Wyoming and Nevada boast Mountain West's best at RB
LARAMIE, Wyo. (AP) - The Wyoming defense has kept the lid on opposing running backs through six games this year. With the exception of Eastern Michigan's Ian Eriksen, no player has rushed for more than 100 yards against Wyoming.
But the Cowboys haven't yet played a running back like Nevada's James Butler. Butler's total of 1,342 rushing yards last year is higher than that of any other back Wyoming has faced so far this season.
Perhaps the best point of reference is in the Cowboys' own backfield. Between Butler and Brian Hill, who ran for a Wyoming record 1,631 yards last year, Saturday's game will feature two of the best running backs in all of the Mountain West.
"He's got good speed, and he's also a strong guy," Wyoming head coach Craig Bohl said of the 5-foot-9, 210-pound Butler. "He's not a scatback. He's a guy that's got good speed, but he can break tackles and he's pretty elusive."
Nevada's coach was just as praiseful of Hill.
"Brian Hill, at 6-1, 220 pounds, is as good and as big a back as we'll see," Brian Polian said in his weekly press conference. "He reminds me of Jay Ajayi, formerly of Boise State, who just had a 200-yard game for the Dolphins over the weekend. He's a big, physical back, but he can make people miss.
"And Hill's got a really incredible knack for finding little creases and just churning his feet. You think you have him stopped for a gain of 2, and you look up and he's moved the pile for 6."
Last year, Hill had the upper hand, rushing for 188 yards in Wyoming's win against Nevada. Butler had 51 yards, though he ran the ball just 10 times. The Wolf Pack's backfield at the time also included Don Jackson, who was just called up from the Green Bay Packers' practice squad.
"They were both dynamic backs," UW linebacker Lucas Wacha told the Casper Star-Tribune (http://bit.ly/2eOXOMp). "They ran for a couple touchdowns against us last year, so we need to be able to stop number 20. That's the main part of their team."
Both team's offenses are set up to take advantage of their premier backs.
"Wyoming's offense, they're going to run it downhill," Polian said. "They're going to run it well. No matter what the personnel grouping, no matter what the formation, they're going to run power. They're going to come downhill at you, and they're going to try to wear you out throughout the course of the game."
Said Bohl of Nevada: "What they do, they do very well. They come off the ball. They do a great job of zone blocking, and create some seams. I think those backs, particularly Butler, has got really good vision to find the open space."
Luckily for Hill, Saturday he'll be going against a run defense that has struggled so far this season. While Wyoming's much-improved unit is holding teams to 140.7 yards per game (43rd nationally), Nevada has allowed 250.7 yards per game on the ground, seventh worst in the country.
Fixing that has been a priority for Nevada, which recently shook up the starting lineup on its defensive line. The Wolf Pack run defense had its best outing of the year Saturday at San Jose State, holding the Spartans to 2.5 yards per carry.
Nevada will need to keep that up, as three of its four games after Wyoming are against teams with top-20 rushing attacks (New Mexico, San Diego State and UNLV).
"Look, when you look at what's left on our schedule, the first priority is stop the run," Polian said. "I mean, everybody that we have left to play runs the ball at a very high level, and we've got to get that stopped first."
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Information from: Casper (Wyo.) Star-Tribune, http://www.trib.com