At least 185 yards per game on the ground
There is no position on this year’s offense that is deeper than the running back corps. In fact, Tech is a legit five-deep at that spot.
Therefore, it would make sense for Cumbie to rely heavily on his rushing attack. Of course, that was supposed to be something that his predecessor was going to do as well.
The season prior to David Yost’s arrival as Matt Wells offensive coordinator, the 2018 Utah State offense ran the ball 80 more times than it passed it and averaged 203.2 yards per game. But while at Tech, his offenses never ran for more than the 162.9 yards per game that the Red Raiders put up in 2020.
That needs to change this year. In fact, Tech needs to be one of the elite rushing teams in the Big 12. Thus, a great goal would be to try to run for 185 yards per game.
Hitting that mark would have put Tech at No. 5 in the conference and No. 40 nationally. And the key could be the QBs, not the RBs.
As we recently discussed, Tech is expected to rely more heavily on the QB ground game this year than it has at any time since the Mahomes era and perhaps even more than that. That’s because Shough is not afraid to keep the ball on zone-reads and he is nimble enough to be an effective weapon when doing so.
Shough averaged 4.1 yards per carry last year (and remember, that number includes yardage lost because of sacks). What’s more, Cumbie has built the QB run game into his offense as he’s had a QB surpass the 400-yard rushing mark in five of the last seven years.
If Shough gives Tech another weapon on the ground and the offensive line can open up some holes for this talented stable of RBs, 185 yards per game might be a bit modest. But if Tech hits that number, this is an offense that will be hard to stop.