Talent Abounds at RB for 2015
Dec 27 | Football
By Tom Luicci
ScarletKnights.com
DETROIT, MICH. - Look up the phrase "embarrassment of riches" any time from next spring on and you're likely to see a group shot of Rutgers' running backs.
As the Scarlet Knights proved this year, 2,000 rushing yards is 2,000 rushing yards - whether it comes from one player or five. And after the virtuoso performance by true freshman Josh Hicks in Friday's 40-21 Quick Lane Bowl romp over North Carolina - and the continued reliability of classmate Robert Martin - it's obvious that Rutgers will head into the 2015 season with five running backs capable of carrying the offense.
Now the challenge is to figure out how to divvy up the limited number of carries there are in a game.
"It can only be a good thing going forward, I think," said the 6-0, 200-pound Martin, who posted his first career 100-yard game and scored twice on 19 carries against the Tar Heels. "We're all good running backs and we all want the ball and we're going to be pushing each other starting with winter workouts and then through the spring and summer.
"Each one of us wants to be the man, but obviously we're cool with our goals."
The collective efforts of the Scarlet Knights' five-headed rushing attack produced 2,108 yards, the most at Rutgers since 2007. And it was done without a single one of them rushing for more than 447 yards for the year.
The position is so deep that Hicks, the Quick Lane Bowl MVP after rushing for 202 yards and a touchdown on 19 carries, will have to scrap for whatever work he can get next summer when both Paul James and Desmon Peoples are back from injury. Justin Goodwin rounds out the quintet of now-proven backs.
But powered mostly by newcomers Hicks and Martin, the Scarlet Knights rushed for 340 yards against North Carolina. That's the most ever in a bowl game by the Scarlet Knights and the program's top rushing total since the 2007 season.
"It's a great accomplishment," said senior left guard Kaleb Johnson. "The running backs made us look good. Those freshmen running backs ran like seniors. I can't wait to see where their careers go."
The thing about Hicks and Martin is that they really are just getting started.
Hicks had just six carries for 24 yards through the first nine games, and even had a stint at safety in practice midway through the season. He rushed for 416 yards on 63 carries the final four games, becoming just the sixth player in school history to record a 200-yard rushing game.
Martin had eight yards on four carries the first six games and 426 on 83 the final seven.
"This was my high school dream," said Hicks, who hails from Palmetto, Fla., "I actually sat down with my high school head coach Dave Marino before I came to Rutgers. He introduced me to Rutgers and I knew Ray Rice had the records here and I told him I want the opportunity to break his records. So me and my best friend Rob have joined him in the record books."
Hicks and Martin became the first pair of Rutgers backs to rush for 100 yards in the same game since Leonard and Rice did so in 2006 against Syracuse.
"I think it's a continuation of what started a little bit earlier in the year (with) two talented football players," head coach Kyle Flood said. "That (running back) room is a talented room. We will get P.J. (Paul James) back next year, he won't be back in the spring but we'll get him back next year. We'll get Desmon Peoples back. Justin Goodwin played a little bit (against UNC) so we're fortunate that that's a very talented room and we needed just about every one of them this year."
James, who started the season as the workhorse back, lasted only four games before suffering a season-ending knee injury. Peoples then took over for him but missed the final three games-plus with an injury as well.
That gave Hicks and Martin an opportunity and both took full advantage of it.
"It is significant," Martin said of his first career 100-yard game. "It's been a long season. I've been trying to get better week to week. I've come a long way from people telling me I would be better off if I redshirted because I wasn't going to see the field this year. So it means a lot. I came ready to play and I attained my goals."
Hicks had rushed for 114 yards against Indiana, but his bowl performance dwarfed that. He averaged 10.6 yards per carry against North Carolina and didn't have any minus yardage.
"It's an amazing feeling," Hicks said. "I feel like I said it before, not all of the credit goes to me, it goes out to the offensive line because they created lanes. We had the opportunity to hit the holes."
The only concern for all five backs is that Rutgers will lose three offensive linemen to graduation after starting the same five in every game for the first time since 2006.
"They have plenty of guys ready to step in for us," Johnson said. "And when you have backs like they're going to have next year it helps the offensive line out a lot."
