Three Is Better Than One -- Run Game Once Again Poised for Dominance
By Pete DiPrimio | IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Running backs Turbo Richard, Khobie Martin and Lee Beebe Jr. have wrapped up an Indiana press conference and are heading out of the Don Croftcheck Team Room when a final question comes.
Who’s the fastest?
Richard, who once won a North Carolina high school state title in the 100 meters, stays silent, as does Beebe Jr.
Martin, however, breaks into a grin.
“I’ll take that (role),” he says.
For now, with the Sept. 5 season opener against North Texas less than two weeks away, the answer remains elusive among these three standouts. There is, however, no uncertainty when it comes to the importance of a productive Hoosier running game.
“The coaches say it very often,” Beebe Jr. says with a laugh. “They want us to get the running game going because without a good running game, it’s not going to be a good day.”
IU’s running-game approach under head coach Curt Cignetti and offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan is to rotate backs to keep them fresh. For this season, three is better than one.
Last year, Roman Hemby and Kaelon Black got most of the carries and each rushed for more than 1,000 yards while combining for 17 touchdowns. In a backup role, Martin added 505 yards and six TDs. In 16 games, IU averaged 212.9 rushing yards with 35 total touchdowns.
In Cignetti’s first season at Indiana, the Hoosiers averaged 165.1 rushing yards a game with 37 touchdowns. Justice Ellison and Ty Son Lawton combined for 1,516 yards and 22 touchdowns.
What could this season bring?
Consider Beebe Jr. ran for 209 yards and a touchdown in three games last year before suffering a season-ending knee injury. Before that, in 27 games at UAB, he had 1,844 all-purpose yards with 13 touchdowns.
In 19 career games at Boston College, Richard totaled 1,027 rushing yards and 11 TDs, including 749 and nine last year. Martin has 579 rushing yards in 16 career Indiana games, all as a backup.
“It keeps everybody fresh,” Martin says about the rotation. “You can beat and bruise the defense.
“You’ve got somebody like Lee running through everybody. Somebody like Turbo, he can do everything on the field. Defenses don’t know what to watch for when we get in the game.
“At the same time, we have three deadly weapons in the backfield. Everybody can do something. Everybody stays fresh. It leaves defenses tired and not knowing what to do.”
As for a rotation limiting the number of carries everyone gets, Martin says, “Coach Cig and Coach Shanahan do a great job of making sure everybody gets some playing time. They do a great job of making sure we all get in, benefiting the team and doing whatever we can to make sure we win.
“Last year, and the year before that, everybody was getting in the rotation, doing something to make sure we won. We can do the same thing this year, for sure.”
Beebe Jr. says sharing carries doesn’t generate competitive tension.
“All three of us have a great bond, and it’s not just the three of us, it’s the whole running back room. When we're out there on the field, we feed off each other's energy. That's when we do great.”
A rotation of this magnitude is new for Richard, and he’s fine with it.
“I am grateful to take on a role of doing what I can in this offense. Coach Shanahan -- I love his offense -- runs a great offense and puts us in situations that we need to be in to execute our job. In my role, I can do everything I can do to help us win championships and games.”
Running backs coach John Miller is instrumental in IU’s rushing success.
“He’s great,” Beebe Jr. says. “He breaks down every play so we all can make sure we know what we have to do, when we have to do it. We know what our assignments are and where we have to line up. It’s the small and big details. He does a really good job at that.”
Another plus -- IU projects to have one of the nation’s best and most experienced offensive lines.
“It’s a huge advantage,” Beebe Jr. says. “During a game, everything isn’t just black and white. Sometimes things get out of order. Just having that veteran O-line, they can sort that out. They’ve played a lot of games. They can make the right decisions.”
That’s exactly what Cignetti expects.
“Running the ball has been key for us,” he says. “It all starts up front with the offensive line, the tight ends and the wide receivers blocking. I think the tight ends are making progress.
“We can get a little better at receiver blocking with our hand placement in particular. The running backs are running hard. I really like our backs.”
IU targeted the 5-foot-9, 204-pound Richard as soon as he entered the transfer portal. The Hoosiers’ balanced attack and Cignetti’s winning culture were big draws.
