Houston Cougars 2021 position previews: Running Back
By: Jimmy Schofield
photo courtesy uhcougars.com
If the Houston Cougars 2021 football team hopes to improve on its 7-13 combined record of the past two seasons under head coach Dana Holgorsen , the offense must continue to improve. Last season the Coogs averaged 30 points-per-game (ranking 53rd nationally), after averaging 30.7 PPG his first season along Cullen Boulevard (51st). The passing and running games have flip flopped from the previous season as they averaged 265.8 yards-per-game through the air (34th) compared to just 203.3 in 2019 (91st), but just 143.1 yards rushing (83rd) compared to the 188.1 YPG they averaged in 2019 (37th). They also averaged just 3.9 yards-per-carry (85th) compared to 4.85 (34th) the previous season.
Football is the ultimate team game. Running backs cannot gain yards if they do not have room to run. Inconsistency along the offensive line, due to injuries, youth and just plain inconsistent play has hurt the line over the past two seasons as there has been a combined sixteen different starting combinations over the 20 games, with 13 different players making at least one start. It also does not help when wide receivers drop passes, or the defense puts the offense in tough situations where it is obvious, they must pass the ball.
This however, is a talented running back room and offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson and running backs coach Marquel Blackwell must get more out of the position in order for the offense to thrive in 2021. With the leading rusher from the past two seasons, Kyle Porter, moving on, the physical run game Holgorsen wants will probably be led by the combination of Mulbah Car (5-11, 210, RSr.) and TaâZhawn Henry (5-7, 170, Jr.) starting out as they bring the most experience to the backfield. Car is like a Mack truck as in he is a physical, between the tackles rusher who averages 4.9 yards-per-carry on 306 career rushes (for 1,486 yards), adding 12 touchdowns. Carâs problem has been injuries as he has played in 41 games over five seasons, though Holgorsen said near the conclusion of spring ball that the Austin-Reagan product âlooks healthy and pretty fantastic.â
Henry, meanwhile, transferred from Texas Tech after the 2019 season but had to sit out last year due to NCAA transfer rules. The Houston Lamar product rushed for 681 yards on 161 carries and 11 touchdowns over the two previous seasons in Lubbock. He is also a major threat coming out of the backfield in the receiving game, adding 283 yards on 44 career receptions. Henry is also a weapon on special teams as he averaged 24.5 yards-per-return on 11 kick returns, leading the Big12 in 2019. While most think of Henry as a âlightningâ type of running back (scatback), which he is as Holgorsen mentions of him being âgood in space,â he has also been impressed with Henryâs explosiveness, saying âhe makes guys miss between the tackles.â
Chandler Smith (5-6, 184, RSr.), Kelan Walker (5-11, 230, RSo.) and Terrell Brown (6-0, 185, RFr.) will also be competing for carries behind Car and Henry. Smith, like Car, returns for a sixth season as allowed by the NCAA due to the Covid19 pandemic. The Spring-Oakridge product is a walk-on but has impressed the past three offensive staffs enough in practice to see a decent amount of playing time as he has averaged 4.8 ypc on 87 career rushes (417 yards) with 2 touchdowns over the past 3 seasons (25 games). Though diminutive in size, Smith runs tough between the tackles, using his lack of height to his advantage as it is tough for defenders to pick him up behind the O-line until he bursts through. Holgorsen has been impressed with Smith in terms of leadership and consistency saying, âyou know what you are going to get with him.â
Walker has a nice combination of size and speed but must show better vision at the line of scrimmage, which is probably why he has not garnered much playing time in his three seasons. The DeSoto product does have a 6.2 ypc average for his career (247 yards on 40 carries) but take away a 72-yard touchdown run against Texas Southern in 2018, and that average âplummets,â albeit to a still respectable 4.4 ypc average. Holgorsen was impressed with Walker during one spring scrimmage, saying he liked the way he âran with his pads low and hit the holes hard.â
Size and speed are tangibles needed to play the position effectively. Another is vision to anticipate when the holes open, something Brown needs to improve on as it looked as if he often just ran into tackles at the line in his short time in the backfield, though this is to be expected of a young player often times. A knee injury certainly has not helped his cause as he missed spring ball after injuring a knee midway through the 2020 season. For his career, Brown has 34 yards on 14 carries for a 2.4 ypc average in 7 career games. As his nickname (smoke) attests however, Terrell is a threat when he gets into open space (once he learns how to read those holes) as the Harvey, Louisiana native averaged over 7 ypc his senior season at the prep level.
Stacy Sneed (5-11, 175, Fr.) did not see any action last season due to the logjam in from of him. The Arlington-Mansfield Timberview product rushed for 2,607 career yards and 33 TDâs, while adding 951 yards through the air on 53 catches (17.9 ypr) and an additional 10 TDâs. He also won two state basketball tiles showing his athleticism and versatility.
James Fullbright (5-6, 200, RFr.) is another walk-on in the Chandler Smith mold, a workhorse on the prep level (649 career carries for 4,633 yards and 63 TDs) who does not have the prerequisite height or athleticism to garner a full scholarship unfortunately. But every successful team needs players like Fullbright and Smith as Holgorsen mentions the burly RB âmaking playsâ during a few of the spring scrimmages. For his career, Fullbright has 38 yards on just 4 carries in 3 games with a TD. The former Waco-Midway standout is also a demon on special teams, recovering a fumble last season on kickoff coverage.
Alton McCaskill (6-1, 200) is a true freshman out of Conroe-Oakridge who may push for playing time right away as Holgorsen says he is âsomething different.â That difference is speed, as in track verified speed, running a 10.91 in the 100M his junior season. The past two seasons has seen him rush for over 2,000 yards and 20 TDs while also running track. McCaskill is a homerun threat every time he touches the ball and is a threat out of the backfield as a receiver as well as he averaged 19.4 yards-per-reception (though on just 10 catches) last season. That one-cut ability added with his explosiveness makes McCaskill a back that may see early playing time if he can, say it with me class, learn to anticipate holes in the offenseâs zone scheme.
Jamel Starks (5-10, 187) recently transferred from Louisville after playing in two games last season, registering no statistics. The Southwest Dekalb (Decatur, Georgia) product will have four years to play four as a freshman with the extra year allowed by the NCAA due to the Covid-19 pandemic. He played defensive back at Louisville after being named the Dekalb County defensive player of the year in 2018 and was a 4-year starter that played all over the field as he was ranked as the 57th best âathleteâ (3-star) for the 2019 recruiting class via 247sports. Being fast and versatile should allow the coaches to dial up some special packages for him, maybe via the speed sweep?
This will no doubt be a running back by committee approach as Holgorsen said at the conclusion of Spring ball, âAlthough we have no clear-cut starter, we have five guys who can get the job done.â Stay logged into Coogfans as we examine the wide receivers and tight ends next week.