Kalvin who?
Ohio's backfield tandem getting better by the game
By William Strome, Staff Writer
October 3, 2008 | 3 p.m.
Football has evolved tremendously since the turn of the century, but what is more noticeable over the more recent years than the dual running back system?
On every level the double-threat backfield has excelled tremendously. The Pittsburgh Steelers won Super Bowl XL with Jerome “the Bus” Bettis and “Fast Willie” Parker.
At the collegiate level, the University of Arkansas finished fourth in best yards per game (ypg) average with 286.5 ypg last season with their dual running back system of Darren McFadden and Felix Jones. Both backs were taken in the first round of the NFL draft. In 2005 when the University of Southern California was upset by the University of Texas in the national championship, the Trojans finished sixth in the country in rushing yards with 260 ypg. "Lightning and Thunder," aka Reggie Bush and LenDale White, went second and 45th in the draft respectively. That same season, Minnesota, typically known for a less than stellar offense, finished sixth in the land with 273.1 ypg behind first-round picks Laurence Maroney and Gary Russell.
Examples are plentiful, but Ohio University has never really been on that list. With Kalvin McRae long gone, his shoes are being filled by not one but two backs who are more than up to the challenge.
Junior wide-receiver-turned-running-back Chris Garrett has been sharing time in the backfield with fellow tailback, redshirt freshman Donte Harden, and thus far the duo has compiled 587 yards on the ground, an average of 117.4 ypg. That average is 33.4 yards shy of McRae and company’s from the previous season, but there are still plenty of games to go.
“Using two back is a totally different style than what we’ve done in the past,” Garrett said about his team's new system. “The different looks confuse the defense and force them to make changes.”
In three of its last four contests the running game has averaged 181.3 ypg, but wait, there is some bad news: the average of those four games total was 137. What happened? The Bobcats (0-1, 1-4) ran for four, yes, four measly net yards against Big Ten Conference foe Northwestern University in a 16-8 road loss two Saturdays ago. Ironically, only two weeks prior to the Bobcats' trip to Evanston, they traveled up US-33 to the Horseshoe to put up 145 yards on the ground against The Ohio State University’s nationally renowned and arguably best defense corps in the country.
“We can’t afford any more less-than-100-yard rushing games,” Harden said. “With the offensive line helping and us hitting the holes hard, there’s no reason why those games should happen again.”
Aside from the pathetic four-yard game against the Wildcats, the only time Ohio has rushed for fewer than 140 yards was in the season opener at the University of Wyoming where the ground game gained less than 40.
But hope is far from lost after this past weekend’s homecoming game against the Virginia Military Institute, merely a duckling in the Division I-AA pool. Garrett and Harden combined for 251 net yards, a sum significantly higher than any of the previous four games.
On the year thus far, Harden has 283 yards on 52 carries but just two touchdowns, including the 'Cats' first score against Ohio State to put them up 7-3. He has also scored on a 100-yard kickoff return against Wyoming, one of only two special teams touchdowns for Ohio on the year. Garrett has been handed the ball 35 times for 120 yards and a score. Both backs see considerable time, but neither is complaining about watching the other shine from the sidelines.
“We're all friends, and we all push each other,” Garrett said. “I set my personal goals very high, and I know he [Harden] does the same.”
This weekend the Bobcats head to Western Michigan for their second Mid-American Conference game of the season. Western Michigan’s rush defense is second in the MAC allowing 127 yards per game. Ohio’s rushing offense is currently ranked 10th.
“It doesn’t matter how good they are," Harden said. "It’s a game we have to win."
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