CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Tampa Bay Buccaneers rookie running back Bucky Irving limped gingerly through the tunnel of Bank of America Stadium on Sunday night with an ice pack draped around his torso after giving everything his 5-foot-9, 192-pound frame could handle in a 26-23 overtime victory over the Carolina Panthers.
He had just rushed for 152 yards and a touchdown, with 33 receiving yards. But it was his work in the fourth quarter -- after leaving the game with a hip pointer in the third quarter -- that provided the jolt the Bucs needed.