For the first time in a long time, there has been very little made about the play of running backs. Sure, there have been strong performances by Wisconsin running back, Jonathan Taylor and Oklahoma State’s Chuba Hubbard leads the country in rushing by a mile, but aside from them, it has been a quiet year for tailbacks.
Now, an argument could be made about a few running backs to get more attention, but no player is more deserving of a jump in praise than Kenneth Gainwell. What Gainwell has done in the absence of Patrick Taylor has been remarkable. Before this Saturday’s game against Temple, Gainwell was one of the top ten rushers in terms of yards per game, yards per carry and all-purpose yards.
Remember he is a just a freshman.
Despite Temple having the 20th ranked defense in the nation, they are ranked 55th against the run, and Gainwell did a great job of exploiting that in Saturday’s game. He ran for 98 yards and a touchdown on 19 carries. His performance helped to keep the offense moving while Brady White was struggling. He also had eight receptions and 98 receiving yards in the defeat to the Owls 30-28.
Prior to this game, Gainwell had rushed for 620 yards and six rushing touchdowns. His best game was the team’s week six matchup against Louisiana-Monroe, a game that Mike Norvell was not even sure that his leading rusher would be able to participate in.
Well, not only did he play, but had the best game of his young career. On just 14 carries, he ran for a career-high, 209 yards and two rushing touchdowns, including a 68-yard run.
His numbers are great, but what sets him apart from other running backs in the nation is his patience and explosiveness. He has yet to turn the ball over and knows when to wait for his offensive line to create holes, rather than rushing to make plays that are not there. As for his explosiveness, in four of the team’s first five games he has had a run of at least 45 yards or more and a touchdown. The only exception to this was the team’s season opener against the Ole Miss, when he was tasked with backing up Patrick Taylor.
Last season, while he was redshirting, Norvell tasked him with shadowing do-it-all player, Tony Pollard. Pollard was a superstar in his three seasons as a Tiger and a key player in the run, receiving and return game. He scored 25 touchdowns for the team, including an NCAA record for kick returns for a touchdown with seven.
You can see the similarities in their games now with how versatile Gainwell has been in the team’s first six games.
Prior to this game, he had accumulated 759 yards from scrimmage and averages 151.8 yards from scrimmage per game, the fourth highest total in all of the FBS. Even when Patrick Taylor is able to play again, it should be clear to Norvell and his staff Gainwell deserves to keep getting RB1 carries. He has earned them and has shown repeatedly that he has what it takes to be a team’s primary back.
As the weather gets colder and the team gets deeper into conference play, the run game is going to be featured more and more in this Tigers’ offense, which means spectators should see a lot more Gainwell as the season wears on. If you have not been gotten a chance to see what Gainwell has been doing, just keep watching him and you will be wondering how you’ve gone this long without hearing about him.
Kenneth Gainwell celebrating during a game with Ole Miss. The true freshman running back ended with 204 total yards and a touchdown against Temple.
