Arkansas Sports 360 - ArkansasSports360.com

9/1/2010 at 7:28pm

In a sport where your win loss record in the regular season is the single most important factor determining your success, you give the ball to the players who you know will help you win. And by win, I mean put points on the board.

Broderick Green should be the Arkansas starter.

Last year Green accounted for 66 of Arkansas’ 468 points for the season. That’s more than any other player not named Ryan Mallett or Alex Tejada on Arkansas’ roster.

In a conference where points have often been a scarcity and offenses seem to often be left at home when heading into hostile stadiums, having a solid running game and a back who can put points on the board is an invaluable asset.

Last season Green scored 11 touchdowns, which is more than the rest of the backfield combined. Dennis Johnson, Ronnie Wingo and Knile Davis put up seven touchdowns together out of the backfield.

People get hung up on yards per carry averages and look at Green’s and wonder why he got so many carries. The answer is simple, he was used in more short yardage situations last year and as the year progressed developed into a back who could run both inside and outside the tackles.

This gives him an advantage when it comes to getting carries. All of the running backs are talented. In particular Dennis Johnson is talented, but he needs space to be truly effective. Johnson is not a between the tackles kind of runner, and his size will make that harder down the road. Green however, has developed more speed and quickness in the offseason and has begun to display a toughness and field vision that was absent at times last season.

I don’t know what people want from Green, but you will get more than you can handle if Bobby Petrino gives him the starting job by the Georgia game.

Take a look at Green’s numbers and then compare them to the last great running back Petrino put into the NFL, Michael Bush’s.

Bush averaged 5.6 yards per carry in his most successful season in Petrino’s offense in 2005. A season in which the NFL-caliber running back ran for over 1,000 yards and scored 23 touchdowns. Green averaged 4.3 yards per carry, scored 11 touchdowns and ran for 442 yards last season against elite SEC defenses and one of the toughest schedules in the country.

Give Green the ball consistently this season, he may end up putting twice as many TD’s on the scoreboard than he did a year ago.

It’s hard to justify not giving the ball to a 6’2” 248 lb. running back who got faster in the offseason. And you know Petrino is just waiting for Green to step up in a game early so he can make that final tweak to his juggernaut offense.

I’m calling it right here, mark it down. Green WILL be the starter before they hop on the plane to Athens.

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TJ Carpenter is host of The TJ Carpenter Show on ESPN 92.1 The Ticket in Northwest Arkansas, every weekday from 3 to 6 pm.

Tagged: TJ Carpenter, Michael Bush, Bobby Petrino, Broderick Green