Oregon Ducks and Texas A&M Aggies Running Backs
Yesterday, two friends of mine were having a debate as to which team had the better running game this college football season; the Oregon Ducks or the Texas A&M Aggies. One of these two is a Ducks fan and the other an Aggie, and the choices made by the two fans are all too obvious. However, it is a fair question to pose, and you can answer this question at the bottom of the post and on the blog’s sidebar to the right. Feel free to leave comments explaining and justifying your choice. You know, like they made you do in school, except they asked less relevant and more tedious questions.
On to the debate. It’s a very interesting one to say the least, because both teams have some huge stars at the position. The Aggies have the dominant Cyrus Gray and the efficient Christine Michael, while the Ducks have the masterful LaMichael James, the steady Kenjon Barner, and De’Anthony Thomas who truly is lightning in a bottle.
Texas A&M averaged 5.1 yards per carry as a team last season with 2.2 touchdowns per game, while the Ducks averaged a league-leading 6.5 YPC with three TDs per contest. The overall team statistics indicate that the Ducks are the more successful team on the ground.
However, this debate is mainly about the running backs involved, so it’s time to look at the four backs who receive at least 100 carries. De’Anthony Thomas had just 58 carries this season, and I want to focus on the two-headed monsters on both of these teams.
I created a simple RB Efficiency statistic that combines yards per carry, fumbles, and rushing touchdowns to give an overall, basic rushing score. LaMichael James has an RB Efficiency score of 84.0, while Kenjon Barner’s is 72.6. As for the Aggies pair of backs, Cyrus Gray has a score of 61.3 and Michael’s total is at 67.3.
The statistics favor the Ducks backs, but they don’t do the Aggies duo nearly enough justice. Gray, in fact, is actually right around James’s level in terms of overall skill. James is the better back, but it should be noted that both of the Aggies star running backs missed significant time this season. Gray is like James, because he’s one of those small, quick backs who is a threat to score every time he gets the rock.
At the end of the day, statistics (production) and overall skill (scouting) should be combined when coming to a conclusion. In the end, LaMichael James is a little bit better than Gray and Barner is also better than Michael. I would also take Thomas over Ben Malena as my number three back in a heartbeat. Both of these teams possess two terrific rushing attacks, but the Oregon Ducks have more talent and better efficiency on the ground. It isn’t close, but no debate that is at least somewhat interesting has an obvious answer.
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