Here's my take on the status of Big XII Running backs after 5 weeks of play.
1. Kendall Hunter, Oklahoma State - 101 yards, 2 TD's on 22 carries
Hunter had a great game against a good A&M run defense. One could argue that he should have received even more carries than he did. He's averaging 7 yards a carry and has 8 touchdowns. Now if he can just get more than 2 carries in the 4th quarter when we're trying to kill the clock...
2. Daniel Thomas, BYE
Thomas was off this week but he'll have a chance to show everyone what he's all about this Thursday against Nebraska. The Huskers are ranked 38th against the run and are giving up 154 yards a game. Western Kentucky's Bobby Rainey had 155 yards against them, South Dakota State's Kyle had 112. All of this is a recipe for a monster game by the Big 12's leading rusher.
3. Demarco Murray, Oklahoma - 115 yards, 2 TD's on 25 carries
Another good outing from Murray. He's clearly the go to guy. I'm not real excited about his yards per carry average (4)but he leads the league in touchdowns with (9) and is getting enough carries to give the sooners the mirage of a good running game.
4. Roy Helu Jr., Rex Burkhead, BYE
Helu had the week off but he's averaging 7 yards a carry and has 4 touchdowns on the season. Burkhead is right around the same..Both should be in line for big numbers against a Kansas State Team that hasn't been able to stop anyone. Central Florida racked up 252 yards.
5. Christine Michael, Texas A&M - 97 yards on 24 carries
Krissy faced a tough OSU run defense and did just "ok" with 97 yards on 24 carries. He wasn't able to break a long one and that was the difference. He'll look to get his game back on track against Arkansas this week at JerryWorld.
6. Alexander Robinson, Iowa State- 103 yards. 1 TD on 12 carries
Solid day against a bad Texas Tech run defense. Word out of Ames is that he's battling an ankle injury and that is why he only had 12 carries. Still a solid performance.
7. Rodney Stewart, Colorado - 149 yards and 1 TD on 19 carries
Stewart continued the trend of turning in solid performances against sub par teams. He's a good running back and it appears the Buffs are pretty serious about running the ball.
8. James Sims, Kansas- 39 yards on 14 carries
Not a good day for the freshman - or any of the Jayhawks for that matter. KU found out what it's like to get your ass kicked by Baylor. Fairly uncharted territory.
9. Fozzy Whittaker, Texas - 52 yards on 9 carries.
The Texas running game was actually serviceable against OU and that is good news for anyone that has a good running back - and plays OU. Fozzy didn't lead the way though; thatwas DJ Monroe who finished with 65 yards and a touchdown, on 4 carries. The Texas running game however, is still in big trouble.
10. Baron Batch/Eric Stephens, Texas Tech- 115 yards on 22 carries
The Red Raiders tried to get their rushing game back on track this week in Ames- and finished with 115 yards on 22 carries TOTAL. It's been 2 games since any Red Raider running back has seen the end zone. This includes games against Texas and Iowa State. Not good...
11. Jay Finley, Baylor - 20 yards on 9 carries
Nothing to see here. Griffin is the only solid running back in Waco and he's a Quarterback.
12. K Lawrence, H Josey, M Murphy D Moore and B Gabbert, BYE
Thank God.