Is The CAA Becoming A Tailback League?

 BALTIMORE – For the first time in nearly a decade, the Colonial Athletic Association football season will start with the highest expectations falling on the broad shoulders of the league’s running backs, not its quarterbacks.

“We talked a lot about the quarterbacks last year,” Delaware sophomore tailback Andrew Pierce said last week. “I guess it’s time to talk about the running backs this year.”

Pierce and William & Mary senior Jonathan Grimes highlight a class of talented and experienced running backs. The pair shared preseason Offensive Player of the Year honors at the league’s annual media day in Baltimore last week.

A quarterback has won or shared the postseason version of that award in eight of the last 10 seasons.

The last running back honored was Massachusetts’ Steve Baylark, who shared the award with New Hampshire quarterback Ricky Santos in 2006.

But with Grimes, Pierce, Massachusetts’ Jonathan Hernandez, Maine’s Pushaun Brown, New Hampshire’s Dontra Peters and Old Dominion’s Mario Crawford all carrying the ball for CAA teams this year, that could change.

“Offensively, this will be a year that this league will be dominated by the running backs,” ODU coach Bobby Wilder said. “There are just some kids that are off the charts.”

Pierce was the Offensive Rookie of the Year last season, leading the league in rushing with 1,655 yards and 14 touchdowns. He was the only back to average more than 100 yards per game, going for 110.3 per outing. Hernandez was second, rushing for 938 yards and nine touchdowns (85.3 yards per game) despite splitting time with senior John Griffin, who finished third in rushing at 76.6 ypg.

Grimes, the 2008 Offensive Rookie of the Year, finished fourth (887 yards, 8 touchdowns, 73.8 ypg) and led the CAA in all-purpose yardage (135 ypg).

“I still can’t believe we didn’t offer him a scholarship,” New Hampshire coach Sean McDonnell said of Grimes, a New Jersey native, like Pierce. “I don’t know what we were looking at. He’s probably in my 12 years one of the most versatile all-around backs that has played in [this league]. He can run, he can catch. He threw last year. He can return kicks. He’s a big kid, he can block.”

The Tribe figures to take advantage of all those skills this year.

“Get the ball to Grimes,” said Jimmye Laycock, coach of preseason favorite William & Mary. “That’s what we’re going to have to do, whether we hand it to him or pitch it to him, throw it to him. Whatever. We have to find ways to get John’s hands on the ball.”

For his part, Grimes said people should respect the Tribe’s running game less because of his abilities and more because of the stout front five he’ll have blocking for him.

“I think it should be ‘o-line, o-line, o-line’ too, if you’re going to talk about the running backs,” Grimes said. “I definitely see a change. A lot of teams are going back to the running game, kind of old-school football. A lot of teams are getting better at running the football.”

The glut of tailback talent comes in a year when the league’s quarterbacks are a bit questionable.

Just four of the CAA’s 11 teams return their starting quarterback from last season. But at tailback, there’s a wealth of experience. Eight teams return their most productive back from a year ago.

Delaware, William & Mary and Maine will rely on strong tailback play to take the heat off their quarterbacks. Delaware is replacing Pat Devlin – most likely with sophomore Trevor Sasek — and W&M will plug in former North Carolina transfer Mike Paulus for Mike Callahan.

Maine’s two returning quarterbacks – Warren Smith and Chris Treister – struggled with turnovers last year.

And then there’s James Madison. With a potentially improved offensive line, a play-caller with a history of wanting to keep the ball on the ground, and a new starting quarterback, the Dukes should be a team planning to lean on their running game.

The question is, who will be carrying the ball?

Jamal Sullivan and Griff Yancey were seniors last year and Scott Noble was booted off the team in the offseason for off-field issues.

Madison brought in Penn State transfer Hykeem Brodie and returns promising young backs Jordan Anderson and Dejor Simmons. Anderson missed spring practice because of shoulder surgery, and the blazingly fast Simmons redshirted last season.

Coach Mickey Matthews will call the offensive plays this season and the Dukes are expected to boast one of the league’s best defenses.