@espn3.com.