Patterson: TCU ‘future is bright’ with freshman running backs

After freshman back Darius Anderson ran for 103 yards on just three carries last week against Texas, TCU coach Gary Patterson pictured the impact he and fellow freshman Sewo Olinalua can eventually provide.

“The future’s bright because what’s going to happen is those guys are going to learn the offense, and then out of a two-back deal, we’ll be able to be in anything we used to be,” Patterson said.

In the past five games, Anderson and Olonilua have rushed 23 times for 250 yards and two touchdowns, including Anderson’s 70-yard score to put the finishing touch on the victory in Austin.

They have steadily gotten work as TCU has increasingly turned to the running game, which has Patterson thinking ahead to next season when another running back, Shaun Nixon, rejoins the group after sitting out this season hurt.

“With Nixon being gone, that really hurt us early in the year because we couldn’t line up in two backs,” Patterson said. “He could line up in empty or four-wides, any of the things we’ve done for the last couple of years.”

Which is what Anderson and Olonilua are learning now – to become flexible enough to play running back or receiver in the Air Raid offense in the mold of Kyle Hicks, who leads the Frogs in rushing yards and receptions.

“Not only are they learning running back, but the more they learn how to play wideout and line up in everything else we do, the better we’re going to get,” Patterson said.

This story was originally published November 28, 2016 at 1:53 PM with the headline "Patterson: TCU ‘future is bright’ with freshman running backs."