Auburn Football: 5 Tigers to Watch vs Louisiana Tech
Sep 18, 2014; Manhattan, KS, USA; Auburn Tigers running back Corey Grant (20) looks for room to run during a 20-14 win against the Kansas State Wildcats at Bill Snyder Family Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Scott Sewell-USA TODAY Sports
#20 Corey Grant, 5-foot-11, 205 pounds, Senior, Running Back
Through the first three games of the 2014 season, Cameron Artis-Payne has established himself as the go to running back for the Auburn Tigers. Artis-Payne has 352 yards and four touchdowns on 64 carries, good for 5.5 yards per carry and 117.3 per game.
With CAP’s emergence comes a reduced role for Corey Grant. Coming into the season, the pair of senior running backs was expected to share the role of top ball carrier, though Grant has only 26 rushing attempts so far this year. That number ranks third on the team behind Artis-Payne and quarterback Nick Marshall.
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While Grant and CAP have shared the top spot on the depth chart so far, separated by an “or” on the official paperwork that determines which players are starters and which are backups, Grant has been used primarily in the slot instead of in the backfield. Much like he was utilized in 2013, Grant has been used in pre-snap motion on speed sweeps primarily.
The speedster has still been able to rack up an impressive 7.8 yards per carry average, though he has only accounted for 67.7 yards per game to this point in the season. Last week against Kansas State, Grant was held to only 27 yards on six carries – which included a 13-yarder that was Auburn’s second longest run of the night.
Expect Corey Grant to have more carries and more running room this Saturday against Louisiana Tech than he did last Thursday in the Little Apple. It would also be nice to see him used in the backfield more in order to give him more experience as a tailback should something happen to Cameron Artis-Payne.