Texas Football Insider: A Look Back at the Longhorns Running Backs in 2010

We all know that the Longhorns didn’t have near the success that they had in 2009 and struggled for a better part of the 2010 season.  Their offense was not on track and will see some changes thanks to the resignation of offensive coordinator Greg Davis.  With no one hired for the position at the time of this writing, it’s going to be difficult to predict what might happen on offense, particularly in the running game, next season.

So instead of trying to make sense out of what might be, let’s take a look back at what was and see how that might affect the future of the Longhorns rushing attack.

In looking at the Longhorns' stable of running backs, they have a lot of talent there but the offensive line is what failed them at times last season.  Their leading rusher on the season was junior Cody Johnson.  Johnson had 134 carries for 602 yards and six touchdowns.  His average per rush was 4.4 yards per carry.  

Their second-best running back was Foswhitt Whittaker who rushed 80 times for 360 yards and had two touchdowns.  He had an average of 4.4 yards per carry as well.  Whitaker was supposed to be the future of the Longhorns running game but he just couldn’t seem to do enough to hold the job down full time.  Texas also used some backs in rotation and this cut into his carries.

Something interesting happened to Tre’ Newton during the season.  After he had suffered several concussions in both high school and in college, Newton decided to give up football.  During the eight games that he played with the Longhorns, Newton rushed 64 times for 232 yards and three touchdowns.  His yards per carry average was 3.6.  It’s too bad that Newton will no longer be with the team.  The Longhorns could have really used him in their running game next season.

D.J. Monroe was part of the Longhorns rushing attack in 2010.  He participated in 12 games and had 23 attempts for 198 yards with one touchdown.  His average was 8.5 yards per rush.  The coaching staff may take a longer look at him during the offseason and decide to use him a little more in 2011.

Fullback Ryan Roberson got in on the act as well playing in 12 games and rushing seven times for 29 yards for an average of 4.1 yards per carry.  He even had two touchdowns.  Roberson was used as a short-yardage back at times this season and could see more action as a short-yardage runner next season.

There are some other runners that the Longhorns have listed on their roster, but they didn’t participate on offense this season: Vondrell McGee, Chris Whaley, Travion Shead, Jamison Berryhill, Heath Hohmann, Luke Padgett and Aaron Smith.

Perhaps we will see something out of these guys next season.

The success of the Longhorns rushing attack next season will be dependent on whomever they decide to bring in as the offensive coordinator.  That job still needs to be filled so predicting the future of the Longhorns rushing attack still remains a mystery.  Whatever they do though, they need to feature the running game more often next year in order to have success and have a completely rounded and effective offense.