Buckeyes have options at running back while Herron sits

By Doug Lesmerises

Cleveland Plain Dealer

COLUMBUS

Ohio State must run. Luke Fickell said as much again over the weekend. A new quarterback, young receivers and talent among the top five offensive linemen means the Buckeyes have to turn and hand it off.

“Right now knowing that we don’t have a stable quarterback, they’re kind of depending on the running game and all our backs,” sophomore Jaamal Berry said. “Hopefully we’re going to carry the team and carry the offense.”

That’s the theory. What’s the execution? Even with No. 1 running back Dan Herron suspended for five games, the Buckeyes have four legitimate options in smaller backs Berry and junior Jordan Hall and bigger backs sophomore Carlos Hyde and freshman Rod Smith. In the parlance of former coach Jim Tressel, the Buckeyes once again should be looking for a pair and a spare. That’s why the decisions in the backfield coming into focus this week are so crucial.

“Jaamal and I talk about how every time we get the ball, we want to make a play,” Hall said. “You treat every carry like it’s your last carry.”

Two of the backs should play a major role in the offense during the first five games, a third may get a look and the fourth won’t do much more than watch. Over the last 10 seasons of Ohio State football, the Buckeyes’ top back averaged 212 carries a season, the No. 2 back had 103 and the third had 45.

“You can use three,” running backs coach Dick Tressel said, ruling out four backs getting into a rotation. “There’s a role for one in certain situations, and then a pair that works together or takes turns or whatever. That’s how we see it playing out.”

The most interesting case may belong to the back who currently seems the odd man out. Smith was a star of bowl practice last December while taking a redshirt season, and he came into 2011 looking like the best package of size and speed. While he had some reps with the first-team offense in Saturday’s scrimmage, Smith may be last in the pecking order, for now.

“He still has a little bit of an unknown there that hasn’t allowed him to completely open the valve,” Tressel said. “I don’t think he’s … played recklessly yet, because he wants to do the right thing. But he’s pretty close.”

For now, the others may be in the lead.

Hall is all over the place, a running back plus more. He’ll line up at tailback with the first-team offense in practice, then go work with the receivers during individual drills. People keep saying things like this about Terrelle Pryor’s former high school teammate: “Jordan Hall is a really, really, really good football player,” said offensive coordinator Jim Bollman. “A really good football player.”

But does that make him the No. 1 tailback? Maybe not. Hall should be used in the passing game as well and is the Buckeyes’ top kick and punt returner.

“He’ll get four of his carries a game probably returning kicks,” Tressel said.

Somehow, Hall may be too valuable to be the No. 1 back, if that makes any sense. So Berry and Hyde should get looks, but Berry has to stay healthy. His explosiveness isn’t in doubt. But he battled hamstring injuries while redshirting as a freshman and was out last week, including for the jersey scrimmage, with a hamstring issue.

“I’ve battled these injuries,” Berry said. “Once I get my time on the field I’ll show everybody what I’m about.”

Hyde has taken that opportunity, establishing himself as the back most likely to get 2 yards when most needed. One of the bigger backs has to fit into the plans, and Hyde may have that edge.

Overall, there should be 400 to 450 carries for the taking, maybe even more with Pryor’s quarterback runs no longer part of the script. One back hit 200 carries in six of the last seven seasons, but that’s unlikely this year. In part, that’s because when Herron returns for the Nebraska game, he’ll fill some role, maybe even as the No. 1 back.

“He’s a guy you can learn from, so you can’t just put him on the shelf,” Tressel said.