Texas running back Vondrell Mc-Gee wouldn’t have been anywhere near the field on third down last season.
He didn’t need to. The Longhorns already had proven rusher Jamaal Charles, who rushed for 1,619 yards on 258 carries. In third down situations when they needed blocking or an extra passing target, they turned to Chris Ogbonnaya. McGee only came in the game when the score was already settled or if the Longhorns needed a close fourth down play or goal line play.
When Charles left school early for the NFL draft this spring, McGee went right to work on his blocking and catching in order to give himself a chance to be the Longhorns’ go-to player for all three downs.
So far, he’s still a work in progress.
“Vondrell is at a point where he could go in at third down now, and he probably couldn’t have done that last year,” head coach Mack Brown said. “He was the goal-line back, but if we had third-and-ten and he had to block somebody he couldn’t do that.”
For a back who didn’t expect all the pressure to be on him this season, McGee is handling it well. He, Ogbonnaya and Fozzy Whittaker have all been taking passes from new running backs coach Major Applewhite. Because of their offseason training, all three have turned into viable passing targets in the backfield, helping distract linebackers from focusing on the quarterback.
On top of that, it’s all the little things that go unnoticed where McGee has improved, like pass protection and blocking. When McGee isn’t expected to carry the ball, his first job is to keep quarterback Colt McCoy from being pressured. That hasn’t always been his strong suit.
“What I had to work on the most this fall was blocking, picking up blitzes better and being more physical with the linebackers and reading defenses,” McGee said.
Once he gets all those down, McGee has a shot of taking over the starting role as Texas’ running back and getting up to 30 carries per game. For now, though, it’s down to a committee.
“We’ll play whoever gets hot,” offensive coordinator Greg Davis said. “With the exception of Ricky, we’ve always gone into the first couple of ballgames [without a set starter] and it’s always handled itself.”
Although many expected McGee to have the starting job locked up before the season started, all three running backs will probably get playing time for the first couple of games until somebody steps up.
Whether or not it’s good for three running backs to split carries without one getting settled into the position remains to be seen. Some running backs claim that it takes 20 to 30 carries per game for them to get comfortable in the offense.
McGee said he doesn’t worry about that.
“I don’t think of it that way,” he said. “All of us, if we get 15 carries we’ll do well.
We’re basically interchangeable.”
Plus, having three different running threats throws a lot more at opposing defenses. With McGee’s down-the-middle style and Fozzy’s lightning speed, linebackers will have so much more to prepare for when setting up.
“They have to realize the things that we are going to do,” McGee said. “The more people that can play the better you are.”
Vondrell McGee at a glance
• 5-foot-10-inch, 205-pound sophomore
• From Longview High School in
Longview
• 75 carries, 297 yards, eight TDs in 2007
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