Michigan Football: Ty Isaac should get more carries
After an impressive performance against Florida, what are the chances that Ty Isaac overtakes Chris Evans as the top back for Michigan football?
Coaches always talk about good problems to have, well for Michigan football, one of the good problems the Wolverines have is trying to determine who plays at running back.
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Coming into the season, Michigan football had three solid returning backs in Chris Evans, Ty Isaac and Karan Higdon. All three saw significant carries a season ago and all figure to play key roles in the ground game this season.
But going into the opening game against Florida, it seemed clear that Evans was the No. 1 guy. After all, he UM’s second-leading rusher a season ago and with his big-play ability, it’s hard not to give him the ball.
Yet, in the three years under Jim Harbaugh, Michigan football has never really had a bell cow. The Wolverines like to mix it up at running back and that’s fine, but after the way Isaac performed last Saturday, you wonder if he might have a chance to move up in the hierarchy.
Isaac’s road to success at Michigan has been long. Following his redshirt season, he rushed 30 times for 208 yards as a sophomore. Then, in 2016, as a junior, he ran 74 times for 417 yards and scored five touchdowns.
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Those numbers were good and last season, he averaged 5.6 yards per carry. But when Isaac ran the ball Saturday in Dallas, he just looked different — faster, more explosive.
Isaac showed that burst early, when he took a hand off on a draw on 3rd-and-12 in the first quarter and proceeded to break off a run for 36 yards and a first down.
Then, on the first drive of the second half, Isaac broke off another big run. This time, it was with Michigan football facing a 4th-and-1 at the Wolverines 44 and Isaac ripped off an 18-yard run.
Isaac’s run was one of the key plays in the game. The Wolverines scored later on the drive and took the lead back at 20-17. From there, Michigan football didn’t look back.
Yet, it wasn’t Isaac’s last explosive run. Early in the fourth quarter, with Michigan on its own 20, Isaac tore off a 22-yard run. The Wolverines would end the drive with a missed field goal, but it was still key for field position and time of possession.
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Evans had some nice runs too, including one for 29 and another for 13 in the fourth quarter. But outside of those two carries, he ran it 20 times for 36 yards. And while Isaac racked up 76 yards on three of his runs, his other eight attempts yielded 38 yards. For the game, he had 11 for 114.
Regardless of who starts, both backs will continue to get the ball and they should. Even Hidgon, who carried seven times for 28 yards, should continue to get involved.
But if Isaac continues to be the most impressive and productive runner, as he was against Florida, maybe he should be the one getting the bulk of the carries.
Of course, you don’t want to read too much into one game and it’s always possible that Isaac is a guy that does more with less. Maybe if he got 20 carries a game, he wouldn’t be as good. But maybe that is the issue with Evans too.
How Michigan football handles its running backs will be interesting. But at some point, if Isaac continues to be more productive, he should have the chance to start.
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Evans is still a stud and is going to be a big part of the offense. But if Isaac keeps running the way he did Saturday, then he deserves more carries plain and simple, whether he is the “starter” or not.