‘I would never do 35 carries a game.’ TCU football coach talks Zach Evans’ workload
Bijan Robinson had a career day in leading Texas to a 32-27 victory over TCU last weekend, rushing for 216 yards on 35 carries.
TCU, meanwhile, didn’t ride its No. 1 running back in a similar fashion. Instead, sophomore Zach Evans had a solid day with 113 yards rushing on 15 carries.
Several questioned why Evans’ workload paled in comparison to Robinson’s. TCU coach Gary Patterson addressed it after the game, saying the team rotated running backs when Evans got tired, and Patterson did so again during his midweek news conference Tuesday.
“I would never do 35 carries a game like they did with the guy at Texas if you want to make it through four years,” Patterson said. “You’ve got to be very careful about that. That’s his (Texas coach Steve Sarkisian) call. It’s not mine. But the bottom line is you’re trying to make a bigger deal out of this than it is.”
Patterson pointed out that Evans was also targeted five times in the passing game, finishing with three catches for 11 yards.
“Would we have liked to maybe run him more? Yes, but it’s easy to sit in hindsight and be a guy on Twitter and be a writer and say you should do this or that,” Patterson said. “At the end of the day, it’s about keeping Zach Evans ... winning ballgames and keeping him healthy. Not only for the 12 games this year, but also for the 12 games next year as a junior. After that, I doubt you’ll see him playing at TCU.
“The thing you have to understand is — he needs to get more touches but at the end of the day it’s still about situations. We’re throwing it to him. We’re running it with him. It’s pretty easy to sit from afar and have an opinion about all of that.”
Patterson added that TCU was able to make a stop when Texas went for a fourth-and-goal from the 1 midway through the fourth quarter because Robinson had so many carries.
“He was tired,” Patterson said. “That’s a lot (of carries). If you look over 12 ballgames and you go 35, that’s a lot of touches.”
No running back has reached the 35-carry mark since Patterson’s first full season as head coach in 2001.
The most carries by a running back in a game since Patterson took over was 34 by Robert Merrill in 2004 against Tulane. Joseph Turner had 33 carries at San Diego State in 2007, and Lonta Hobbs also had 33 carries against Memphis in 2002.
Evans is averaging 17.3 carries a game the last three weeks and could push 200 carries by season’s end. He ranks first nationally with a 7.7 yards per carry average and has topped the 100-yard mark in three consecutive games and five of the last seven.
Evans’ teammates understand what type of threat he is with the ball in his hands.
“He’s the type of guy that drives you,” junior center Steve Avila said. “He’ll tell you straight up that this is what you’ve got to do and you better do it. I really admire that because he’s just a sophomore and he’s telling older guys what they’ve got to do to be good.
“I feel like when younger guys act like older guys is when a team can be really successful.”
LT’s marks
LaDainian Tomlinson is TCU’s standard bearer when it comes to running backs and workloads.
Tomlinson owns the first five spots in TCU’s history books for most carries in a game. He had a program-high 49 carries for 294 yards against Hawaii in 2000. He also topped the 40-carry mark against UTEP in 1999 with 43 carries for a then-NCAA record 406 yards; against Fresno State in 2000 with 42 carries for 231 yards; against Rice in 2000 with 41 carries for 200 yards; and against Arkansas State in 1999 with 40 carries for 269 yards.
The only other running back in TCU history with 40 carries in a game was Mike Luttrell in 1973, rushing for 137 yards on 40 carries.
Tomlinson set TCU’s record for most carries in a season with 369 for 2,158 yards in 2000. With Patterson as head coach, Aaron Green has the most carries in a season with 244 for 1,272 yards in 2015.
This story was originally published October 5, 2021 at 4:25 PM.
