Auburn’s leading rusher is back, and the Tigers hope his return will boost their running game against the stoutest defense they will face this season.
After missing the previous two games with a left leg injury, Kamryn Pettway will return for the first time since pulling up at the end of a long run against Vanderbilt to play in the Iron Bowl on Saturday.
He might not be 100 percent, but he’s good enough to strap up, and that’s all it takes for him to get back on the field. “Certain people’s less-than-100 percent is better than other’s 100 percent,” Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said. “We are hoping that will be the case.”
“He is one of our impact players,” Malzahn said. “He is one of the best running backs in all of college football and one of the best in our league. Any time you have a guy like that back, it changes things and it changes things in a good way for us.”
When Kamryn Pettway plays, even if he’s not at full strength, the effect he has on the game is felt by both teams.
His mere presence opens up Auburn’s offense because, in the words of linebacker Tre’ Williams, the defense zeroes in on the tenacity that Pettway runs with. Even Pettway himself said on a television broadcast that people ‘didn’t want to tackle me.’
“Like, the way he runs is just fierce,” Williams said. “When he grabs that handoff, you better know you better buckle your chinstrap, because he’s coming full head of steam.
“That’s something we speak on as a defense as well. Whenever we see Pettway run, we’re like, ‘They’re in trouble.’ So, it’s really important...Pettway is just that bruiser. He’s really there for us on offense.”
Before sitting out the Georgia and Alabama A&M games, Pettway was perched atop the SEC leaderboard in rushing yards with 1,106 — 158 yards per game, since he didn’t play in four games. And even after sitting out the two most recent games, Pettway only fell to second in the league behind Rawleigh Williams III’s 1,209 yards. Sitting out the Georgia game bugged Pettway, but he did it knowing if he wanted to play later on, he couldn’t risk injuring himself further and permanently whittling the depth at running back down even further.
His return, will, among other things, allow Kerryon Johnson to share the workload in the backfield. Johnson, who is closing in on 1,000 yards himself — he sits at 823 yards — still isn’t quite 100 percent recovered from the ankle sprain he suffered against Mississippi State in October, but he said the past two games are the best he’s felt in a while, and he’ll be out there with Pettway come Saturday.
“(Pettway’s return) means a lot,” Johnson said. “It means I won’t be as tired, I hope. And it means, when you get another 1,000-yard rusher back, that’s obviously a huge deal. He’s a very physical guy, very big guy. So, just to have both of us back there together again will be nice.”
If anything, it’ll help Auburn throw some different looks at the tough front seven of Alabama. The Crimson Tide traditionally snuff out anything resembling a potent ground game, but the Tigers have had some recent success running against them.
Last year, Auburn managed just under 100 rushing yards in the Iron Bowl, but in 2014 the Tigers ran for 174 yards in a 55-44 shootout loss, and they piled up 296 in the 2013 classic.
“We talk about that all the time,” Johnson said. “A lot of people don’t run the ball on them very well, but we’ve been fortunate enough to do it year in and year out, so that definitely gives us something to think about.”
They have yet another tall task on their plate this year. Alabama allows a hair under 69 rushing yards per game, by far the best mark in the nation. Texas A&M had the most success against the Crimson Tide, but even though the Aggies ran for 114 yards, they still lost, 33-14. Meanwhile, Auburn’s rushing attack checks in at fifth-best in the country at 297.8. It’s a classic case of the unstoppable force versus an immovable object.
Is Auburn looking forward to moving that object? You bet.
“Definitely look forward to that challenge,” Johnson said. “I don’t think any real competitor wouldn’t. Obviously, you’re going to have your hands full, and you may not run for five yards. You might get stuffed, you might lose a couple yards, but it’s a consistency and being persistent that’s going to make us run the ball well.”
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