Photo by Adam Vogler
ESU senior Seville Ko returns to lead a deep backfield. Ko has been a starter for three years for the Hornets and should start on Saturday.
ESU running backs coach Gary Manuel gets excited and starts juking and jiving in his chair when he talks about his running backs this season.
Manuel has a lot of toys to work with in the Hornets’ backfield. Redshirt freshman Adrian Abner is listed as the first-string running back with senior Seville Ko, and Abner’s speed and elusiveness should give the Hornets an added dimension. KU transfer Brian Murphy is a similar back to Abner and also provides speed.
“We got a good mix of guys who can do a lot of things,” Manuel said. “I’m pretty excited. You’ll probably see more of two-tailback stuff and get the ball to the perimeter and see who wants to make a play.”
It wasn’t as if the cupboard was bare last year for Manuel. Ko has run for 2,038 yards in his first three seasons, all as a starter. Justin Wieser has moved to fullback from tailback and should still see some carries. Colby Rainey also returns. The Hornets were sixth iin the MIAA in rushing offense last season, an impressive feat considering the Hornets were near the bottom of the league statistically in most phases last season.
“I definitely think last year our strength was running the ball,” Wieser said. “We had a lot of talented receivers, but sometimes you’ve just got to run the rock.
“I definitely think this year coming up we’ve added some new lineman that have solidified the line and bringing in some new guys in the backfield will help us out. They can make some guys miss and make some big plays happen for our offense.”
Abner and Murphy are the prototypical small backs that are often featured in a spread offense. The depth at running back should allow the Hornets to run a lot of two-back sets, combining either two speed backs, power and speed or power and power.
The Hornet running backs should also benefit from several newcomers in the receiving corp.
“We’re going to be able to run the ball, but we’re going to be able to mix it up a lot more because we’re going to have some receivers that are going to stretch the field and open up our passing game,” Wieser said. “Let Sean Partridge get a few more catches and let somebody else take a little pressure off him.”
Ko has been a starter his first three seasons and will have to share carries this year.
“I’ve competed every year since I’ve been here so it’s nothing new,” Ko said. “We all can be friends with each other and compete at the same time. It just brings out the best in everybody.”
Manuel said his backs have had a good camp. Now, he’s excited to see what his new toys can do in a game.
“We’ve got good skill guys,” Manuel said. “You can be average up front and they’ll look like All-Americans, because that ball will be thrown to the perimeter or pitched to the perimeter and we’ve got some cats that can run now. it looks totally different out there to me.”
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