Running Backs Punish the Vandals
Five rushing touchdowns help USC rout Idaho 59–9
Running Back U is alive and well at the University of Southern California. Sure, Cody Kessler may have had a career night throwing for 410 yards and three touchdowns, but the night belonged to the Trojan running back corps who had their way with the Idaho Vandals in last night’s 59–9 rout at the Los Angeles Coliseum.
Much has been made about Kessler’s Heisman Trophy pursuit, but the running backs showed why they are a force to be reckoned with on a well-oiled USC offense that has averaged 57 points and 236.5 rushing yards per game to start the season.
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Trojan head coach Steve Sarkisian believes that the quality of their practices from Tuesday through Thursday may contribute their success on Saturdays.
“These guys practice really hard,” Sarkisian said in the postgame conference. “When the game comes, they don’t know any different.”
USC was able to generate 284 yards on the ground against the Vandals. However, it was not a massive individual performer that set the pace for the Trojans. In fact, no one on USC broke the 100-yard mark for the game in the rushing attack.
Ronald Jones II was the leader amongst the running backs gaining 83 yards on eight carries with one touchdown. The true freshman out of McKinney, Texas continues to impress coaches and teammates alike.
“He is a unique guy,” Sarkisian said about Jones. “He is very explosive, but then he has the ability in the open field to open his stride up. I’m excited that he’s on our team.”
Before Jones punished Idaho on the field, Justin Davis started the rout by scoring two consecutive touchdowns for USC and finishing with 74 yards on five carries. Davis showed no signs of rust despite this being his first game of the season after being held out of the Arkansas State game with a rib injury.
Tre Madden also built upon the fast start to his season, adding two more touchdowns to his season total. If you folks are keeping track at home, that is five total touchdowns from the rushing attack.
“Anybody can get on the field and score a touchdown at any point in the game,” Davis said of the backfield. “Tre and I are working on this one-two punch that’s going to be deadly in the future.”
Not since the 2006 season has USC had such a strong group of running backs in the backfield. That year, Chauncey Washington, Desmond Reed, Stafon Johnson, Emmanuel Moody, Allen Bradford and C.J. Gable was the stable of backfield weapons that could get loose at anytime and hurt the opposition.
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With so much talent in one position in 2015, there is potential friction with carries and playing time that can tip the scales towards discord. This group is seemingly impervious to that reality ever coming to fruition.
“We just feed off each other,” Madden said of the running backs. “It’s competition throughout the week, but on Saturdays it’s all fun.”
With a tough test approaching against the always-stingy Stanford Cardinal defense, the Trojans appear to have enough depth and chemistry at the running back position to give them a chance to build on their successful start to the 2015 season.
You can reach Daniel Tran here, or follow him on Twitter @DanTranCA
