Tim Albin isn’t ready to name a starting running back on Ohio’s offense yet.
He didn’t want to select a starter at the beginning of fall camp, and he still isn’t ready to do it even after he split reps between seven running backs over four weeks of practice.
Albin doesn’t view that as bad thing, though. He’s seen plenty of good things from each running back despite the lack of experience among the group, and he believes the position is actually among the deepest on Ohio’s offense.
That’s why Albin plans to give snaps to nearly all of the Bobcats’ running backs when they open the season against Rhode Island on Saturday at Peden Stadium. He’s seen potential in nearly each of them, and he wants to see who can translate their quality performances from fall camp to a real game.
“I'm not scared to put them in there at any given time,“ Albin said. “We've always rotated guys. The most important thing is getting north and south and taking care of the football and protect the quarterback in pass protection.”
Albin will likely rotate five of Ohio’s seven running backs against Rhode Island. Julian Ross is the most experienced of the group after he received 60 carries as a freshman two seasons ago. He missed spring camp and parts of fall camp recovering from an injury suffered in October, so he’s not expected to showcase his full explosiveness — Albin believes Ross is the fastest player on the team — in his first game back.
Without the injury, Ross would have been the likely starter. Instead, O’Shaan Allison, Jake Neatherton, Ja’Vahri Portis and De’Montre Tuggle have all received first team reps in camp and have impressed Albin enough to see live action. Only Allison and Neatherton have experience with just 26 combined snaps.
It’s not ideal, but Albin isn’t discouraged. He believes someone will step up, and he’ll continue exercising patience if it’s needed.
“If someone gets hot, we'll stick with the hot guy,“ Albin said. “I'm not in a hurry to do it.”
Allison arguably turned in the best fall camp. The redshirt freshman showed improvements as a pass protector and displayed a consistent knack for hitting the right hole.
He’ll be ready if Albin gives him the starting duties, but he’s kept a humble approach since he joined the Bobcats last season. That hasn’t changed among the competition.
"When I see on the media who's going to be the starting running back, I'm not worried about that,“ Allison said. “ I'm running the ball and just knowing my assignments and doing things at a fast pace."
Neatherton is a strong candidate for possibly a larger role, too. He averaged 4.2 yards per carry on 19 rushes last season but missed spring camp with an injury. The redshirt sophomore isn’t fully healthy yet, so he might not see a similar workload as other running backs Saturday.
Portis, a redshirt junior, and Tuggle, a junior, have yet to leave the sidelines since joining Ohio. Both will likely take their first collegiate snaps Saturday.
The competition isn’t any narrower than when fall camp began. That’s typically not welcomed by coaches when the first game of the season is three days away, but Albin is confident he’ll receive a more definitive answer after Ohio has a full game under its belt.
“There's going to be something that comes up that we haven't seen,“ Albin said. “Some kind of new pressure or a turnover. They're going to make a mistake here and there. They're young, but as a group, I'm very excited.”
