He understands how to set up his blocks and how to set up his runs in the open field.” “He showed us that he has the ability to take the top off and go for the big yards and the big runs and make some home runs. The junior finished with 120 yards and a touchdown at Boise State and had a 43-yard touchdown run at Stanford. Hinckley Ropati made the most of his late-season opportunities last year to solidify himself as a weapon in Unga’s arsenal. I’m eager to get my hands on him and see where we are at.” Unga on Hinckley Ropati “He’s coming into a room with some depth and he’s coming in where some of these older guys have played at the highest level against some of the best competition and been productive at that,” Unga said. Signing Day: Big 12 membership ‘a complete game-changer’ for BYU coaches.Martin picked BYU over offers from Stanford, Texas Tech, and Baylor. The 6-foot-2, 205-pound freshman rushed for 2,137 yards and 23 touchdowns last season and earned class 5A MVP honors at Canutillo High. He can catch out of the backfield as well.” “He’s very smooth when he runs and he is big enough that if he needs to put his shoulder down and get a couple of yards, he can do it. “As far as athleticism goes, he’s pretty dang athletic,” Unga said. Arriving in Provo with his parents late Tuesday, LJ Martin, a freshman from El Paso, brings Texas-sized plans to BYU. The new kid in town is literally the new kid in town. In the short time we have had him, he has picked up the offense a lot faster than I anticipated.” Unga on LJ Martin “He’s very similar to Aidan in that he is super smart. With his health restored, Smith is very much in Unga’s plans. Smith played in 34 games at Colorado and rushed for 653 yards and four touchdowns while battling through injuries. If we want to have him out of the backfield doing stuff, he’s that kind of guy.” If we want him to run routes, he can run routes. “He’s one of those guys you can put him in space. I don’t think safeties are really excited to hit guys that are 230-plus pounds running at them.” Unga on Dion SmithĪ 6-foot, 210-pound transfer from Colorado, Dion Smith caught Unga’s attention by how different he is from Robbins. “He’s shifty enough that I believe he can make guys miss. Taking stock of BYU’s talented running backs.He has two years of eligibility to run and catch at BYU. Robbins, who graduated from Louisville with a degree in business marketing before transferring to Las Vegas, caught 23 passes at UNLV for 125 yards and a touchdown. He has good vision and is very cerebral when it comes to understanding the offense.” He reminds me a lot of Jamaal Williams in the fact that he is a one cut, downhill type of guy. “He’s nimble and quick and deceivingly fast. “To be as tall as he is and as big as he is, he has really good feet,” Unga said. He rushed for 1,011 yards and nine touchdowns last season for the Rebels. Unga on Aidan RobbinsĪidan Robbins is a 6-foot-3, 230-pound bulldozer, who played at UNLV and Louisville before portaling to Provo. The room he is building for the Big 12 has grown deep in weaponry. He was the program’s all-time leader until Williams passed him in 2016, the year Unga joined Kalani Sitake’s staff as a grad assistant and later became the running backs coach in 2020.
TAMPA BAY GAME PLAY BY PLAY FULL
Unga played three full seasons at BYU (2007-09) and is the only player to exceed 1,000 rushing yards in each of them. I love the guys you have in there and the feeling I got.’ That means a lot to me because as much as I love BYU and the program, the one thing I missed the most as a player was the running backs room and the guys that I was in there with.” “A few of the guys we brought in had options to go other places, but they reiterated to me that, ‘I love the room. The culture we have built in there is cool to see,” Unga said on the “Y’s Guys” podcast. Unga coaches a position group that has put Jamaal Williams (Saints), Ty’Son Williams (Cardinals), Tyler Allgeier (Falcons) and Chris Brooks (Dolphins) into the NFL and he has a new room full of optimists who want the same thing. The culture we have built in there is cool to see.” - BYU running backs coach Harvey Unga
0 kommentar(er)
