Eddie Lacy Eddie Lacy ( born January 1 , 1991 ) is a college football player currently playing as the No . 1 running back for the 2012 Alabama Crimson Tide football team . During the 2011 regular season , his average of 7 . 5 yards per carry ranked first in the Southeastern Conference and sixth in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision . Eddie Lacy was named MVP of the 2012 SEC Championship Game after rushing for 181 yards and two touchdowns . Lacy was named Offensive MVP of the 2013 BCS National Championship Game after rushing for 140 yards and a touchdown , in addition to a receiving touchdown . High school . Lacy attended and graduated from Dutchtown High School in Geismar , Louisiana . Lacy ran for 1 , 207 yards and 19 touchdowns as a sophomore , 1 , 800 yards and 27 touchdowns as a junior , and 1 , 046 yards and 17 touchdowns during his injury - plagued senior season . In December 2008 , he was selected by the Louisiana Sports Writers Association as a first - team player on the Class 5A All - State football team for the second consecutive season . Rated as the 13th best running back and the 116th best prospect overall by Rivals . com , Lacy committed to the University of Alabama in February 2009 . Alabama . 2010 season . After redshirting in 2009 , Lacy earned his spot as the third string tailback behind Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram and Trent Richardson . In the season opener against San Jose State , Lacy ran for 113 yards and two touchdowns in his collegiate debut . In the 2011 Capital One Bowl against Michigan State , Lacy averaged 17 . 2 yards per carry and scored two touchdowns , including a 62 - yard touchdown run in the second half . For the 2010 season , Lacy had 406 yards rushing . 2011 season . With Ingram departing for the NFL , Richardson and Lacy advanced to the No . 1 and No . 2 running back spots for the 2011 Alabama Crimson Tide football team . In the pre - season , those close to the program opined that " the Richardson - Eddie Lacy duo may put up bigger and better numbers and go down as the best duo in recent history . " Backfield partner Richardson told reporters that Lacy ' s spin move is what separates him from other backs : " It ' s the nastiest spin move ever . " The move has earned Lacy the nickname " Circle Button " based on the button on PlayStation ' s video games that triggers a spin move . Aaron Suttles of " The Tuscaloosa News " wrote , " To the fans , Eddie Lacy is a dreadlocked blur , spinning past defenders into the secondary . To his teammates , he ' s affectionately known as ' Circle Button . ' " In the 2011 season opener against Kent State , Lacy contributed 134 yards of offense with 76 receiving yards on three catches and 58 rushing yards on eight carries ( an average of 7 . 3 yards per rushing carry ) . His 48 - yard gain on a screen pass was the longest passing play of the game . Asked in a post - game press conference if he had hit the " Circle Button " a few times in the game , Lacy joked , " Yeah , I did a few spin moves . " " The Birmingham News " wrote that Lacy " ran more impressively " against Kent State than the Crimson Tide ' s No . 1 running back , Trent Richardson . Another commentator led his coverage of the Kent State game with the headline , " Lacy , not Richardson , has look of Heisman - caliber RB in game one . " After the game , head coach Nick Saban noted , " Eddie ' s a fast guy , an explosive guy . " Photographs of Lacy hurdling over Kent State defensive back Calvin Tiggle were published in news outlets across the United States and in Europe , with one such image being chosen by Yahoo Sports as its lead " Photo of the Day . " In the second game of the 2011 season , Lacy rushed for 85 yards in Alabama ' s 27 - 11 win over Penn State . In the third week , Lacy had the best game of his collegiate career , rushing for 161 yards and two touchdowns on nine carries against North Texas . His 67 - yard touchdown sprint in the fourth quarter was picked as Alabama ' s Play of the Week . Against Arkansas , Lacy rushed for 61 yards and one touchdown on 13 carries . He sustained a foot injury against Arkansas and did not play the following week against Vanderbilt . During the 2011 regular season , Lacy had 631 rushing yards and seven touchdowns . His average of 7 . 5 yards per carry ranked sixth among all players in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision . 2012 . In 2012 Eddie Lacy became the starting running back for Alabama , after the departure of Trent Richardson . His back - up was true freshman T . J . Yeldon and both Lacy and Yeldon finished the year with over 1000 yards each . Lacy finished the 2012 season rushing for 181 yards and two touchdowns in the 2012 SEC Championship Game and 140 yards and one rushing touchdown , as well as one receiving touchdown in the 2013 BCS Championship Game . He was named the Offensive MVP for the BCS Championship game . Lacy finished the year with 1 , 322 rushing yards with 17 rushing touchdowns and 2 receiving touchdowns . On January 11 , 2013 , Eddie Lacy declared for the 2013 NFL Draft .