ANN ARBOR Early in Michigan s dump trucking of Rutgers two weeks ago, several of the team s running backs got together for a friendly wager. It was pretty simple There was plenty of ball game left, all of them were going to see touches and the guy with the longest run from scrimmage was going to earn a prize from the rest of the group. Ty Isaac ripped off a 34 yard run. Karan Higdon went for 44 yards. Chris Evans hit on a 58 yard burst. Jabrill Peppers who had a 63 yarder earlier in the game didn t get to play. Chris won, Isaac said with a smile. I was mad. On the surface, this was friendly competition. Evans won the bet and, per Isaac, his prize will stay inside the locker room. But on a deeper level, this was a prime example of Michigan s backfield embracing what has turned into one of the biggest by committee rushing attacks in the country. If fifth year senior Drake Johnson returns from injury this week and Jim Harbaugh believes he will Michigan s looking at a backfield with five capable and trusted contributors. Starter De Veon Smith, Isaac, Higdon, Evans and Johnson. Through six weeks, none of them has more than 400 yards Evans, a freshman from Indianapolis, actually leads the team with exactly 400. But together  Jabrill Peppers Jersey, Michigan s gaggle of primary backs has combined to rush for 1,286 yards and 14 touchdowns. That doesn t include the seven rushing scores a team best fullback Khalid Hill has tallied. As a team, Michigan s tied for first nationally with 25 rushing touchdowns through five games. Its primary backs are averaging 6.5 yards per carry. And none of them is averaging more than 10.1 carries per game. With running backs coach Tyrone Wheatley calling the shots and spreading the reps the way he sees fit, Michigan s by committee situation is working. In more ways than one. We love spreading it around to different guys and we think it helps them with the National Football League, said Drevno, who was an assistant with Harbaugh during his tenure with the San Francisco 49ers. In the NFL, you don t want to take a guy who has a bunch of carries on him . They want a guy who is a little bit fresher. I think that helps our guys . You don t want a guy who has a bunch of carries and is taking all those hits. You want to save some energy and life for them. Having coached in the NFL, you have a better understanding after sitting in draft rooms. You understand what GMs and scouts look for and you hear them talk. You see how important that is at that level and you have a better awareness and appreciation of the health of somebody to make sure they have a bright future . The 311 pounder has drawn plenty of praise from the coaching staff and teammates for the way he s changed his body over the past year. In modern football, few running backs go through a season averaging more than 20 carries per game. In 2015, only 20 backs who played a full season averaged 20 carries or more for their teams throughout the year. And that group included names like Derrick Henry, Christian McCaffrey, Leonard Fournette and Ezekiel Elliott true superstars and once in generation type talents. Through the midway point of the 2016 season, only one back in America has hit the 1,000 yard mark San Diego State star Donnel Pumphrey at 1,111 yards. Pumphrey only really shares carries with one other back. And, combined, those two have rushed for 1,458 yards. Pumphrey s averaging more than 27 carries per game. Maybe he ll be able to handle that type of workload throughout an entire season without falling off. Maybe it ll catch up to him. Michigan, meanwhile, has nearly equaled that rushing total and scored more touchdowns with a slew of backs who have next to zero mileage on their bodies halfway through the season. Ask Smith who went through most of the 2015 second half with a variety of nagging injuries that kept him from playing at 100 percent. Now? He s never felt this good halfway through a season. No football player sits at a true 100 percent through six games. It s like a new car. The minute you put one mile on it, wear and tear begins. But Smith says he s about as close as he could ever hope for this far into a year. I m ready to roll, Smith says. Obviously, if your backfield features a transcendent talent, you ride that person as much as you can. Henry got a whopping 395 carries in 2015 because he was elite he won the Heisman Trophy. And, if you find yourself in a situation where you don t have much in the reserves you load up one plate with as many carries as possible. Harbaugh and Drevno did this at Stanford in 2009 when Toby Gerhart led the FBS with 343 carries. Michigan http://www.wolverinesfootballjersey.com/kyle-kalis-jersey-c-103.html, right now Rashan Gary Jersey, doesn t have a back who anyone would qualify as transcendent. Instead, it has four possibly five with Johnson solid hands who can combine to wear opponents out week after week without grinding themselves into dust. If the current pace holds and that, of course http://www.wolverinesfootballjersey.com/ben-bredeson-jersey-c-109.html, is an if , Michigan will close the regular season with four backs topping 500 yards rushing. In short It doesn t matter how you get to 2,000 yards. One yard equals one yard, no matter how many bodies you use. And by doing this, players say the responsibility to get every last inch out of every carry you receive only intensifies. If you get back to back carries and you exit the game, you re not sure when your next attempt will come. So you have to make the most out of each one of them. Every time. Without exception. If Wheatley calls your number, you go in there and you do your best, Isaac says. Whatever the rotation is, we don t really question it. We just do what we re told. There s so much competition within our room and you want to do the absolute best when you get a carry. You don t know when your next one will be. So when I am getting it, I m trying to get the most out of it as I possibly can. |
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