Once known as the “Windy City Flyer,” Devin Hester has taken a few steps back from meriting that moniker. Not only is Hester not a wide receiver any more — which is a great decision from the new Marc Trestman-led regime — but he also is only “competing” for the return man job. Meaning if [...]
Jonathan Quick of the Los Angeles Kings tweeted this about having to miss the finals this year: “Just tried to watch game 3, had to turn it off, Wish I was wearing a white jersey, best of luck to both team #PossesiveOfTheCup #ReneCanSing” — Jonathan Quick (@JonathanQuick32) June 18, 2013 He is a competitor and [...]
In MLB, there’s outstanding starting pitching and then there’s a level above where the starting pitching absolutely carries a team. Through the first 70 games of the 2013 season, the St. Louis Cardinals have, without question, been on that second level when it comes to their rotation. The Cardinals have enjoyed the re-emergence of Adam [...]
A major question the Indiana Pacers will have to answer during the offseason is if they’re set at the guard spot with Lance Stephenson. It’s possible the Pacers will look to make a deal to strengthen that spot, unless Stephenson gives indication he’s ready to turn his game up a few notches. Stephenson did improve [...]
Last offseason, while college football realignment rumors were spreading like wildfire all over the place to keep our football-crazed minds occupied, you could hear small whispers from folks about how it would be beneficial for the Florida State Seminoles to try to align themselves with the ever-powerful SEC. And yes, in the end that’s all [...]
The Ole Miss Rebels won the SEC tournament this past season, but it would take a miracle for them to do the same thing in the 2013-14 college basketball season. There will be many teams predicted to finish ahead of Ole Miss in the conference entering the season, to say the least. Kentucky and Florida [...]
Earlier on Monday, the New Orleans Saints cheerleaders were making headlines for releasing an amazing music video to them singing Taylor Swift‘s hit song “22.” Now, it appears the Miami Dolphins cheerleaders have taken the same approach by creating a version of their own while doing a photo shoot for the team’s upcoming calendar. That’s [...]
Tim Tebow Was Almost Drafted By the Los Angeles Angels It’s hard to imagine Tim Tebow doing anything but waddling out onto a football field and throwing the football with that weird, left-handed motion of his (and making headlines for all kinds of stuff he’s never done and likely never will), but Tebow Mania was almost [...]
Newly acquired Atlanta Falcons’ running back Steven Jackson is quite an intriguing player for the fantasy football 2013 season. Jackson, in recent years, hasn’t been viewed as a big-time running back in fantasy leagues. The 29-year-old running back is entering his 10th season in the NFL and while not posting record shattering numbers, Jackson has [...]
Mexico and Italy opened up their Confederation’s Cup campaign in a decently entertaining match which saw the Italians come out on top. The match brought us chances, passes, tackles, goals and of course mistakes. In the end, the side with the more mistakes gave up all three points for their first loss of 2013 – [...]
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The Ohio State Buckeyes lost a big chunk of their defensive front seven from 2012 and will be looking for fresh faces to step up in a big way next fall. Urban Meyer has always been a major proponent of playing the best players on his roster, which bodes well for the incoming freshman class [...]
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Ohio State quarterback Braxton Miller enters his third season as one of the best players in all of college football. After a strong 2012 campaign in which he led the Buckeyes to a 12-0 record, he has to be an early favorite for the Heisman Trophy. Last season, Miller finished with an Ohio State record [...]
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This last week has been a whirlwind for Gordon Gee, but quite frankly, he deserves all of the scrutiny that the NCAAF media can conjure up. A week ago, I referred to the Ohio State Buckeyes president as a bigot, but now the only word that seems to do him justice is coward. College football is as crooked [...]
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The 2012 Big Ten football season was a very different year in terms of normal Big Ten football when it came to running the football. Out of the top five rushers in the entire conference, two were quarterbacks in Braxton Miller of the Ohio State Buckeyes and Denard Robinson of the Michigan Wolverines.
As for actual running backs, the two leading rushers, Montee Ball and Le’Veon Bell, have both moved on from college football to the NFL after stellar Big Ten careers putting up big numbers for both of their schools.
The Big Ten has always been known for having bruising running backs amassing many carries and being big and physical, but times are changing around the conference as more spread offenses develop. Backs like Venric Mark and Ameer Abdullah, the two leading rushers returning to the conference this season, are both quick, speedy backs who play in a spread out offensive system.
Although they are the speedsters of the conference, that doesn’t mean the tradition of between the tackle running backs are gone. James White of the Wisconsin Badgers is a tough runner and has put up solid numbers as a backup during his time in Madison. Carlos Hyde of Ohio State is another big, punishing running back who fights for every yard he gets and is a mean runner.
