Running Backs: Week 7

Last week I updated the outlook at safety for the Buckeyes because I thought they would play a major role in stopping the Badgers offense. Two pick sixes and 28 tackles later and I would say that I was spot on in expecting the safeties to play a major role in last weeks game.

So this week here’s hoping that me highlighting the running backs will have

similar results and we will see some serious yards on the ground come Saturday.

Following the Toledo (247 net rush yards, 5.4 per carry) Illinois (236 net rush yards, 5.1 per carry) and Indiana (212 net rush yards, 4.6 per carry) games, things were looking pretty good for the Buckeyes and the run game, and then last week happened.

The Buckeyes managed an anemic 97 yards on the ground and 3.6 yards per carry against the Badgers. Not good.

Those numbers are slightly misleading, however, considering how few times the Buckeyes even had the ball an offense thanks to defensive and special teams touchdowns.

Still, 97 yards is pretty bad and questioning everything offense has been everyone’s favorite past time this week.

Reestablishing the running game against Purdue will go a long way in quieting the critics of the offense and will hopefully open up the passing game for Pryor and allow him to build some confidence and some consistency.

Long story short, running the ball early and often for lots and lots of yards this week will be good for everyone.

Luckily for the Buckeyes, Purdue is a nice opponent to reestablish the ground game against.

Purdue has given up 1004 yards (4 yards per carry) and 15 TDs on the ground so far this season. That is 163.7 yards per game and that includes a game in which they held a horrendous Northwestern team to 43 yards on the ground.

The Buckeyes should be able to establish a ground game, and if they don’t it will be very concerning (unless we don’t rush the ball because Pryor throws for 400 yards and 4 TDs, that would be acceptable).

So who will be carrying the ball for the Bucks heading into week 7?

At the beginning of the year, the running back position was a two horse race between Brandon Saine and Daniel ‘Boom’ Herron with Herron being the odds on favorite to win the starting position.

Six weeks later, Brandon Saine and Jordan Hall look to be the one two punch running the ball while Herron battles injuries for a third straight week.

Despite the fact that the Buckeyes have been splitting carries between Saine and Herron all year and have not had a true go to guy at running back, it is pretty safe to say that with Saine, Herron (when healthy), and Hall in the backfield the Buckeyes are the deepest they have been at the position since at least 2002.

Throw in the fact that Pryor has been taking quite a few carries away from the backs and racking up some yards on the ground from the QB position and you get a group of backs that lacks a true star but whose combined efforts (with Pryor thrown in) have led to respectable results on the field (172.2 yards per game, 4.4 yards per carry).

So as a group, the backs have been respectable, but individually there has been some disappointments, particularly with Boom Herron.

Herron missed the entire Indiana game two weeks ago and only carried the ball twice against Wisconsin last week before re-injuring his ankle, making the 241 yards and 5 TDs he has for the year a little easier to swallow. Still, he has only been averaging 3.7 yards per carry and his longest rush has only been 18 yards, leading many fans to believe that Brandon Saine is the best option for the Buckeyes at RB regardless of Herron’s health.

Herron’s performance so far this year has definitely been disappointing, and his injury problems are not helping his cause, but I am not ready to give up on him just yet. Even though Herron will not play against Purdue, when he is able to get healthy and back on the field I expect that he will be a major part of the rushing attack employed by the Buckeyes. Whether or not he regains his position as the starter is another matter.

For now though, Herron is out and that leaves Brandon Saine as the main man carrying the ball for the Bucks against the Boilermakers.

Saine is currently the leading rusher on the team with 349 yards (followed closely by Pryor’s 333 yards). He has no touchdowns so far this year, but what has fans excited and clamoring for him to be the starter is the 5.5 yards per carry that Saine has been racking up.

Saine has been finishing runs better than anyone on the team, and  he has consistently continued to move forward after contact, sometimes for many yards.

Saine has also recorded the only 100 yard game for a running back so far this season, racking up 113 against Indiana in the first start of his career.

It would be nice to see Saine break 100 for the second time against Purdue (a few TDs would be nice as well), especially considering he will most likely be getting a majority of the carries in the game since Herron will be watching from the sidelines.

Backing up Saine against Purdue will be true freshman Jordan Hall. Hall has looked pretty good in limited action so far this year, gaining 103 yards in just 25 attempts (including many classic Tressel garbage time carries right into the middle of a waiting defense).

Many people (including me) expected Hall to take a red shirt year, so the fact that he has seen the field this early in his career indicates to me that he has been impressive in practice and has a bright future for the Buckeyes. I expect Hall to see the field quite a bit against Purdue (assuming we can stay on the field on offense for more than five minutes) and it will be interesting to see what he can do with the increased playing time.

Another option at RB for the Bucks this week will be Jaamal Berry. Berry has yet to see the field this year, but there has been much speculation on the interwebs about Berry burning his red shirt and getting into the game against Purdue.

Berry has been battling injuries for most of the year, and without these injuries he would almost certainly have seen the field already. Tressel has nothing but praise for Berry and he is possibly the most exciting young back on the Buckeyes roster so it would not be a surprise to see him get on the field.

However, given the fact that it is already halfway through the year, unless another back goes down, I think that Tressel will keep Berry on the sidelines and wait until next season to unleash him.

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To summarize, Purdue can expect large doses of Brandon Saine on Saturday and I expect him to break 100 yards and to get into the end zone for the first time this year.

Boom Herron is out for the game but not for the count and I still think that he can be a solid #1 option for the Buckeyes, or he could be a solid change of pace for Saine, either way, the team is going to be better when Herron is healthy.

In Herron’s absence this week and in any future weeks, Jordan Hall will get an increased opportunity to carry the ball. Hall has been impressive in limited action so far and it will be interesting to see what he can do if he is given more carries outside of garbage time.

Finally, the wild card at this point is Jaamal Berry. Will he redshirt? Will he play? If he does get in will he live up to the huge hype that he had coming out of High School and that Tressel has only made larger by heaping praise upon him repeatedly? Was that last question a run-on sentence?

At least one of these questions will be answered this weekend.

GO BUCKS!