Texas A&M first-year OC Noel Mazzone will be hard-pressed to come up with a better running back than Tra Carson. The senior rushed for 1,165 yards and 7 touchdowns in his final season. Those are numbers not easily duplicated. In fact, Carson was the first 1,000-yard running back in head coach Kevin Sumlin’s four years at the helm.
But maybe Mazzone won’t have to rely on just one back to replace Carson. Maybe Mazzone will use the handful of talent available to do the job. The Aggies are blessed with a group of running backs who are capable of churning out the yardage. They don’t bring the experience of Carson, and they don’t have the numbers Carson was able to produce, but the potential is there and it’s up to Mazzone to utilize it.
With so much depth at running back, it’s likely that Mazzone’s run-first, up-tempo offense could feature a combination of talent. Junior James White returns with the most experience. He rushed 55 times in his sophomore season, second only to Carson, and gained 196 yards and a touchdown.
He appears to be back at full strength after suffering an ankle injury in the season opener that nagged him throughout the year. The 6-foot, 215-pound bulldozer averaged 6.95 yards per carry as a freshman, scoring 3 TDs on 22 carries.
He will be pushed by Oklahoma transfer Keith Ford, who sat out last season after rushing for 392 yards on 71 carries for the Sooners in 2014. Another extremely physical runner, the 215-pound Ford has impressed running backs coach Clarence McKinney with his bruising style and deceptive speed.
Incoming freshman Trayveon Williams is also among those who had impressive springs and could push for playing time as well.
It will be interesting to see if Mazzone’s scheme offers any one of them a chance at 1,000 yards. Carson was the Aggies’ first running back to reach that plateau since Cyrus Gray turned in back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons in 2010 (1,133) and 2011 (1,045).
The Aggies were a run-heavy team last season on first down. Compared to their 190 passes, they ran 239 times on first down for a total of 1,029 yards, an average of 4.31 yards per rush, to go with 5 touchdowns. They combined for 348 rushing attempts on all other downs last season.
However, the Aggies were most effective running the ball on second down, averaging 5.24 yards per carry on 175 attempts (917 yards).
Texas A&M was in the middle of the pack among SEC teams when running the ball on 3rd-and-short last season. With three yard or less to go for a first down, the Aggies averaged 3.62 yards per carry, pumping out 170 yards and 2 TDs on 47 attempts.
The success of the Texas A&M running game will fall largely on a revamped offensive line. Only one player, tackle Avery Gennesy, started every game last season. That’s not to say there isn’t talent to work with, but OL coach Jim Turner has his work cut out for him upon his return to Texas A&M.
The Aggies did a good job of staying balanced with the run game last season, rushing for 1,185 yards on 256 first-half tries last season and 1,013 yards on 249 attempts in the second half/OT.
So with a new system being implemented that promises a faster pace and presumably more total plays, it stands to reason that the Aggies’ running game should be more productive in 2016 considering that Mazzone’s scheme is run-oriented. Plus, he has the physical backs in White and Ford to relentlessly plow through most defenses.
Perhaps we won’t see another individual 1,000-yard rusher in 2016, but if carried out as intended, the Aggies should improve overall in the running game, especially if new QB Trevor Knight is able to keep defenses honest with a solid passing game.
Glenn Sattell is an award-winning freelance writer for Saturday Down South.
