Texas Longhorns Football: Making a Case at Running Back

The Texas Longhorns are disentangling some of the same mysteries from last season that have remained remarkably unsolved this year.

The Horns truly have a running back by committee.

For the third week in a row, Mack Brown will usher in a new starting tailback for kickoff.

Against Rice in the season opener, it was Cody Johnson. Last weekend in the home opener against Wyoming, Tré Netwon got the nod.

Maybe it was the 39-yard pinballing touchdown run off a few defenders against Wyoming that made the case for Fozzy Whittaker this weekend for Texas’ first conference game of the year. They travel to Lubbock to face a Texas Tech Red Raiders team that has found new life under Tommy Tuberville.

Brown—who is 3-3 in his career on the road in Lubbock—will start Whittaker to open Big 12 play.

“You’d rather have Ricky Williams. We don’t,” said Brown in a report from Orangebloods.com’s Chip Brown.

The Texas coach is right, and his comment resonates with hunger for a healthy and consistent tailback to emerge and grasp onto his starting spot week after week. 

A Three-headed Tailback

While Longhorns fans may agree whole-heartedly with their coach, there are factors that play heavily against the burnt orange running backs.

Each player brings different skills to the Forty Acres, but there is one skill at which they all excel. They hold onto the football—credit running backs coach Major Applewhite for that discipline.

Whittaker, a speedy and reliable pass-catcher out of the backfield, is a multi-cut machine.

But he loves to break it outside, even if the hole will open on the inside. Patience is not his virtue, but his low center of gravity allows him to bounce of tackles.

Newton is deceptively quick for running more upright than Whittaker, but he carries the ball with tenacity and can be a one-cut-and-go-home run threat—though he’s yet to put that on display this season.

Newton can be a more valuable asset running up the middle with his acceleration through the hole.

Johnson is the power back of the trio. He can move the pile with his strength, but can’t make the same cuts at which his lighter counterparts are so proficient.

It was unfortunate that he was hampered by an ankle tweak on the second play of the season, but he showed plenty of promise during the offseason by dropping some unnecessary body fat. 

Running Unfavorably 

To be fair, the offensive scheme and the play from the offensive line hardly helps.

A quick-tempo, spread offense under Colt McCoy took away most of the carries and created some imbalance as far as moving the football on the ground—not the mention that the now departed McCoy took a hefty load of his own carries.

Additionally, the mean offensive line that most fans remember from the days of Jamaal Charles, Cedric Benson, and Ricky Williams is yet to be revitalized in Austin.

The offensive transition this season back to a power running game operating more under center will look to reestablish that mauler mentality out of linemen like Mason Walters and Michael Huey, among others.

The Horns subsequently lack the explosive plays on the ground that can ultimately balance out a potent passing attack. 

Whittaker's Spot to Lose

The questions change from week to week, but the solution is still very much unclear.

Whittaker consistently has battled injuries, but finally appears to be healthy.

Will the nod for the starting snaps juggle up his confidence?

Newton’s inconsistency hardly needs rationale for his fleeting stints as the starter, and Johnson experienced a regrettable ankle knock, but is no question the Longhorns goal-line back.

None have given a legitimate performance that would merit no-doubt-about-it first-team snaps, but at least the depth is there.

Keeping fresh legs, especially for the grind in the Big 12, is paramount for the health and production of all three backs.

Fans may see the running game playing a different tune every week, but on Saturday night, it will be Whittaker’s job to lose.

All of this may not matter come next season when the highly touted Malcolm Brown joins the team, but if the offensive line can shore up the gray areas and a little more patience shown from Whittaker—barring the injury bug—he could be an ideal answer for this new offensive scheme.