He’s physical. He’s multi-faceted. I’m glad that he’s back and we get him for another year. With a guy like him, it’s fun to scheme stuff. – BYU running backs coach Mark Atuaia said of Brown.
PROVO — With Jamaal Williams having withdrawn from school, there has been plenty of attention on the running backs at BYU’s fall camp.
Algernon Brown, who is expected to take many of the carries that were once earmarked for Williams, has been sidelined in the first two scrimmages the Cougars have staged.
Brown said he understands why coaches are holding him out. But when it comes to playing in a game — BYU visits Nebraska on Sept. 5 — he said, “I feel like I’m ready.”
Brown is being limited partly because the coaching staff knows what Brown can do already, and partly as a precaution.
“It reflects a confidence (in Brown) but also just a lack of experience and depth at that position,” coach Bronco Mendenhall explained, “knowing if he happened to be hurt, what that would do to the team overall, we’re trying to get enough work without scrimmaging.”
Last season, the 6-foot-1, 246-pound junior rushed 68 times for 324 yards in nine games.
“He’s physical. He’s multi-faceted,” running backs coach Mark Atuaia said of Brown. “I’m glad that he’s back and we get him for another year. With a guy like him, it’s fun to scheme stuff.”
Other running backs who are expected to make an impact this season include Adam Hine, who starred in last Saturday’s scrimmage with a 53-yard touchdown run, Nate Carter and freshman Francis Bernard. Freshman Riley Burt started out as a defensive back, but since has been moved to running back. Wide receiver Mitchell Juergens is also being used occasionally to take handoffs.
Offensive lineman Ryker Mathews is confident in the running backs, particularly Brown and Carter.
“He’s just a horse back there. He’ll run you over or over or juke you, whatever he needs to do,” Mathews said of Brown. “Nate is like a little bowling ball. He just bounces from side to side. You kind of don’t know where he’s going to be, but you know he’s working for those extra yards. It’s nice having him back there. We miss Jamaal, but we still have a solid backfield.”
Brown said the offensive line's play this season will help the running backs.
“Our offensive line makes the offense. Without them, there wouldn’t be a run game or a pass game," Brown said. "I think our offensive line has worked hard. It’s just little things like penalties, false starts, that they can work on. They’ll make us a lot better.”
What’s it like for offensive coordinator Robert Anae to scheme the run game without Williams?
“I am confident that we have capable players to fill in,” Anae said. “There are things as a staff, we go down roads, and it’s personnel-driven. I guess that could be a way of describing adjusting your playbook … We didn’t have Jamaal in the spring, either. Not having him in the fall, we just continued with our installations. Turns out that we just continue with what we’re doing in the spring. We have two more days to fulfill that.”
Both Mendenhall and quarterback Taysom Hill said not much will change with the offense despite Williams’ absence.
“I’m not saying that to underestimate Jamaal’s presence. The system is in place,” Mendenhall said. “We don’t have to make radical changes. We just don’t have as many players to carry out what he was doing. Depth is the biggest issue. He has a chance to be our school’s all-time leading rusher. Proven backs, Algie Brown and Adam Hine, their roles increase.”
“We just plug in and we keep going,” Hill said. “One thing losing Jamaal that way hinders us a little bit depth-wise. But Algie, Adam and Nate Carter, those dudes have stepped up. They’re very capable backs. We’ll be very capable at running the football with those guys. We’ll be able to do what we were planning to do.”
Bernard, a 6-foot, 235-pound freshman from Herriman High, has caught Mendenhall’s attention during fall camp.
The coach described Bernard as “tough, physical, reliable, consistent. All those things. He’s been one of the real pleasant surprises of fall camp. He’s farther along and more productive at a higher level than any of us expected. He’ll play. He’s done a nice job.”