Gators boast 'special group' at running back with four-man rotation
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Heading into the season opener Saturday, the Gators have a quartet of running backs who will see the field against No. 7 Utah.
Nay’Quan Wright is the leader of the room and will likely start, while Louisiana transfer Montrell Johnson has emerged as the No. 2 option. Lorenzo Lingard is the fastest of the group and true freshman Trevor Etienne has also earned carries in camp.
Florida coach Billy Napier is counting on all four backs to be in the rotation.
“We’ve got some guys in that room that can play winning football. I think even the young freshman has shown flashes,” Napier said. “We’ve got four players that we trust. I think all those guys are smart. I think they’re all dependable. They’ve got maturity. Coach [Jabbar] Juluke is doing what he does, right? He gets that room ready to play, so those guys have been productive on a consistent basis.
“Running back sometimes gets overlooked in all that they do for the team: protection, catching the ball and certainly rushing the ball. That’s a good room. We’ll find out how good when we get to game setting, but I do think that we’ve got some proven players in Nay’Quan and Montrell. And I think we’ve got Lorenzo, who brings some things to the table and certainly the freshman’s a good player too.”
Wright totaled over 500 yards of offense (326 rushing) and two touchdowns last year before his season-ending injury against FSU, while Lingard had 43 yards on 11 carries. Johnson rushed for 838 yards and 12 scores as a freshman at Louisiana.
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“We’re a run-heavy team. I kind of like it,” Wright said in camp. “Watching those guys (at UL) last year, they had like two backs with 900 (yards) and one had 800, so I’m pretty sure everybody’s going to get in a groove when they’re in the game and it’s going to be fun.”
Added Johnson, “We’re a special group in the running back room. We have depth. We have me, Nay’Quan Wright, Lorenzo Lingard and Trevor Etienne. I think we’re going to surprise a lot of folks out there.”
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