Utah Utes football: Utes have a very good 'problem': They're real deep at running back
It's a depth issue at running back. The Utes have lots of it.
Besides headliners Darrell Mack and Matt Asiata, there's Ray Stowers and Eddie Wide. Highly touted Alta High star Sausan Shakerin joins the mix this summer.
"It's a good problem," said Whittingham. "All I can say is it's a very good problem to have."
Though they've been limited this spring for precautionary reasons, Mack and Asiata are poised to lead the ground attack next season. Mack, a senior, rushed for 1,204 yards in 2007 — the third-best single-season tally in Utah history. Asiata, a prized junior college transfer, is regaining his form after breaking his leg in last year's season-opening loss at Oregon State.
"We'll see how that unfolds. We're hoping that that's the case — where they're both healthy and ready to go," said Whittingham. "If all goes as planned, we should have a pretty good situation at running back in the fall."
Mack, he added, is a proven commodity who did a great job last season. Whittingham also said that Stowers is a quality back and that Wide has made tremendous strides. Asiata, meanwhile, is projected to resume full-contact situations when two-a-days begin.
The role of primary ball-carrier, though, is most likely a two-man race between Mack and Asiata — or a combination thereof.
"I don't think it's competing. Darrell and I got real close during the offseason and during spring. It really doesn't matter to me, just as long as we play as a team. We have that one-two punch to get into the end zone and win," said Asiata. "We're both pushing each other real good. When it comes down to the games, we've got to step it up."
Asiata admits his surgically repaired leg still gets sore sometimes but expects it to be fully healed soon.
"I don't even think about it," said Asiata. "When I get the ball, I just have to do my job and just run."
So far, so good.
"We're making each other better. I think we're both real good running backs," said Mack, who is just the ninth Utah running back to rush for 1,000 yards in a season. "So we might as well work together and make each other better and stuff like that. That's the way I see it."
Mack added that he's just ready to win.
"I always like to have a competitive mindset. But at the same time, I want to help people around me — make them better, I guess," he explained. "I just see it as when it's my turn to get in there, I've got to make the most of the opportunity."
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