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Running back positions hopes to be strong, with or without Turbin

Adam Nettina

    They said the season would be over before it ever begins.
    They said the team was still young and unproven, and that an injury to its best player would be an event from which even the most innovative of coaching staffs would be unable to recover from.
    They said the backups – whom they wouldn’t even bother mentioning by name – weren’t up to par, and that the loss of second team all-WAC running back Robert Turbin would doom the Aggies’ previously bright outlook for the 2010 season.
    They – the national columnists, armchair pundits and far-away bloggers – have obviously never met Michael Smith, Derrvin Speight and Kerwynn Williams.
    Call them the replacements. Call them a three-headed monster. Even call them by a singular name, mistaking their lightning quick-speed and open field jukes for that of the same player. But whatever you call them, recognize that after two weeks of spring practice, Utah State’s trio of former backup running backs are far from anonymous, and all three are turning heads and impressing skeptics in Logan.
    “They’ve been doing a good job,” USU running backs’ coach Ilaisa Tuiaki said. “They all kind of played a role last year so it’s not like it’s new to them. They’re not starry-eyed. I think they’ve responded well. They look fast and that shows me they’re working hard in the weight room and taking care of their business. I think they’ve all been responding well.”
    Responding to Turbin’s injury is just what the doctor ordered for the Aggies, who, after a record-setting year of offense in 2009, were being picked as one of the “surprise teams” to watch in 2010 by many pundits and analysts in the national media. While the team’s 45 returning lettermen played a big role in those projections, most college football columnists were quick to cite star running back Robert Turbin as the main reason for jumping on the USU bandwagon. Yet when Turbin, who ran for 1,296 yards and 13 scores last season, tore his ACL in offseason workouts, many of those same pundits were quick to sour on the Aggies. As spring approached, many questioned who would step up for the injured Turbin, who will miss all of spring practice and possibly a large part of the season as he continues to rehab his knee. The answer may not have been apparent to those around the WAC and around the country, but through the first half of the spring season USU’s coaching staff is confident that their previously unheralded – but not untalented – trio of backs will keep the offense firing on all cylinders.
    “With Turbin out, it gives us the ability to let these three guys show a little more,” said USU offensive coordinator Dave Baldwin. “Michael Smith has become the leader. He’s showed tremendous leadership and he’s a tough kid and he came on at the end of last season. Derrvin Speight has filled in and has done a great job. He’s competing and he wants to win the job, so there is great competition between those two.”
    Smith and Speight are currently listed as the starters at running back on the USU depth chart, with both players getting reps with the first team through the opening stages of spring ball. Smith, in particular, has shown tremendous promise throughout his Aggie career, and wowed onlookers this offseason when he ran a blazing 4.24 second 40-yard dash. A back known for his quickness and vision, Smith rushed for 290 yards and four scores a year ago, even gaining 100 yards in USU’s homecoming win against Southern Utah. With three years of experience behind him, Smith has taken it upon himself to not only fill in for Turbin, but to establish himself as the team’s offensive leader.
    “I have to step up,” Smith said. “Like Robert tells us, running backs are the stars of this team, so despite every other position, we need to lead the team and make the plays. When somebody needs somebody to talk to, we need to talk to them. We need pick up and uplift the team.”
    Not to be outdone, senior Derrvin Speight has high hopes for the spring as well. The team’s leading rusher in 2007, Speight echoed Smith, and said that he and his fellow running back will be looking to provide home-run hitting ability for the Aggie offense this fall.
    “I’m just approaching it as filling that void that (Turbin) left,” Speight said of the “second” chance brought on by Turbin’s injury. “He was a big part of our offense last year, and me and Mike just have to step up. We’re senior running backs and it’s our last go around in college football. We’re just trying to do as much as we can for the offense and be big-play contributors.”
    Both Speight and Smith dismissed talk that they’ll be unable to duplicate the production of Turbin, whose 18 total touchdowns a season ago set a single season school record. With regards to utilizing the backs, coach Tuiaki said that very little has changed and given Smith and Speight’s experience, the position coach is confident that USU’s offense will be just as explosive even without the presence of their star rusher.
    “It stays the same,” Tuiaki said. “They are good runners, good pass blockers, and they’ve bought into the idea of being tough guys and all of that. As far as what you get – you get something a little different because Robert is a different player than some of these guys – but I think they’re all still good players. They’ve got a lot of potential and they bring a lot to the table. Plays are the same, expectations are the same, and the execution is the same.”
    Smith and Speight may 1-2 on the depth chart coming out of March, but another player who is expected to see action at running back as the spring rolls on is sophomore Kerrwynn Williams.  Williams, who at 5-foot-9, 185 pounds possesses outstanding speed and cutback ability, has already caught the eye of the USU coaching staff. While he may lack the thumping power of a Robert Turbin, Williams brings a unique style of ‘slashing’ that fits in perfectly with USU’s spread offense.
    “He’s got tremendous speed,” Baldwin said. “If you get him one on one with a linebacker that is what we want. Is he an ‘I-back’ who can run it down your thought? Well, no, but that’s not what we are anyways. We are a spread offense, and it fits his abilities.”
    As for Turbin, don’t count him out for 2010 quite yet. Despite early reports that he would likely miss the entire 2010 season, USU’s coaching staff is now projecting the junior from Fremont, Calif., to be ready for action sometime by late September. Having Turbin back and at full speed for the meat of the WAC conference schedule could give USU’s offense a major spark, although Baldwin made it clear that once Turbin does return, he will have to earn his place in the lineup.
    “I plan to have him back,” Baldwin said of Turbin. “By game three I think he’ll be back and ready to play, but Robert has to come in and win it. These guys are competitive.”
    Coach Tuiaki echoed Baldwin, saying, “I don’t know if (Turbin) will be back for Oklahoma, but he’ll definitely be back for a big part of the season.”
    For their part, USU’s former backups aren’t ready to proclaim themselves the replacements, at least not without a fight. As seniors, both Smith and Speight are intent to fight for carries with or without a healthy Turbin present, and say that the spirit of competition can only improve the already dangerous Aggie offense.
    “I’m still going to fight for the carries,” Speight said. “The job is up for grabs, and me and Mike are two seniors. We can’t look at it as its (Turbin’s) spot. We’ve got to push each other and make each other get better.”
    With so many options at the running back position and so much talent, perhaps the question isn’t which running back will surpass the all-telling 1000 yard rushing mark in 2009, but rather which running back won’t.
    “Let’s get three one thousand yard rusher and I’ll be happy,” Baldwin said half-jokingly.
    And with that kind of an attitude, who needs replacements anyway?
– adam.nettina@aggiemail.usu.edu