Other backs around the conference that will put up big numbers come 2013 are guys like Donnell Kirkwood of Minnesota, Mark Weisman of Iowa and Thomas Rawls of Michigan. Each one of these running backs are potential breakout stars in the conference.
Here are the top 5 running backs heading into the 2013 season for the Big Ten.
Erik Sargent is a college football writer for RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @Erik_Sargent, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.
Of all the problems surrounding the Penn State Nittany Lions football program in 2012, Zach Zwinak was not one of them. He provided a solid rushing attack for a Penn State offense that lacked true star power. He ran for exactly 1,000 yards last season to go along with eight touchdowns and had over 100 yards rushing in six games throughout the year. Zwinak is an old-school runner and is a lot of fun to watch. He is also a good back in passing situations, possessing good hands and is a solid pass blocker. With Penn State looking to break in a new quarterback, look for Zwinak to take some pressure off of whoever the quarterback is.
Carlos Hyde has the potential to be one of the best running backs in the Big Ten this season. Playing in the high powered Urban Meyer spread offense, there will be lots of room for him to gain big yards, especially with defenses being forced to focus on quarterback Braxton Miller. Hyde is one of the toughest runners in the conference, and he has great speed to back it up. He is almost a lock to score if the Buckeyes get in the red zone, and Hyde should be well over 1,000 yards rushing this season if he stays healthy.
Ameer Abdullah quietly put up 1,137 yards rushing and eight rushing touchdowns last season while filling in for the injured Rex Burkhead all year. While most of the attention was put on Burkhead’s injury and the play of quarterback Taylor Martinez, Abdullah was tearing up defenses with his great speed. He had six games of over 100 yards rushing and finished sixth in the conference in rushing. With a lot of attention focused towards Martinez and Burkhead graduated, look for Abdullah to have another solid season.
After being the backup in high school to now NFL running back Gio Bernard and then coming to Wisconsin and being the backup for John Clay and Montee Ball, it is finally time for James White to be the number one guy. White has run for over 2,500 yards in his career and has never been the starter, which is astonishing. He is a between the tackles runner and is a perfect fit as a Wisconsin running back, although it will be interesting to see if new head coach Gary Anderson changes the offense at all. Look for White to be among the top running backs at the end of the season.
Venric Mark was one of the most electrifying players in the entire Big Ten conference last season, running for 1,371 yards and 12 touchdowns on the season. He also had 104 receiving yards and a touchdown out of the backfield. Mark is one of the fastest players in the entire conference and is able to find major seams in the Northwestern spread offense. He can outrun anyone on the field and is a threat to score the ball every time he touches it. He is also a serious return game threat, returning two punts for touchdowns last season.
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Ohio State University is adding 2,500 more seats to their already gigantic stadium. This will put the Buckeyes at 104,000. This brings to mind a question I have often pondered. Why are NFL stadiums so much smaller than college stadiums? In 2008, the Indianapolis Colts built Lucas Oil Stadium, but it was barely bigger than the RCA [...]
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Unfortunately, we live in a world today that is so sensitive that you can’t walk placing your left foot before your right because you will probably offend someone somewhere. Do I agree with what Ohio State President Gordon Gee said? Of course not, however, do I think that the universities trustees should be “embarrassed”? No. That in [...]
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The level of crookedness, bigotry and downright selfishness prevalent in the game of College Football is getting more disgusting by the day. When millionaire coaches are telling their players that they don’t deserve to make any money off of the sport they make famous, were you at all surprised by Gordon Gee‘s recent comments? I [...]
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Gordon Gee, the time has come for you to resign as president of the Ohio State University. After the most recent comments made public, there’s no doubt the time has come. No one doubts the guy can run a school, especially financially (Gee is currently overseeing a $2.5 billion fundraising campaign for OSU and oversaw a [...]
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Back in December, Ohio State University president Gordon Gee, while attending the school’s meeting of the athletic council, made some comments that I’m sure he figured would never leave that room. I’m sure that he was able to get a chuckle out of some of his Buckeye peers with him on that night. I’m sure [...]
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Gordon Gee Retiring from Ohio State
Well Big 10 and Ohio State Buckeye fans, it’s official. Gordon Gee has announced his retirement from the university as of July 1. “Without question, the university has achieved remarkable success, and it has been my honor and calling to lead it,” Gee’s email reads, via The Columbus Dispatch. “Ohio State is well-positioned for the [...]
Be sure to check out the Rant Sports 100 in 100 Series, a preview of the top 100 College Football Teams for the 2013 Season!
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