Though the rest of the room is not as experienced, Ward is excited by the group's potential. Though he was sidelined for a majority of the 2022 campaign, McCray accumulated 112 carries, 549 rushing yards, and two touchdowns as a true freshman in 2021. Josh McCray is the lone returner who has played a significant role in the last two seasons. Love registered a career-high 72 carries, 329 yards, and two touchdowns while playing in all 13 games last season. Love, who enters his fourth year with the Orange and Blue, is one of four returning running backs on the Illini's 2023 roster, though he brings the most production from one year ago. Whether it's 200 carries, 100 carries, 50 carries, whatever your role is, I like to give guys opportunities to play." If you can carve out a role for you to play, I want to play you. That means that you're actually doing your job, and you're worthy of playing. When I was here before, I liked to play many guys. "We're going day by day, step by step, seeing and watching guys carve out their role, carve out their niche on a day-to-day basis.
#FOOTBALL STORY ABOUT THE NEXT MAN UP FULL#
For us, we have the next-man-up mentality, and right now, we're trying to develop a room full of guys who can carve out their niche and be a part of the offense. "When guys come in here, they have dreams and aspirations of playing. "When you see that type of production, he was 90% of the offense and 90% of the running game," Ward said. This amount of production and usage was unprecedented at Illinois, and new running backs coach Thad Ward feels good about his group after arriving in Champaign in January. Now, I can be recognized as a starter and get that thing going."īrown recorded a program-record 328 carries and 1,643 rushing yards, and he led the nation in yards on the ground for the majority of the 2022 campaign. "When we were in bowl prep, I wasn't really thinking about it being my first start, but thinking about it now, it's definitely a lot of weight off my shoulders because now I have that experience. "It releases a lot of pressure off of me, and it also boosts my confidence knowing that this year, I could potentially go in and start," Love said. While All-American Chase Brown begin preparations for the NFL Draft, the Illini backs have used the bowl season and spring to prepare to find new roles and keep the running backs room among the best in the nation.
2 for the ReliaQuest Bowl knowing he needed to make an impact. Making his first college start on the biggest stage of his career, Reggie Love III took the field at Raymond James Stadium on Jan. It's a feat few players can say they've achieved.
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