Tuck’s Take: It’s Past Time to Feature Sam Scott in Backfield

LARAMIE -- It's past time to go back to the well.

The stats demand it. The results demand it. The impact demands it.

Sam Scott should be the first running back to trot onto the field Saturday evening when Wyoming hosts San Jose State. Jay Sawvel said it doesn't matter if the senior is the starter or not, he will still play a major role in the offense.

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The second-year head coach also said it's imperative his team gets off to fast starts and doesn't get behind early, forcing the offense to get "off schedule."

There's a cure for that -- No. 22.

Scott, for the second game in a row, didn't receive a single carry during the first quarter of last Saturday night's home loss to UNLV. The first time he did touch the ball, the Cowboys were already trailing 17-3.

When his number was called, the Omaha product responded with 49 yards on 11 rushing attempts. He also snagged a pair of passes out of the backfield for 45 more, including a 36-yard screen pass early in the third quarter that sparked the team's first touchdown of the night.

Samuel Harris has been the starter since Week 3. The rookie they call "Tote" has produced, too. On just 43 attempts, he has matched Scott's 268 total yards on the ground.

He hasn't been the problem.

Neither has Terron Kellman.

"With those three, we have a three-headed monster," running backs coach Gary Harrell said.

There's no denying that.

That trio is averaging 5.5 yards per carry. Scott, though, brings another element. One that tips the scales at 230 pounds and rarely gets bottled up at the line of scrimmage. One that appears to be the perfect remedy when roughly three inches of hail is covering the playing surface.

Sure, Harris has the breakneck speed and is the top home-run threat on this roster. Kellman has shown off his wheels and shiftiness, too. Scott, quietly, has 10 chunk plays -- runs of more than 10 yards, catches of 15-plus -- and is a pass-interference penalty away from being the second-leading receiver.

Scot had a career night in the opener at Akron. On 29 handoffs, he amassed 132 yards inside a rain-soaked InfoCision Stadium. In the four outings since: 31 attempts, 136 yards.

What gives?

"At times, you could look at it and say, 'OK, this guy's got the hot hand and we need to keep going,'" Sawvel said Monday during his weekly press conference. "Sam Scott, the other night, kind of got the hot hand going for us a little bit. So, we needed to keep going with that."

Or started with that.

Wyoming capped the first 15 minutes of play with 19 rushing yards on five attempts. Deion DeBlanc was responsible for a dozen of those on a single carry. He's a slot receiver. Kellman and Harris combined for the remaining seven. The latter was dropped for a two-yard loss and stopped for no gain.

Scott is the highest-rated player in this program, according to Pro Football Focus, a widely used analytics website. His overall grade is 71.3. An "average" running back should land around 60.

Scott is in the "good" category.

Jay Johnson said he has three different backs with three different styles. Depending on what the call and scheme is for that game, the Cowboys' second-year offensive coordinator added, determines who will get the lion share of the work.

Last Saturday, that clearly wasn't Scott -- until it was too late.

"Sam is just extremely steady, extremely consistent," Johnson said. "He executes at a high level and is playing well for us."

This staff is admittedly "puzzled" about these first-half struggles. Wyoming has scored just 26 points, 17 of which came against Northern Iowa. That's an FCS team.

The answer could be right under their collective noses.

San Jose State's defense has put the clamps down over the previous two outings, holding Stanford and New Mexico to a grand total of 113 rushing yards on 53 attempts. That's a dominating 2.1 yards per carry. Both were forced to abandon the run early, playing catch up.

Sound familiar?

Over the first three games, opponents -- Central Michigan (236), Texas (155) and Idaho (152) -- pounded the Spartans to the tune of 543 yards on the ground. That came on 126 carries. It also came courtesy of starting running backs that averaged 214.2 pounds.

That number drops to 193 in meetings with the Cardinal and Lobos.

Wyoming's passing attack has been inconsistent, at best. SJSU, led by quarterback Walker Eget and the nation's leading receiver, Danny Scudero, eclipse more than 300 yards an outing.

It's time to control the clock. It's time to start making hay on first and second down. It's time to play keep away.

Scott can pound the strike zone. Harris can throw the occasional curve ball.

It's time.