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(UWIRE) NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. -- With 2,251 total yards and 25 touchdowns gone from the offense with the loss of Ray Rice to the NFL Draft this April, the Rutgers football team will have many questions to answer in the running game this season.
Head coach Greg Schiano and the rest of the Scarlet Knights will look to three young players who have showed promise in the past to fill the colossal void left in the backfield.
Two of those running backs, sophomores Kordell Young and Mason Robinson, have seen action in the past and are likely to receive more touches in the fall. But one of the three backs, freshman Jourdan Brooks, has yet to see action at the college level.
"All along I've said [Brooks] is an impressive athlete," Schiano said. "He's getting reps which is good. He needs to get reps to understand the running game, [and] he's doing well with the [repetitions] we're giving him."
Brooks, who redshirted his first year on the Banks, spent time on the scout team and treated his experience as a "learning year."
"My first year, I got to sit back and learn a lot of things [and] get stronger in the weight room," Brooks said. "Ray [and the coaches and other backs] helped me out and made sure I knew everything for this season.
"I'm really excited about this whole season. I'm looking forward to [getting the ball] and doing great things."
The other options for Mike Teel to hand the ball to have a little more college experience under their belts than Brooks.
Robinson saw significant action last season as a true freshman, and Young has seen his fair share of touches both in the backfield and in the return game the last two years before suffering a season-ending knee injury against Norfolk State last season.
Before his injury, Young had 18 carries for 65 yards and returned three kicks for 93 yards.
After Young went down, Robinson also saw action in the return game, getting 19 total returns. But Robinson was just excited to run on the Rutgers Stadium turf in any way he could.
"When I first got here, it was exciting but it went kind of fast," Robinson said. "After a while, I really started learning from people like Ray and Kordell, and I would teach myself some things. Once I actually started getting out there on the college field, it was fun. This was something I dreamed about."
Robinson also got to run the ball, totaling 205 yards on 36 carries, and he is expected to get the ball much more often this fall.
