Running men: Eastern Washington relying on committee approach for rushing attack with usual starters out

Stout, effective rushing attacks have been a staple at Montana State since Brent Vigen arrived there in 2021.

Much of that was built around Tommy Mellott, who from 2021 to 2024 played in 39 games and rushed for 2,847 yards while also passing for 4,745.

But he had help from the running backs, too. Last year, for example, Scottre Humphrey averaged 92 yards per game, and Adam Jones added 78 per game. Along with Mellott and a smattering of others’ contributions, the Bobcats averaged a whopping 294.9 yards per game and reached the FCS national title game. Mellott won the Walter Payton Award.

This year, though, the fourth-ranked Bobcats (2-2) are still finding their footing in the run game, and on Saturday they will host in Bozeman a 1-3 Eastern Washington team that has also taken the all-legs-on-deck approach to its ground game.

EWU head coach Aaron Best indicated on Tuesday that the Eagles expect redshirt senior Jared Taylor will be available on Saturday after missing the last two games due to an injury. But in his absence, redshirt sophomore quarterback Nate Bell demonstrated a command of the offense and an elusiveness with the ball in his hands that will make the Eagles more difficult to gameplan against.

“(Bell’s) ability to evade pressure and create plays is significant,” MSU head coach Brent Vigen said during his press conference on Monday. “Taylor is a little bigger version … I would say their running style is just a little bit different.”

Between Bell and Taylor, the Eagles have put together a rushing game that averages 5.5 yards per carry, nearly a yard better than Montana State’s (4.7). Eastern also leads the Big Sky in rushing touchdowns with 12, including six from Bell, who is tied with Montana running back Eli Gillman for the league lead.

How the Eagles rushing attack matches up against the Bobcats defense is one of the more intriguing storylines heading into Saturday’s game, especially considering that the Bobcats don’t have quite the same approach to their own running game as they have in years past.

Starting quarterback Justin Lamson has been involved in Montana State’s running game, with 150 rushing yards on 45 plays. But that’s far from Mellott-level production.

The Bobcats have also relied on four running backs, led by senior Julius Davis (34 carries, 230 yards) and Jones (43 for 135). But last week they cycled in redshirt freshman Colson Coon, who led the Bobcats with 71 rushing yards on five carries against Mercyhurst. Junior Jared White also added 29 yards on six carries.

“Clearly our top two are still Adam and Julius,” Vigen said. “We need to have them all four ready to go. It played out that way on Saturday. … I think both (Colson and White) proved that they’re more than capable.”

Whatever their capabilities, the fact is that Montana State’s run game is averaging 176.8 yards through four games, 118 fewer than it did last year.

As for the Eagles, a foot injury to starter Malik Dotson has given more carries to redshirt junior Marceese Yetts, who started the last three games. He has 92 rushing yards (for three touchdowns) and 123 receiving yards.

But the Eagles have also turned to redshirt freshman Kevin Allen III (13 carries for 45 yards) and even gave true freshman Wilson Medina four carries late in Saturday’s victory over Western Illinois. He took one of them for 56 yards.

“He might be a freshman playing, but mentally he’s not that,” EWU running backs coach Tamarick Pierce said Tuesday. “The game isn’t too fast for him. … He made his statement.”

The run-by-committee approach has become the more common one in the Big Sky this season. Across the league’s 12 teams, only Gillman, Montana’s redshirt junior running back, is averaging more than 100 yards per game (133.3). UC Davis junior Jordan Fisher is next at 95.7 yards per game, a resume that includes a 170-yard, two-touchdown performance last week against Southern Utah.

The trio of Davion Godley (Weber State), Art Williams (Idaho) and Dason Brooks (Idaho State) round out the league’s top-five running backs by yards per game, but none average more than 76 yards per game.

“Everyone is shifting to the plus-one with quarterbacks in the run game,” Pierce said. “It allows you to have some wiggle room with the (running) back being the extra blocker there.”

It’s not the system Pierce came up in – he played 51 games at running back for Eastern from 2016 to 2021 – but it is one that he has coached the team’s running backs to embrace.

“In the QB run system, you have to lay it all out there. You’ve got to protect the quarterback,” Pierce said. “The way I go about coaching the guys is, we’ve got to value the carries that we are getting and make the most of those. If it leads to an expansion of our role, we’re happy about that. But at the end of the day, we care about winning.”

So, Pierce said, if the team’s quarterbacks run 15 times in a game and the Eagles still win, “that’s all that matters.”

“It’s about being ready for your chance, ready for your moment,” he said. “You never know when it’s going to be your chance to answer the bell.”