Nobody affiliated with Kansas University football is willing to compare Texas running back Cedric Benson with other standouts the Jayhawks have seen this year — most notably Kansas State’s Darren Sproles and Oklahoma’s Adrian Peterson.

Sproles was shifty, elusive and nimble. Peterson was big, bruising and full of hidden acceleration.

Benson, it appears, is somewhere in between — and perhaps even more effective than the other two. It’s another tough task KU’s defense will try to handle when it lines up against No. 6 Texas at 11 a.m. today at Memorial Stadium.

“He’s just a powerful guy that’s got really quick feet,” Mangino said. “His change of direction for a guy his size is remarkable. He gets his pads down, and he never gets tackled going backwards. He’s always going forward and getting that extra yard or two.”

Count on the Jayhawks to focus on keeping Benson from wearing KU’s defense out. That was the plan against Sproles, who managed just 48 yards rushing against KU, and Peterson, who had just 21 yards rushing through three quarters before finally abusing a fatigued KU squad.

“If you don’t slow the run down, they control the chains, they control the clock, and they take the ball away from your offense for a long period of time,” Mangino said. “Our philosophy here first is always to slow down or stop the run.”

Heading into today’s game, Benson has 1,438 yards rushing on 242 carries with 17 touchdowns. He’s second in the nation in rushing yardage and has added 148 yards of offense catching passes out of the backfield.

Running back Cedric Benson helped the Longhorns rally from a 35-7 deficit to beat Oklahoma State, 56-35, last weekend.

“He’s got that vision, and he’s got that speed,” KU safety Tony Stubbs said. “It’ll definitely be a challenge.”

It’s a challenge that’s made more difficult by the play of UT quarterback Vince Young. The sophomore has shown great athleticism as a dual-threat signal-caller, but his legs have proven to be the most consistent weapon. He has thrown for 1,249 yards and 10 scores, but has been picked off eight times. He has been taken out in favor of backup Chance Mock more than once.

But Young had his best game of the season in a remarkable Longhorn comeback against Oklahoma State last week. He threw for 278 yards on 18-of-21 passing and a touchdown.

QB Vince Young helped the Longhorns rally from a 35-7 deficit to beat Oklahoma State, 56-35, last weekend.

“He’s known as a runner and is a proven runner,” Mangino said, “but he showed he can throw the ball, too.”

If anything was apparent, though, in UT’s 56-35 victory over the Cowboys — after Oklahoma State led 35-7 in the first half — it was UT’s obvious strength on the offense: running the football. Seven of Texas’ eight touchdowns were on the ground, including a 141-yard, five-touchdown night by Benson and a 123-yard, one-score night by Young.

“Every team brings a new challenge, a new offensive system for our defense to face,” Mangino said. “It will be a challenge for us, but I think if you take a look at the way we’ve played defense all year long, we have not taken a back seat to anybody.”

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