How Did the USF Running Game Look?

Darrell saw his first action as a Bull on Saturday.

The Bulls have talked all season about the the improvement of the rushing attack. USF had a solid 2010 season with Plancher and Muray carrying the rock, but this season, more is expected of the running game and we did see a small dose of it vs. Notre Dame.

The Bulls came into the Notre Dame game listing both Murray and Scott as the co-running backs, not distinguishing one ahead of the other. This was either to show both were on equal ground or to simply keep ND guessing on who would get the main bulk of the carries during the game.

Murray got the first carry of the game, gaining 4 yards on his first carry. He finished the day with 33 yards, but did have a 12 yard gain late in the game that helped the Bulls hold onto the ball. Murray showed some nice moves and a nice burst that allows him to cut around blocks and get more yardage. Scott looked strong as well, although he continued to stay between the tackles, not cutting outside, getting 33 yards (biggest carry was for 7 yards).

The other running back to get a few carries (not Daniels, he is not a running back, although his gains were great) was Lindsey Lamar. He got 2 carries for 18 yards, including a big 17-yard gainer. He came into the game and added a nice speed option for the offense. I eluded to him as an x-factor in the game against the Irish. While he didn't have the big break out performance on special teams, he did have this nice run and sealed the game when he game up with the on-side kick recovery at the end of the game.

So what can we expect heading into the game against Ball State? The Bulls were held quiet in this game (rain made it hard to get anything going). The offensive line did some solid work against the big ND defense line and blitzes and the Ball State defense is not that big, so the Bulls should be able to get going in the running game. The Bulls will need to establish the running game more to get the offense going more and help the team score more down the road. This game against Ball State is going to be a very key point for the offense to get back on track.