Louisville Football: Running Backs Look to Bring More Balance to Petrino’s Offense
Louisville Football will look to establish a more traditional ground game in 2018 after the departure of Lamar Jackson.
Bobby Petrino has had to do something most coaches rarely have to do over the last three seasons for the Louisville football program: Change.
More specifically, Petrino has had to change his philosophy from what worked extremely well for him in the past. That would happen to almost anyone when they have a freak of nature at quarterback. But for Petrino, change of philosophy is something that never comes easy. Lamar Jackson forced Petrino to see the game differently and, often times, he had a hand in over 90% of Louisville’s offensive yards.
Though Jackson changed things for the Cards during his stint, Petrino prefers a much more balanced attack. It has been rare over the 5th (and 9th) year Louisville head coach’s different stops in college football for his offenses to have one go-to playmaker. Instead, he relies on a stable of backs and receivers to make plays.
Jackson is gone, and with him goes a plethora of school records, and status as leading rusher. Gone, also, are the second and third leading rushers Malik Williams and Reggie Bonnafon. Puma Pass is taking over the reins in 2018, and the Cards will look to move towards a running back by committee work load, where multiple guys will likely get a chance to get the ball in their hands a lot.
This is what Louisville fans became accustomed to under Bobby 1.0, and even into Petrino’s second stint. Let’s take a look at Petrino’s running back by committee style in his first five seasons at Louisville
| Rushing | Receiving | Scrimmage | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Att | Yds | Avg | TD | Rec | Yds | Avg | TD | Plays | Yds | Avg | TD | |
| Eric Shelton | 166 | 790 | 4.8 | 10 | 1 | 19 | 19.0 | 0 | 167 | 809 | 4.8 | 10 | |
| Lionel Gates | 141 | 817 | 5.8 | 11 | 25 | 368 | 14.7 | 0 | 166 | 1185 | 7.1 | 11 | |
| Michael Bush | 81 | 503 | 6.2 | 6 | 17 | 240 | 14.1 | 1 | 98 | 743 |
| Rushing | Receiving | Scrimmage | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Att | Yds | Avg | TD | Rec | Yds | Avg | TD | Plays | Yds | Avg | TD | |
| Eric Shelton | 146 | 938 | 6.4 | 20 | 6 | 35 | 5.8 | 0 | 152 | 973 | 6.4 | 20 | |
| Michael Bush | 132 | 734 | 5.6 | 7 | 11 | 155 | 14.1 | 0 | 143 | 889 | 6.2 | 7 | |
| Lionel Gates | 76 | 373 | 4.9 | 7 | 10 | 71 | 7.1 | 2 | 86 | 444 | 5.2 |
| Rushing | Receiving | Scrimmage | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Att | Yds | Avg | TD | Rec | Yds | Avg | TD | Plays | Yds | Avg | TD | |
| Michael Bush | 205 | 1143 | 5.6 | 23 | 21 | 253 | 12.0 | 1 | 226 | 1396 | 6.2 | 24 | |
| Kolby Smith | 107 | 523 | 4.9 | 6 | 18 | 196 | 10.9 | 1 | 125 | 719 | 5.8 | 7 | |
| George Stripling | 79 | 621 | 7.9 | 7 | 1 | 14 | 14.0 | 0 | 80 | 635 | 7.9 |
| Rushing | Receiving | Scrimmage | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Att | Yds | Avg | TD | Rec | Yds | Avg | TD | Plays | Yds | Avg | TD | |
| Kolby Smith | 154 | 862 | 5.6 | 7 | 24 | 217 | 9.0 | 0 | 178 | 1079 | 6.1 | 7 | |
| Anthony Allen | 96 | 406 | 4.2 | 13 | 4 | 48 | 12.0 | 1 | 100 | 454 | 4.5 | 14 | |
| George Stripling | 81 | 459 | 5.7 | 5 | 13 | 252 | 19.4 | 1 | 94 | 711 | 7.6 | 6 |
*Note: Michael Bush was a pre-season All-American this season, and broke his leg in the first game vs. Kentucky.
| Rushing | Receiving | Scrimmage | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Att | Yds | Avg | TD | Rec | Yds | Avg | TD | Plays | Yds | Avg | TD | |
| Brandon Radcliff | 144 | 737 | 5.1 | 12 | 6 | 84 | 14.0 | 0 | 150 | 821 | 5.5 | 12 | |
| Michael Dyer | 110 | 481 | 4.4 | 5 | 3 | 40 | 13.3 | 0 | 113 | 521 | 4.6 | 5 | |
| Dominique Brown | 96 | 378 | 3.9 | 4 | 7 | 85 | 12.1 | 0 | 103 | 463 | 4.5 | 4 | |
| Reggie Bonnafon | 72 | 164 | 2.3 | 5 | 72 | 164 | 2.3 | 5 | |||||
| L.J. Scott | 29 | 201 | 6.9 | 2 | 7 | 36 | 5.1 | 0 | 36 | 237 | 6.6 | 2 |
Notice how Petrino’s teams never had a go-to back. Of course someone always emerges, but there is no work horse in the traditional Petrino system.
Looking forward to 2018, the Cards are likely to use a running back by committee style again.
Colin Wilson
The back who came into last season with high expectations didn’t get a chance to prove himself before injury. Wilson was the second-highest rated running back to ever commit to the Cards out of high school, and looked great in the two games he saw action in in 2017, but was hurt at the end of a long run against Murray State, and was forced to take a redshirt year.
WIlson is an every down type of back, and when he is finally healthy will contribute in a big way.
Dae Williams
Williams had a ton of buzz leading up to the end of camp last year, but tore his ACL. He miraculously made it into the rotation half way into the season, and ended up being sensational when he got to see time.
Like Wilson, Williams will be dangerous when fully healthy.
Trey Smith
Smith took full advantage in the spring when Wilson and Williams sat out of full-contact play. Smith is a bit of a wild card, but will be utilized as a change-of-pace type of back. Don’t be surprised to see Smith get nearly as many touches as Williams and Wilson- especially if he holds onto the ball.
Javian Hawkins and Hassan Hall
Hawkins and Hall are true freshmen, but look for both backs to make some sort of impact right away. They both have next-level speed, and Petrino will surely find a way to take advantage of it. Petrino raved about Hall’s speed saying “he could be on our track team if he wanted to.”
There are 5-6 running backs that could make a significant impact for this Louisville team. Similarly to Petrino’s first five seasons, the Cards could be back to their old ways of bringing in fresh legs in the back field and wearing down opposing defenses.
Next: Defensive Line Looks to Make Bigger Push in 2018
Bobby Ball is back!