Hokies Turn to Coleman, Caleb to Fill RB Void

Shane Beamer isn't the type of guy to say 'I told you so.'

But if he was, there's a pretty good chance those words might escape his lips when it comes to the team's depth at running back.

"I should start posting on the message boards like 'look at us now,'" Beamer said with a bit of a grin.

After taking his fair share of criticism before the season for insisting that each of the six running backs on the team deserved time on the field, Beamer's insistence on keeping so many backs in his meeting room and giving them each playing time is looking pretty prescient now that the team's top three runners are injured.

"I've said from day one that I feel like we have more than one starter in that room," Beamer said. "You need more than one or two guys to get through the season. Not that I envisioned that we'd lose our top three guys halfway through the season, I don't think anybody anticipates that, but it's good that we've got depth there."

It would've been pretty surprising for the Hokies to predict that one of the main trio of Shai McKenzie, Marshawn Williams and Trey Edmunds would miss the bulk of the season, so the fact that two of the three have gone down for significant time seems downright unthinkable.

But now, with McKenzie out for the year with an ACL tear and Edmunds' out for the next six to eight weeks with a broken clavicle, the Hokies will have to turn elsewhere at running back.

The natural pick would be Williams, but he too is battling injury woes. He sprained his ankle against UNC and was in a walking boot after the game.

He benefits from having the bye week to rest a bit, but the coaches aren't sure where he stands a week away from the Hokies' road test against Pittsburgh.

"Marshawn expects to be ready," said Frank Beamer. "I saw him yesterday and he was talking very positive and felt good about his ankle. But I think we have to wait and see."

The tricky part about judging Williams' readiness is that ankle injuries can easily be re-injured despite apparent progress, so the staff is trying to take it slow with the freshman.

"I've seen those ankles, they do good for awhile and then they seem to be slow for a while," Frank said.

Should Williams be unable to go against the Panthers, or slowed by the injury enough to need some help carrying the load, the Hokies will put the ball in the hands of J.C. Coleman and Joel Caleb.

The veterans have rarely seen the field so far this season, combining for just 48 carries for 145 yards, but their running backs coach has confidence that their experience will help them adjust to expanded roles.

"It's good that they've gotten some work in games and we're not just pulling a redshirt off a guy and throwing him onto national TV next week," Shane said. "J.C.'s been here for three years, Joel has been here for three years counting his redshirt year...so you've got guys with a lot of experience, and the moment won't be too big for them next week."

In particular, the staff gets to avoid burning the redshirt of recently converted RB Travon McMillian to help fill the void. While they might've considered the prospect at some point this week, Beamer stresses that it was never a serious concern.

"It was discussed briefly, but briefly, briefly," Beamer said. "Physically, could he get out there and help us? Sure, but he's got to get in there and he hasn't really been in my meetings since August and you'd have to get him caught up there."

That decision to keep McMillian on the bench largely stems from Beamer's newfound confidence in Caleb and Coleman.

When Williams and Edmunds went down against the Tar Heels, Beamer was forced to turn to the pair on the fly, and they largely responded at the end of the game.

Coleman had his most meaningful performance in some time, turning his seven carries into 25 yards and a score as the Hokies drove to seal the win in the fourth quarter.

"I really have a lot of respect for him starting the first game and then not playing a whole lot after that. He's handled it like a mature guy and he's been a leader on this team," Beamer said. "I told these guys all along, when you get this opportunity, make the most of it. So whether Marshawn's healthy or not, he'll get a lot of work next Thursday, I'd envision."

The Hokies had previously only used Coleman as a blocker on passing downs, but the junior says he never got discouraged about being passed over in favor of the freshmen.

"They put me in for blocking around the edge, and I was going hard at that, just doing whatever I had to do that the team was fine," Coleman said. "They played great before they got hurt, they were killing it. So it was it is, with them down, I might have a heavier role, so I'm ready to take advantage."

The ascendance of Williams and McKenzie must've also been frustrating for Caleb.

He spent all of last year transitioning to his new position at tailback, learning a bevy of new responsibilities that differ from his time at wide receiver.

"It was just learning the protection schemes and blitz pickups and just being aware of everything the defense is doing within the secondary, moving safeties and just disguising blitzes and things like that," Caleb said.

He figured to have a larger role in the offense now that he'd finally gotten his feet under him at the position, but then the freshmen surged ahead. Now, he's focusing on what he can bring to his new role.

"I've been there for a year and a few months now and I feel very comfortable in the position and I'm ready," Caleb said "It's a really big opportunity for me to come in and fill a position that we're going to need this week in the running game."

Caleb also played well in his limited snaps against UNC, finishing with six carries for 20 yards, but Beamer still wants to see more elusiveness from the redshirt sophomore.

"What he's got to do is take his game to the next level in making guys miss," Beamer said. "He did a good job down on the goal line against North Carolina, but he had one run where he came through the line, got to the second level, and the safety tackled him one-on-one, so what I've told him to do is make that guy miss. He lowers his shoulder for contact, so I know he's a physical guy, but make him miss, run him over, do something that can make that guy miss in the open field, and he will."

Had Caleb been able to break that particular tackle, it might've allowed the Hokies to score a touchdown on that late fourth quarter drive instead of a field goal. But despite that misstep, Shane still says he has enough confidence in Caleb to hand him 40 carries in a game if it comes to that.

Caleb says he would have no problem with that kind of workload.

"I'm pretty confident in myself, if I had 40 carries in a game, I would love that," Caleb said.

Now, with Pitt's 40th ranked run defense next up on the schedule, the Hokies may not be willing to run the ball 40 times, but they'll still need a quality performance from both Caleb and Coleman.

"You hate that these three guys are injured and can't go, but you have to think these other guys have to elevate their game as well," Beamer said.