Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports
College football success stories have been known to bite people in the butt, and the next butt to bite is that of Nick Chubb. Chubb amazed all of the SEC last season as a freshman for the Georgia Bulldogs. He was able to come in with the the team on his shoulders and pull out everything he had when needed. He finished the season with 1,547 rushing yards and 14 touchdowns, all on 7.1 yards per carry. His stats were good enough for second in the SEC. In 2015 Chubb looks to be on the top of the leaderboards, but a few things could stand in his way.
The SEC is the best running conference in all of football as of this moment. So the man who sits atop as the leading rusher is deemed to have a crown put on is head and be carried on his teammates’ shoulders. Chubb was so close to being that man in 2014, being only 61 yards behind Auburn‘s Cameron Artis-Payne. But it could easily be argued that Chubb was the best running back in 2014; in fact, let’s just go ahead and say he was. He got his yardage on 84 less carries than Artis-Payne and averaged 1.8 more yards per carry. Had Chubb been given just one more game as a starter, things would’ve been different and the then freshman would be even more of the talk heading into his sophomore year.
Sadly, it can be said though that Chubb’s success last year came with some well timed luck. Everyone remembers the fall of Todd Gurley after his explosive first games last year that had him for sure winning the Heisman. Chubb became that back who was brought in when times were tough. Had Gurley stayed longer, Chubb would not be a household name as he is today. It was not only Gurley who helped Chubb’s success story. Other backs Keith Marshall and Sony Michel went down with injuries early on in the season too. Marshall ended his season with an ankle injury.
But in 2015 both of these backs will be returning for the Bulldogs, and that means less touches for Chubb. Head coach Mark Richt has always been known to give every running back somewhat equal opportunities during games. You could see it even when he had a powerhouse like Gurley, and there was never a year where a Georgia back got the top spot in rushing yards. So it will be almost impossible for Chubb to maintain that insane yardage that he kept from 2014. I’m not saying that the Georgia running game won’t be successful — I’m just saying that Chubb won’t be singled out like he was last year.
With the competition in the SEC running game, Chubb not being on the field all the time will barely keep him in the running as one of the top five rushers of the conference, much less the No. 1 spot. Chubb is up against opposing backs like LSU‘s Leonard Fournette, Arkansas‘ Jonathan Williams and Alex Collins, Missouri‘s Russell Hansbrough and a string of Auburn backs. There is absolutely no way that he will be able to keep up with all of that talent.
Chubb is done with being the top guy. 2015 will still be a successful year for him no doubt, but it will not be like 2014. Nor will the rest of his collegiate career. But you never know; Chubb might get lucky with injuries again and fool us all.
