When Marty Johnson went down with a knee injury late in the Utes’ Sept. 7 win over Indiana, the rushing attack of the U football team looked sunk. And, for a couple of weeks afterward, it was.
It wasn’t until a Sept. 28 meeting with Air Force that the Utes finally began to move the ball on the ground again. On that day, junior college transfer Brandon Warfield earned his first Division I start.
Despite the team’s third straight loss, Warfield firmly solidified a spot in the lineup, rushing for 149 yards in the first half alone.
However, things didn’t run so smoothly for most of the Utes’ season. But even as the team fell into a crushing six-game losing streak and saw its once-promising season go up in smoke, Warfield stood out as one of the few positives, rushing for 985 yards over nine appearances and seven starts. He capped off his breakout season with a 40-carry, 194-yard effort in Utah’s season-ending victory over rival BYU.
The Ute rushing attack was alive, indeed.
But with the offseason came a complete makeover for Utah football. Embattled coach Ron McBride was out, and Urban Meyer-the former Bowling Green coach known around the country for his innovative, high powered and pass-heavy offenses-was in.
Utah football changed immediately with Meyer’s hiring. Gone was the slow-paced, run oriented offense of yesterday. In its place was Meyer’s spread offense-an offense that started four wide receivers rather than two, and just one running back-an offense built around the quarterback, built to stretch the field, built to put points on the board through the air.
Talk about a change in philosophy.
But with the installation of the new system, Utah now faces an interesting quandary: having two star-quality tailbacks battling for just one starting job.
Other teams should be so lucky.
Johnson, the NCAA’s leading rusher last year at the time of his injury, is healthy once again and intent on reclaiming the role he once earned. Warfield, who emerged from total obscurity to lead the team in rushing last season, has proven that he, too, can get the job done.
The competition has been open since the onset of spring practices, and at this point is still unsettled.
“[It has been] extremely competitive,” Meyer said. “We have two good running backs. I’m not worried about that. Whoever practices the best plays. Marty Johnson has done everything I’ve asked him to and more, and the same with Brandon Warfield. They want to play.”
How the battle at running back plays out will certainly be a determining factor of the Utes’ success this season.
Warfield and Johnson are the best offensive players on the Utah roster, and coach Meyer will be sure to utilize that, even out of the team’s new shotgun formation.
“We’re still a run-first team,” he said. “We’re going to force you to defend the run, especially with the two running backs we have. But the shotgun gives you a better chance to give them diverse formations and spread it out and give you an opportunity to spread the field.”
The Utes will rely more heavily on the running game than this style of offense typically would, mainly because the team doesn’t yet have the right personnel.
“The wide receiver position is not a Division-I group right now,” coach Meyer said. “That’s the most alarming position on our team. We’ve come from an offense where they usually ran two receivers-we’re gonna run four. I’m not nearly as concerned as I was in the spring because they’ve gotten better. But we’ve still got a long way to go.”
With a trio of quarterbacks fighting for playing time-all of which have Division-I experience-the coaching staff will work hard to keep the ball in the air.
But as the passing game fights through inevitable growing pains, it is clear the Ute offense will live and die by the run.
The biggest question remaining is who will be lining up in the backfield with the starting lineup.
“I want to start, he wants to start,” Johnson said. “We both know we’re good, but we both know at the same time that there’s only one starter. But the competition has just made me play better. If you go out there and you’ve got somebody that’s trying to take your spot, who’s capable of taking your spot, you’re going to play hard and practice hard, every time.”
“I feel comfortable with the situation because I feel both of us will get playing time,” Warfield said. “Both of us are really good running backs, and no matter what, we’ll be successful. I know by the end of the year we will have at least one 1,400-yard back. Me and Marty may have 1,000 yards each.”
Coach Meyer has already made sure that both players will see playing time, though it remains to be seen who will get the bulk of the carries.
“Most of the time we’ll play both at the same time,” Meyer said. “It won’t be a traditional two-back set, but we’re going to have both on the field at the same time.”
While the new aerial attack will take some getting used to, the Utes don’t expect to miss a beat on the defensive side of the ball, despite the loss of all-conference linebacker Sheldon Deckart and relative uncertainty concerning the defensive backfield, particularly former all-MWC safety Arnold Parker, who struggled in his first try at cornerback last season.
“[Parker] is a year better and his work ethic has improved,” Meyer said. “He had a great spring. Defensively, the last three years we led the league in defense. A lot of those kids are back, and we kept our defensive coordinator, so I feel really good about our defense.”
But no matter how strong a performance the defense puts on this season, all eyes will be on the offense, in particular Marty Johnson and Brandon Warfield, two fierce competitors battling for the same carries, the same minutes and the same job.
“This is just what I like,” Johnson said. “All it’s going to do is make me play better. When you’ve got somebody breathing down your neck, you’re gonna do everything you can to play and to win. My main thing is to go out there and play hard. Everything else will take care of itself.”
Asad Kudiya contributed to this article.