Murray might thrive, but first he must get the ball
Published: 7/12/2010 9:17 AM
Last Modified: 7/12/2010 9:17 AM
Got to thinking about DeMarco Murray again after reading John Hoover's excellent story on him over the weekend. About how the upcoming season sets up as his pre-NFL breakout, now that he seems healthy again and now that ball-carrying partner Chris Brown has moved on.
The nagging question: Will Murray get enough chances to truly have the kind of season so many envision?
The answer to that depends on his durability, of course. But also on the level of commitment the Sooners show their senior star.
Since the departure of Quentin Griffin, the little dynamo who never fumbled, never missed assignments, rarely got hurt and grew more productive by the year, OU running backs coach Cale Gundy has preferred to share the load. That way, backs stay fresher over the grind of a potential 14-game season, and they stay focused longer since they're contributing to the success of that season.
Former ESPN Big 12 blogger Tim Griffin once figured out that Griffin accounted for 46, 47 and 49 percent of OU's carries in 2000, '01 and '02 respectively. The only Sooner to account for over 40 percent since then has been Adrian Peterson. Griffin discovered Peterson accounted for 60 percent of OU's carries in '04.
In '05 and '06, Gundy had Allen Patrick remove some of that burden from the occasionally-injured Peterson. The past three years, Brown has done the same for Murray. Last season, in fact, both Brown and Murray averaged 14 carries per game.
It is a trend nearly everyone has embraced -- the only Big 12 back to average 20 carries per contest last year was Kansas State's Daniel Thomas. That's it.
"It might be the most endangered species this side of the American bison," Griffin wrote last summer. "True workhorse running backs are disappearing across the nation, but particularly in the Big 12."
Who takes the load off Murray this fall? It's an interesting question now that Brown is gone, and Murray appears poised for very big things.
But definitely one worth asking, given what has happened over the past decade.
-- Guerin Emig
Written by
Guerin Emig
Sports Writer
