Posted by ESPN.com's Ted Miller

	Kyle Terada/US Presswire
	Toby Gerhart's speed has caught many opponents by surprise.

A person meets Toby Gerhart for the first time. Gerhart tells said person he plays football for Stanford.

Person: "What position do you play."
Gerhart: "Running back."
Person: "Oh, so fullback?"
Gerhart: "No, running back."

"It's a straight stereotype from the get-go," Gerhart said.

The stereotype isn't only that white men can't jump. It's also that they can't play running back.

And Gerhart is white.

"People look at you differently for sure," he said. "I feel like I'm pretty fast, but immediately they classify me as a big, power back. They discredit my speed. A lot of programs when I was being recruited said they'd give me a shot at tailback but they saw me more as a linebacker or fullback."

As a running back at Norco (Calif.) High School, Herhart rushed for 9,622 yards, the best all-time mark in California prep history and third best in the nation. He rolled up 3,233 yards and 39 TDs as a senior and earned Parade All-American honors.

So when teams suggested linebacker, it's hard not to suspect where that inclination might have come from.

Understand: Gerhart is merely replying to a question. He's not striking up a chorus of "We Shall Overcome." He's certainly aware that his life hasn't been scarred by prejudice.

And, typically, it doesn't take long for him to prove himself. His case is best made when opposing players start chasing him, as Oregon State's defensive backs found as Gerhart sprinted for a 46-yard TD in the Cardinal's 36-28 victory last week.

"I think I've put a couple of things on film that show I have the ability to get the corner and take it down the sidelines," he said.

Such film already has made an impression on one person: Arizona State coach Dennis Erickson, whose Sun Devils play host to Stanford on Saturday night.

"You could see that [speed] against Oregon State when he breaks into the open and nobody catches him," he said.

Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh is obviously taken with his running back, who piled up a career-high 147 yards on 19 carries -- a stout 7.7 yards per tote average -- against a team known for its outstanding run defense (Stanford finished with 210 yards rushing overall).

"He reminds me of John Riggins," Harbaugh said. "He's very tough to bring down. He's muscular -- about 230. Got a good center of gravity. It's hard to get your arms around his lower body. He probably has surprising speed to most people. He's got very light feet. He's got really good instincts."

Gerhart might have broken out a year ago. In the season's second game against San Jose State, he had piled up 140 yards on 12 carries before he blew out his knee in the third quarter. His season was over.

"It was frustrating because I felt I could have made a difference in the season," he said. "There were a couple of games where I feel like if I played maybe the outcome could have been different."

His 140 yards turned out to be a season's best for Stanford, which couldn't run a lick thereafter, finishing ranked ninth in the Pac-10 with 111 yards per game.

There's another level of intrigue for Gerhart heading down to Arizona State. His younger brother, Garth, is the Sun Devils backup center.

Toby Gerhart said he noticed his brother being a bit briefer this week when he quizzed him about all things Sun Devil.

And another difficult but unavoidable question popped up.

So, can his 300-pound "little" bro whip him?

"He's always been a lot bigger than I've been," Toby Gerhart said. "Yeah, he could probably take me. I wouldn't want to admit that ... I don't know. It would be a good little scrap but he'd probably have the upper hand. If worst came to worst, I'd probably just run away."

Of course, unlike many who might stereotype Gerhart, his little brother knows all about his speed.