WKU Football: With Baker Out For Season, Now Is The Time To Prep Moses
Monday means pressers on the Hill, and today’s presser came with some news involving the Tops’ backfield:
Monday means pressers on the Hill, and today’s presser came with some news involving the Tops’ backfield:
Baker will miss the rest of the season, having had only four touches (for negative three yards) in Saturday’s loss to Vandy. In just about any other year, this would be huge news and a big blow. But, with the well chronicled struggles in the Tops’ backfield, this news isn’t as devastating as it could (or even should) be when you look at the whole picture.
The answer to “who should take Baker’s snaps?” is also obvious — true freshman Jakari Moses.
While Moses sits at third on the roster in total rushing yards and is tied for the second-most rushing scores (two), he does lead the team in yards per carry (a whooping 3.7) and has the chance to be something the Tops haven’t had since Bobby Rainey — a three-year running back star, with ample opportunity to prepare in his freshman season.
This isn’t to say Marquez Trigg, D’Andre Ferby and Baker come the next seasons aren’t valuable — any good team needs a stable of backs who can come in at any given time.
However, if Mike Sanford wants to turn the Tops into a run-first team (and be successful at it), he’s going to need a “the guy” who knows the system better than anyone else, and what better candidate than Moses?
Moses has no experience with the high-flying, up-tempo style of offense from Brohm and if Sanford plans on staying for a minute, it’d behove him to not only have a guy who knows his system better than the systems of the past, but to also have a guy who he can trot out there for three more years.
From this point on, if Sanford isn’t using Moses on 75%, if not more, of the running plays, then I’m not quite sure if he’s building for the future correctly.
Step one in building this running game back up is having a guy you know you can trust with the ball to make plays, and if it takes these final three games to establish whoever that is for next season and beyond, (admittedly, even if it isn’t Moses), then so be it.
As for Dee Cain missing the year, that isn’t exactly great news either. He’s played in all nine games so far and, while his numbers aren’t up there with the defensive leaders, it’s getting to the point in the season where familiarity on the field is just as good as stats. Wish him a speedy and painless recovery, along with Baker.
Who do you think should be given the keys to the offense with Baker out? Or should it stay RB-by-committee? Let us know in a comment below, via Twitter at @TheTowelRackWKU or on our Facebook page.