Question No. 8 for USF Bulls: Who is going to lead team in rushing?

Posted Jul 30, 2010 by Scott Carter

Updated Jul 30, 2010 at 12:45 PM

The running game is one of Skip Holtz’s top concerns as he prepares for the start of his first fall camp as USF’s head coach.

Since the day he took over, Holtz has said numerous times that he doesn’t want sophomore quarterback B.J. Daniels leading the team in rushing again like he did last season (772 yards, nine TDs). Plus, with Daniels coming off offseason shoulder surgery on his non-throwing shoulder (a later question we’ll address on the blog), the Bulls can’t afford having Daniels taking any extra punishment.

To serve as an official countdown to the start of football season here in our little corner of the blogosphere, I’m throwing out the 10 most important questions the Bulls face heading into the season.

USF opens practice Aug. 6. You can check out the blog each day for the latest question. After I give my take, I’d like to hear what your take is on the question of the day.

With that said, let’s take a look today at Question No. 8: Who is going to lead the Bulls in rushing in 2010?

Sixth-year senior Mo Plancher is the most likely candidate. Plancher was second on the team in rushing last season with 581 yards, but he also battled injuries and a lack of production late in the season.

Plancher is a good between-the-tackles runner but doesn’t have the kind of breakaway speed that Lindsey Lamar has or the power of former Bulls RB Mike Ford, who rushed for a career-high 207 yards in USF’s International Bowl win but was booted from the team in the spring for violating university policy for student-athletes.

So, with Lamar now at receiver and Ford gone, Plancher enters camp as the No. 1 tailback.

However, Demetris Murray opened a few eyes in spring practice and should get plenty of carries to state his case.

Here’s my best-case scenario: Transfer Michael Hayes arrives from Blinn (Texas) Junior College and runs away with the job. At 5-foot-9 and 192 pounds, Hayes is about the same size as Plancher (5-9, 204), but according to scouting reports, he has better speed.

At Blinn last season, playing in an offense led by former Florida QB Cameron Newton, who is now at Auburn, Hayes rushed for 1,269 yards and 17 TDs. He also had 329 receiving yards.

The other RBs in the mix: freshman Marcus Shaw and returnees Bradley Battles and Joel Miller.

My prediction: Daniels will be in the hunt for the team rushing title for the second consecutive year. He’s simply too good of an athlete not to gain significant chunks of yards scrambling from the pocket. But he must be smart in taking off, which is what Holtz and QBs coach Peter Vaas have emphasized to Daniels.

What’s your take?