Interviews: Coach Ford | Fame Ijeboi | Antonio Harris
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Mother Nature pushed a scheduled night practice in Ross-Ade Stadium indoors to Schleicher field in the Mollenkopf Athletic Center on Wednesday night. The location did little to dampen the energy throughout the night practice to wrap three straight days of workouts before an off day on Thursday.
The new-look running back room was slated for the post-practice media session. While the Boilermakers added experienced runners in Jerrick Gibson (Texas), Travis Terrell Jr. (Jackson State) and Fame Ijeboi (Minnesota), there are a couple familiar faces in the room.
Junior Antonio Harris is back, who appeared in all 12 games last season with a pair of starts late in the year, along with sophomore Carter Holsworth. Cornell Ford took over the running backs after leading the wide receivers last year.
From power to speed to agility, the versatility of the running backs is something that Coach Ford believes will add a punch to the Boilermakers’ offense.
“I like to have a diverse room,” Ford added. “One, the bottom line is we want playmaker at the position. Anytime I think you can mix up the size in the room, obviously Fame is a big guy and Travis comes in, he's quick as a cat and just changes up the pace of the offense. I like having a diverse room.”
Through two weeks of camp, no single back has separated himself from the pack. The competition heats up every day at practice, but Coach Ford knows how important depth is to the position group.
“Most of my career, I've rotated about three guys pretty much,” Ford added. “They dictate who plays. The more confidence I have, the more confidence our whole football team has in them. If you do your job, we'll give you an opportunity to get on the field.”
Ijeboi, named to the Doak Walker Award Watch List earlier this week, has seen the growth of the running backs throughout the spring and camp thanks to the daily competition.
“We're just competing,” Ijeboi said. “It's fall camp. Fall camp is all about competing. We're doing a great job competing with each other, making each other better. That's our main focus right now is just competing and helping each other get better.”
The one word the sophomore from Folcroft, Pa., uses to describe his game? Explosive.
“I say explosive,” Ijeboi continued. “That's kind of the mindset I have when I run is to be explosive. Whether it's explosive on fourth-and-one, getting to the first down, or explosive making a big play. My goal is always just to be explosive when I'm out there.”
Despite competing for snaps, Harris, the returning veteran, credits the camaraderie of the group as a big key for their continued development.
“It's been awesome man,” Harris said. “All day we bounce ideas off each other, bounce game off each other. Whether that's been going in watching film, catching after practice, all types of stuff. We hang out outside the facility. Just good dudes overall and just continue to take stuff from each other's game to make us better.”
The Boilermakers will take Thursday off before returning to the field for practice on Friday (Aug. 21).