Penn State has a good problem at running back.
But it might be becoming a bad one.
James Peoples, Carson Hansen, Quinton Martin Jr. and Cam Wallace have all shown enough to justify playing time. Through four games, the four have combined for 124 carries, 656 yards and seven touchdowns. All four have demonstrated something that makes it difficult for Penn State’s coaching staff to simply remove them from the rotation.
But at some point, having four running backs you want to play becomes less of a luxury and more of an obstacle to figuring out which one you need to play.
Coach Matt Campbell essentially acknowledged as much Tuesday.
“I think that continues to be a unique challenge for us a little bit,” Campbell said in his weekly presser. “I’ll be honest with you, I think we’re trying to find somebody to grab a stranglehold of this and kind of be the front-runner.”
Campbell later called the running back room “gray” and said Penn State needs someone “to separate, to be the bell cow, in some of these critical moments.”
He’s right.
The numbers explain why the coaching staff hasn’t simply handed someone the job.
Peoples leads the group with 199 yards on 37 attempts, averaging 5.4 yards per carry. Martin has been even more efficient with 152 yards on 26 carries, good for 5.8 per attempt. Wallace has 125 yards on 22 carries at 5.7 per rush, while Hansen has accumulated 180 yards on 39 carries at 4.6 per attempt.
Nobody has been bad.
Nobody has made the decision obvious, either.
That’s the problem.
College Football Doesn’t Give You 80 Snaps To Figure It Out Anymore
Photo by Matt Lynch, Nittany Sports Now
There was a time when rotating four running backs was considerably easier to justify. Offenses routinely had enough possessions and plays to distribute carries, allow players to establish rhythm and still eventually lean on the hot hand.
That isn’t necessarily the game Penn State is playing.
Against Wisconsin, the Nittany Lions ran only 65 offensive plays.
Now try dividing those opportunities among a quarterback, receivers, tight ends and four running backs.
Something has to give.
Against the Badgers, it was the running-back rotation itself.
Peoples finally received something resembling a featured workload, carrying 14 times for 67 yards. Martin received six carries for 14 yards, Hansen four for 11 and Wallace two for four. Penn State’s running backs therefore combined for 26 carries, but those opportunities were divided among four players.
The result wasn’t enough offensive consistency. Penn State finished with only 233 total yards, averaged 3.6 yards per offensive play and went 7-of-19 on third down in the 24-20 loss.
More revealingly, Penn State went 0-for-5 on third down in the fourth quarter while possessing the football for only 5:36.
Those are precisely the situations in which Campbell wants a bell cow.
Advanced Data Points To A Winner, But It Doesn’t Settle The Argument
Photo by Matt Lynch, Nittany Sports Now
If Penn State is searching for separation, Peoples is beginning to provide it.
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.Beyond his team-high 199 rushing yards, Pro Football Focus credits him with 114 yards after contact and six missed tackles forced. His 78.7 rushing grade is the highest among Penn State’s primary backs.
Then there’s Martin.
His raw volume is smaller, but his underlying production might be the most intriguing of anyone in the room. Martin has generated 121 of his 152 yards after contact, averages 4.65 yards after contact per attempt and has forced 10 missed tackles on only 26 carries.
That’s extraordinary efficiency for the workload.
Wallace, meanwhile, has 125 yards and two touchdowns on 22 carries with six missed tackles forced. Hansen has handled the most carries of anyone (39) producing 180 yards, 127 after contact and seven missed tackles forced.
Even their directional numbers make Campbell’s dilemma understandable.
Martin has been explosive attacking left end, producing 85 yards on seven attempts, although a 61-yard run heavily influences that figure. Wallace has 71 yards on eight left-end attempts, boosted by a 59-yarder. Peoples has been particularly effective to the right edge, gaining 62 yards on nine attempts. Hansen has 53 yards on eight attempts to the right end.
There isn’t an obvious player whose production demands he disappear from the rotation.
That’s where the criticism of the rotation also has to be fair to Campbell and his staff.
Someone Has To Take The Job
It’s easy to say Penn State should pick a running back.
It’s harder to identify the player who has unquestionably earned 18 carries every Saturday.
Campbell’s explanation matters because his evaluation doesn’t begin when the television broadcast starts. It includes Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. The evaluation consists of every nuance running backs are assessed on that includes pass protection, assignments, how they prepare, and what they do in practice.
Then Saturday has to confirm everything the coaches saw during the week.
“I think James played a good football game in the game on Saturday,” Campbell said, adding that Peoples is beginning to play more consistently.
The Wisconsin game supports that assessment.
Peoples averaged 4.8 yards per carry while the other three backs combined for 29 yards on 12 attempt averaging 2.4 yards per carry.
Peoples also showed what rhythm can look like earlier in that game. On one first-quarter possession, he entered after Wallace had received the first two carries and immediately ripped off gains of eight, nine, six and one yards.
Maybe that’s the clue.
Penn State doesn’t necessarily need to declare a permanent RB1 and eliminate everyone else. It needs to become more willing to recognize when somebody has earned the football that day and stop interrupting his rhythm simply because another name is scheduled for the next series.
The four-back approach made sense while Penn State searched for answers.
Four games into the season, though, the search itself risks becoming part of the problem.
Campbell wants somebody to take a stranglehold of the position. Peoples appears to be moving closest to doing it, while Martin’s efficiency demands opportunities and Wallace has flashed explosive ability.
But eventually potential has to become a hierarchy.
Penn State doesn’t lack running backs.
It lacks a running back who has made it impossible for the coaching staff to take him off the field — and until somebody does, the Nittany Lions may continue dividing a shrinking number of offensive snaps into pieces too small for anyone to truly take over.
