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BYU backfield playing the "who's healthy?" game |
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brandonjudd | Wednesday, September 17, 2003, 10:59 am
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Brandon Judd
CougarBlue 2
Maybe Marcus Whalen and Matt Berry don't like each other. They sure haven't been on the field together much this year.
Now, they probably do get along in real life. But injuries have kept the two from lining up in the BYU backfield at the same time. Just as Whalen gets ready to come back after breaking a bone in his foot, Berry is headed to the bench with a broken hand.
All of the moving has created some small controversies. Should Whalen's replacement, Rey Brathwaite, be the starter? If you look at his stats, he sure does have a good case to get the starting nod. On Saturday, he rushed for 169 yards and had 18 receiving yards. Plus, he threw the game-clinching 26-yard pass to Toby Christensen. For the season, he is 34th in the nation in rushing at 93.7 yards per game. Also, he has shown a tendency to make positive plays happen on broken plays, as evidenced by his 89-yard romp last week.
Despite all this success, you can't forget Whalen, who's set to return to the field Saturday against Stanford. Last year, he led the Cougars with over 900 yards rushing, and it would have topped 1,000 had he not had to fight off nagging injuries.
Coach Crowton has announced that Brathwaite will get the start, but Whalen will get his carries too. He said they will run some sets where the two are on the field at the same time. It will likely continue like this for at least a couple games - the two backs sharing the load before the coaches pick one main back over the other.
Of course, it could also be a situation like 1996 where BYU employed a Ronney Jenkins-Brian McKenzie backfield. Jenkins was the speedy guy; McKenzie was the bruiser. Now Brathwaite is the speedy one and Whalen the up-the-middle runner. In '96, the two backs shared the load much of the season and it was a success, as evidenced by the 14-1 record BYU compiled. The best game - I'm throwing this in just so I can bag on the Utes - was when McKenzie rushed for 176 yards and Jenkins for 156 against Utah in their season finale. That was beautiful.
Having a two-back system will hopefully help the Cougars improve their rushing numbers. After Brathwaite, BYU hasn't done much on the ground. Expect the rushing numbers to improve with Whalen back.
The quarterback position has done its share of shuffling as well. With Berry out for at least three weeks with a broken hand, John Beck steps in as the starter. In some limited duty, Beck has looked all right. His Georgia Tech series (sack, fumble, interception) was forgettable, but his play versus USC was not too bad. He made a couple good runs near the end of the game when he was in. But the play where he suffered a concussion showed that he needs to know when to just get down.
From what I hear, Beck is more talented than Berry and more agile; his inexperience is his knock against him. He has earned the starting spot though, and he has the luxury of an amazing defense that will help him not feel pressure to score every drive to have to win the game. (Though it would be a nice change if we did score on every drive!)
Beck is young, but he seems poised to take over. If he plays well enough, he could challenge Berry for the permanent starting spot when Berry comes back. But most likely, Beck will just have to take his few games he gets to start this season and enjoy them.
I think no matter how well Beck plays, Crowton will put Berry back in charge when he's healthy. But at least Beck is getting some great playing experience now - experience that could lead to him becoming a great quarterback in a couple of years.
Until the backfield can all get healthy, these little questions will remain. But at least BYU finally has some backfield depth again. |