“Indiana was the right place for me because I love the way Coach Cignetti coaches and the standard he has on the team,” Richard says. “How every rep is important; how we do anything is how we do everything. I love his standard.
“I’m also grateful for Coach Juice (Justice Ellison) and Coach Miller for bringing me here and giving me this opportunity. I’m here to do what I can to contribute to winning.”
It didn’t hurt that IU ran 60 percent of the time last season while imposing its physical will, plus had a dominant passing attack.
“It was the way the O-line got in the trenches and the way those guys blocked up front,” Richard says. “That caught my eye. How much we run the ball and the (run-pass-option) system. Teams can’t play the run fully because we have a run-pass offense.”
IU is 27-2 in two seasons under Cignetti, including last season’s 16-0 national championship. The Hoosiers are ranked No. 6 in major preseason polls, behind No. 1 Ohio State and No. 2 Oregon in the Big Ten.
“IU has a winning mentality,” Richard says. “I’ve always had that mentality, from little league, middle school, high school, and now college. When I came here, I felt I fit right in with the culture.”
That includes the practice approach.
“First and foremost,” he says, “it’s being consistent. Not just doing something right one time. It’s doing it over and over every day and practice.
“Playing clean football is what I mainly focus on. Just being great and doing whatever I can to do those things.
“It’s making sure we are on top of everything at game speed and being as consistent as we can. It’s treating every practice rep like a game rep. Then, when you get to the game, you play with those winning habits that you built in practice.”
How is Martin, a third-year player out of Fishers High School near Indianapolis, better prepared for a bigger role?
“I feel like I improved in a lot of areas. Pass pro and receiving are some of them.”
Martin caught one pass for 14 yards last season.
“Before last year, I was still trying to adjust, learn the plays, learn my position, do whatever I could on the field, just make sure the team could benefit in any way. I was still young. This year, I feel like I grew up a little bit, matured some more.”
Martin is listed at 6-foot and 204 pounds, four pounds lighter than last season. He credits meal preparation as well as another year in IU’s strength and conditioning program.
“I feel like a different player. My body feels lighter. I can pick my legs up quicker. I feel faster. Twitchier.
“I grew in a lot of areas just off my meal prep. My eating was one of the things, it wasn’t childish, but I matured. Eating was one of the ways I matured.
“Meal prep has really taken my weight and body composition to a different level. I've got more muscle in my arms. I toned down a little bit. I had a little bit of baby fat. I got rid of that. Now I've got more of a grown man body.”
As far as how that will translate to the field, Martin says, “I feel I’m more of an elusive back. I can weave in and out of tackles. I have some speed to me. I can catch passes. I can do a lot of things.”
Martin says he looks up to Beebe Jr. and Richard, just as he did with Hemby and Black last season.
“Kaelon and Ro were great leaders. So are Lee and Turbo. They have a lot of experience. I can look at them and say, ‘Okay, they've got more experience than me, I can learn from what they see on the field, whatever moves they read, how to study and watch film.’ I look at them almost the same way I look at Roman and KB.
“All the guys in the running back room are giving great competition but also helping me improve my game.”
The fact Hemby and Black are now NFL rookies, Hemby with the Las Vegas Raiders, Black with the San Francisco 49ers, is motivational, Martin adds.
“It lets me know that dreams can come true. Seeing the hard work they put in at IU, it tells me if I follow the course and do what I can do, I can get to that same level they’re at now.
“KB, congratulations to him. He got married and has a kid on the way. I see nice clips of him running. I see Roman on TV. It’s great those guys are out there competing and being successful in the league. It’s amazing.
At 5-foot-10 and 218 pounds, Beebe Jr. says he’s been full go since the start of August camp and is back to the form that enabled him to average 7.7 yards a carry last season.
“When I touched the rock, I knew then that, ‘Okay, cool, I’m back.’”
As for dwelling on the injury, he says, “I try not to think about it a lot. A lot of injuries happen whenever you think about it too much. It’s putting the injury past me, focusing on what I can do now, getting in the treatment room. Just treating my body right.”
Why is Beebe Jr. a running back and not, say, a linebacker?
“I love running back because I can hit people,” he says with a smile. “I like hitting people more. I like running to people’s faces.”