‘That group definitely caught my eye’: Running back room stands out in Spring Game showing versatility, depth Indiana football has at its disposal

There was no question about it — Indiana football knew the potential it had with its running backs coming into Thursday’s Spring Game. Now, the expectations and goals for that room are heightened after a terrific showing.

After totally revamping the room and bringing in four new backs, there were questions about rotation, standouts and even skillsets mixing in with the rest of the roster.

The answer? Every back will have a role, an impact and definitely see their skillsets translate.

“I think that group definitely caught my eye,” Indiana football head coach Curt Cignetti said after the game. “I just think our running back room is faster, more dynamic, good at pass pro, good at catching the ball out of the backfield, can break tackles. We have more speed and athleticism back there.”

Curt Cignetti brought Kaelon Black and Ty Son Lawton from James Madison. He signed Justice Ellison from Wake Forest and Elijah Green from North Carolina. All four had different paths to Indiana, but all four will have a significant role in Indiana’s offense.

Thursday showed the impact that group can have as a committee. While it was mainly a combo of Black, Lawton and Ellison, Green flashed on some of his limited opportunities as well.

But — the core three of Black, Lawton and Ellison clearly stood out.

“All three of those guys just love football,” Cignetti said. “They’re football nuts. Tough guys. They’re tough guys.”

Black comes to Indiana as a terrific all-around back. He had 637 yards rushing yards with 4.5 yards per carry with one rushing touchdown a season ago. He also averaged 10.6 yards per catch, with 254 yards receiving and four touchdowns.

On Thursday, he showed the quickness, explosiveness and elusiveness that will more than translate to the power five level.

Lawton had 568 yards with a 4.5 average as well. He added five rushing touchdowns and 174 yards receiving.

For Ellison, he comes to Indiana after a phenomenal career at Wake Forest, like Lawton and Black — being used in a committee. He had 548 yards and 4.6 yards per carry last year and three-straight years of at least 500 yards on the ground.

Related: ‘Every day I think about being resilient, detailed, and dominant’: Justice Ellison’s ‘go get it’ mentality made Indiana football the perfect fit for him

Black had a few massive runs and was able to get outside the tackles and escape tacklers at will. Lawton was very good in third-down work, both running and receiving out of the backfield. And, Ellison punched in a touchdown and was steady throughout the entire game.

“It’s huge. I think we have one of the deepest running back rooms in the country,” Indiana football quarterback Kurtis Rourke said after the game. “A lot of guys who can make plays, as shown by today. As the quarterback you want to pass the ball but being able to run the ball effectively opens up the pass. Being able to have running backs create plays on their own helps the offense as a whole.”

Coming into Thursday, the plan was to be very pass-heavy in the scrimmage. The impact that the running backs made on the ground, extending two or three yard gains to four, five or six yards was highly impactful. It also changed up the plan for any scripted plays at times due to gains allowing for a wider playbook.

“I know, when we ran the ball, we ran it really well,” Cignetti said. “It seemed like the ball was moving forward. I told Mike (Shanahan) to throw it 65, 75 percent of the time tonight.”

At the end of the day, Indiana knows that it can lean on this group if things aren’t as effective in other areas. With the versatility they have from top to bottom, it’s a room that will give Curt Cignetti and Mike Shanahan a lot of options.

“I think we just have a great group of core guys,” Ellison said last week. “We got guys who can do a lot of different things. Whether it’s catching the ball, pass-blocking, running the football, making guys miss. There’s a variety of things that we could do out of that backfield and I’m excited to see how we can be able to translate that on to the games.”