WEST HARRISON, IND. – Rodriguez Moore was all set to move to Lubbock. The Louisiana native had spent two years playing running back at East Mississippi Community College, including rushing for more than 1,300 yards as a freshman as EMCC won its first junior college national championship. Moore had decided Texas Tech would be a good fit for him.
When Tommy Tuberville left Texas Tech and took the job at Cincinnati, so did Moore’s commitment.
“I liked the coaching staff,” said Moore. “When I went on my visit to Texas Tech I felt at home and when I came up here I felt the same way. I liked the players. They welcomed me.”
Moore is part of the concentration of running backs Tuberville and offensive coordinator/running backs coach Eddie Gran are putting through the rigors of preseason camp at the Higher Ground Retreat and Conference Center in southeast Indiana. Ralph David Abernathy IV is the top returning back for the Bearcats and is at the top of depth chart at the moment, said Tuberville, but at 5-feet-7, 160 pounds, he’s not built to carry the load on every down.
So along with Moore, Hosey Williams (also a junior college transfer), Anthony King and Tion Green are splitting up carries now to figure out how things will be divided in the regular season. It’s a diverse group in terms of size and skill set; King (219) and Green (220) bring more power, while Abernathy and Moore are smaller, shiftier backs, and Williams is a blending of the two styles. No one has a grip on any role at this point.
“I’d like to have one guy but there have been years that I’ve played two and let them play, and been pretty good at it,” said Tuberville. “It’s not quite as critical as playing one single quarterback. We’re going to need all of them as we go through the season.”
Tuberville and Gran, who spent 14 seasons as an assistant under Tuberville at Auburn and Mississippi, have had a good track record with running backs.
Auburn’s undefeated 2004 team had one of the best running back tandems in college football history. Carnell “Cadillac” Williams rushed for 1,165 yards, averaging 4.9 yards per carry, and scored 12 touchdowns, while Ronnie Brown averaged 6.0 yards a carry while gaining 913 yards and scoring eight rushing touchdowns. Brown was selected No. 2 overall in the 2005 draft by Miami, and Williams went to Tampa Bay with the fifth overall pick in that same draft.
Six other running backs, including former Bengals Rudi Johnson and Kenny Irons, were drafted into the NFL under the Tuberville/Gran combo.
Isaiah Pead led the Bearcats in rushing three straight seasons, including rushing for 1,259 yards in 2011. The question last year was: how would UC replace him? George Winn answered by running for 1,334 yards, the second most in a single season in UC history. Winn missed DeMarco McCleskey’s 2002 mark of 1,361 yards by just 27 yards.
“I think we’re going to get a lot of rotation,” said Moore. “We’re going to have to be strong running the ball so we can open up the pass. I think everyone is going to get their touches.”
Abernathy, a junior, has gained 2,576 all-purpose yards and scored eight touchdowns in his first two seasons. The running game will be more downhill under Gran’s scheme than horizontal as it was the past three seasons under Butch Jones, said Abernathy.
“I just want to fill whatever role the coaches have for me, whether it be I touch the ball all of the time or I touch the ball five times,” said Abernathy. “We are trying to get as vertical as quick as possible. It’s a little bit of an adjustment coming from zone to power. There’s no doubt in my mind we’ll be effective. Everybody does their job and everyone contributes in their own way.”
