The road to the Pac-12 championship game will be a bumpy one for the top contenders from the South division with USC, UCLA, Utah and Arizona State all expected to be in the mix. Establishing a strong rushing attack will be key to coming out on top and that means relying heavily on the following players to help carry the load. Here is a look at the top four running backs in the Pac-12 South division right now.
Justin Davis
USC Trojans
Davis averaged 5.3 yards per carry while rushing for 902 yards and seven touchdowns in his junior season and he has all of the tools to be a workhorse running back for the Trojans in 2016. The 6’1’’, 195-pound back has excellent strength, speed and elusiveness and he seemed to get stronger throughout last season including a combined 271 rushing yards in games against Oregon and UCLA in late November. It’s also worth noting that USC has one of the biggest sleepers to play at an elite level in the entire Pac-12 in Ronald Jones II, who is a shifty change of pace back with elite speed. Factor in Dominic Davis and his 4.3 40-speed and the it’s clear the Trojans have the best stable of running backs in the Pac-12 South division right now. Even so, Justin Davis is the lead horse in this back field.
Demario Richard
Arizona State Sun Devils
Richard is an elite dual-threat running back that will have the opportunity to build on a strong sophomore season as the feature back at Arizona State this season. Richard averaged 5.3 yards per carry while rushing for 1,098 yards along with 32 catches for 309 yards with three touchdown receptions in 2015 and he will be key to helping the Sun Devils’ offense reach that next level this season. Kalen Ballage is the perfect complement to Richard as a bruiser in between the tackles and if Arizona State’s running game can continue to produce at a high level they will be a true contender in the Pac-12 South division this season. This offense is expected to be one of the more explosive units in the conference, so that means there will be plenty of stats for both players to go around. Still, it would be quite surprising if Richard wasn’t in the top two or three of Pac-12 rushing yards at the end of the season.
Soso Jamabo
UCLA Bruins
The offensive line was a big reason why Paul Perkins and the Bruins’ rushing attack failed to live up to expectations a year ago and they will need to be better in order to give Jamabo the opportunity to shine this season. But remember that from a stats perspective, the running game delivered big numbers. Perkins averaged 5.7 yards per carry last season along with 14 touchdowns and he averaged 6.3 yards per carry the year before.
Jamabo is an intriguing talent at the running back position and it will be interesting to see what newly promoted coach Kennedy Polamalu does to put him in position to succeed in UCLA’s new offense. Jamabo has the potential to be one of the most productive running backs in the Pac-12 but the offensive line will need to be better in order for the Bruins’ running game to thrive this season.
Joe Williams
Utah Utes
Williams has been groomed as the heir apparent to Devontae Booker and 2016 will be his time to shine. Williams showed flashes of his explosive ability at times last season, including a monster performance versus Colorado in which he ran for 187 yards. For him, consistency will be the key. He’ll need to get fed a steady dose of carries as the three games that he saw at least 25 carries, he produced at least 91 yards and he had a total of three touchdowns in those games.
Troy McCormick will be the perfect complement as a scat back that can provide a change of pace, but ultimately it will be on Williams to carry the load as the workhorse running back at Utah this season.
