Week 1 vs Kent State: Clifton Richardson 12 rushes, 45 yards; Desmond Rice 6 rushes, 7 yards.
Week 2 vs Monmouth: Desmond Rice 16 rushes, 50 yards, 1 touchdown; Clifton Richardson 11 rushes, 24 yards, 1 touchdown.
Richardson leads the Flames with 69 rushing yards on the season
Those have been the stats from Liberty’s top 2 running backs in the first 2 games. Not terribly impressive. Obviously last season’s leading rusher, Aldreakis Allen, will be a welcomed addition to the lineup this week. Allen, who was suspended in April and has been reinstated to the team, led the Flames in rushing last year with 1,019 yards and 10 touchdowns. So, Allen will be the starter this Saturday against Morgan State, right? Well, Liberty head coach Turner Gill hasn’t tipped his hand, “we’re going to play 2 guys no matter what happens. Now what that combination will be, we will see as we go into the week.”
Rice, who has started each of the first two games, struggled in the opener against Kent State, but maintained the starting position. “I didn’t necessarily think (against Kent State) it was his fault. There was not a lot of running room when he was in the game that’s why he stayed in there as our starter.” Rice rebounded against Monmouth with all of his carries coming in the first 2 1/2 quarters. Clifton Richardson, the transfer from UVA, showed well in the opener, but then struggled against Monmouth. Much of his struggles was due in large part to Rice’s success, as the coaching staff stuck with Rice who was hot.
All 3 running backs bring something different. Allen can be a grinding, every down back. Richardson can be a bruiser between the tackles who can also bounce it outside with his speed. Rice is superb at pass protection. Throw in 5’10”, 185 pound D.J. Abnar who is a small, shifty runner, and the Flames have a full compliment of styles in their backs, but they need one to establish themselves as the go to runner as the meat of the schedule looms.
So who gets the bulk of the carries with Allen back in the lineup? Coach Gill explained, “we may start one over the other but we’re going to always play two guys and we’ll see who has the hot hand going forward.”
