As the third-ranked Little Giant football team heads into its matchup with conference foe Oberlin (2-5, 2-2) this Saturday, they find themselves in a position offensively that has been missing for the past few years- balanced.
Wabash’s offense ranks 11th nationally heading into this week’s contest, and that is due in large part to a resurgent rushing attack that has eluded the Little Giants in recent years. This year’s ground attack has netted an average of 177.71 yards per game, a sharp increase over last year’s 101.1 yards per game. That average has been good enough for fourth in the competitive North Coast Athletic Conference along with being the overall leaders in scoring, passing, and total offense. This resurgence is due in large part to the combined effort of running backs Bobby Kimp, senior, Evan Sobecki , junior, and Derrick Yoder , sophomore.
Wabash has had a recent history of prolific offenses that has been founded around an explosive passing game. This year, the coaching staff was looking for a little bit of a change,
“Going into this year, we were looking to be more balanced offensively,” said first-year running backs coach Ashton Northern. “We wanted to be more 50/50 in terms of running and passing. In the past, [Wabash] has seemed to have passed more.”
Going into the season, the coaching staff knew there would not be a “feature” back in Wabash’s offensive attack. “By the end of spring ball, we knew we would be working with a running back by committee type of offense,” Northern said. “All three of those guys [Kimp, Sobecki, and Yoder] bring something different to the table. They each have a tangible weapon that they do different from the other guys; but the one thing they all do well is they all have great vision.” Coming off of a tough victory at Wittenburg two weeks ago, Northern was pleased by the offense’s ability to lean on the run throughout much of the victory over Wooster this past Saturday, “It was good to be able to establish the run last week. We ran early in the game and got them rolling. We had 50 carries last week, that is unheard of in the college game,” Northern concluded.
This season, Head Coach Eric Raeburn’s first, has seen a team not only adjust to a new offensive scheme, but thrive in it. That has transitioned the offensive attack from more of a pass-heavy offense to one with nearly perfect balance. “I’m happy with how the guys have played so far,” Raeburn said. “There are still areas that we feel our offense needs to improve on, but I’ve been proud of the progress our guys have made. It’s not easy to learn a new system.” This year’s team is averaging 39 rushing attempts per game, a big change from last year’s 29 rushes per game. That approach has a lot to do with what the coaches saw in preseason. “During the preseason, we were hoping with the linemen we had back and with the tight ends we had returning, we were hoping we could be successful running the football,” coach Raeburn said.
When faced with the desirable problem of having three skilled guys at the same position, coach Raeburn took an objective approach to determining carries. “We try to evaluate the guys and when guys are even, they [have] to rotate; their snaps have to be even,” Raeburn explained. “They are so even that we didn’t see any other fair way of doing it. Right now those three guys, they are all three doing really well. Hopefully all three will continue to run the ball hard.”
While Kimp continues to garner the most carries of the group (104), both Sobecki (31) and Yoder (75) have been major factors in the offense. Each has multiple touchdowns for the season and all are averaging between 73 and 48 yards per game. Each player has his own style of running that he brings to the offense.
“Bobby (Kimp) has the most speed of the three of them,” Raeburn said. “That’s a real advantage for him, and Evan (Sobecki) is really good between the tackles… he certainly looks real comfortable and patient between the tackles.I think [Yoder] is a combination of the two. He is quick as well and can hit the hole and he is comfortable between the tackles as well.”
Heading into the final three games of the postseason, it appears as though the running game should continue to put up impressive numbers. Games against conference foes Oberlin and Hiram, which feature porous run defenses (7th and 9th in the NCAC, respectively) could mean even more carries for the three-headed rushing attack. With wins in its last two conference games, Wabash can secure its third playoff appearance in the last four years. As the season wears on, it will be the team that can grind it out that will come away with the victory. With Wabash having three capable, explosive options in the backfield, don’t be surprised to see Coach Raeburn and company put it on the shoulders of his offensive line and running backs when he needs those big yards in that big game.