The Oregon Ducks answered a lot of questions for their fans on Saturday with their dominant win in their in-state rivalry game against Oregon State, burying the Beavers 49-14.
One of the keys to that game was the run game, which saw the offensive line do a tremendous job . More so than the offensive line was the work done by lead running back Jordan James , who took his 12 carries for 86 yards and two touchdowns.
Even with that strong stat line, it looks like there’s plenty of meat left on the bone.
James has been strong, with 12 carries of 10+ yards, has averaged 6.4 yards per carry through two games, and is averaging 3.52 yards after contact per attempt. One thing missing from his profile at this point are the breakaway runs. There’s good reason to believe that they’re coming.
For context, we’re going to compare James to a couple other running backs around the country.
Omarion Hampton, UNC: 66 carries, 416 rushing yards, 6.3 ypc, 3 touchdowns.
13 runs of 10+ yards, 6 runs of 15+ yards. Long of 53 yards. 35.3% breakaway yards percentage.
Kyle Monangai, Rutgers: 46 carries, 373 rushing yards, 8.1 ypc, 4 touchdowns.
9 runs of 10+ yards, 6 runs of 15+ yards. Long of 62 yards. 56.3% breakaway yards percentage.
Devin Neal, Kansas: 45 carries, 333 rushing yards, 7.4 ypc, 2 touchdowns.
8 runs of 10+ yards, 7 runs of 15+ yards. Long of 53 yards. 54.4% breakaway yards percentage.
Raheim Sander, South Carolina: 56 carries, 285 rushing yards, 5.1 ypc, 4 touchdowns.
8 runs of 10+ yards, 4 runs of 15+ yards. Long of 66 yards. 47.4% breakaway yards percentage.
Jordan James, Oregon: 44 carries, 283 rushing yards, 6.4 ypc, 3 touchdowns.
12 runs of 10+ yards… 1 run of 15+ yards. Long of 16 yards. 5.7% breakaway yards percentage.