Cougar Tracks: Working Man

For a marquee back, Michael Alisa has been given an opening-act workload through BYU's first two games of the season--but that may be about to change.

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Before the season, Alisa was identified by coaches as the team's primary back, and that designation was in large part responsible for fellow back Josh Quezada's decision to transfer out of BYU (to Fresno State).

Offensive coordinator Brandon Doman and running backs coach Joe DuPaix spoke of Alisa getting anywhere from 20-30 carries per game, and considering Alisa's 5.4 yards-per-carry average in 2011, such a prognosis hinted at a productive if not prolific season ahead.

Instead, Alisa's campaign has gotten off to a solid but sleepy start, with a carry load roughly half that of which was anticipated.

Alisa's first game with Washington State netted 54 yards on 13 hand-offs, while the following week with Weber State saw him run 11 times for 53 yards. That's 24 carries for 107 yards--a respectable performance, and only noteworthy because it occurred over two games and not one.

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As media members assembled in the Indoor Practice Facility for interviews on Monday, coaches and players filed out of the building, with Alisa and DuPaix walking slowly together off the turf, a running back and his boss deep in conversation.

Their discussion could have been about anything, but head coach Bronco Mendenhall's post-practice comments hinted that DuPaix and Alisa may have been getting together their new battle plan--a plan that could rely more heavily on the 6'1", 220-pound Timpview HS product.

Asked if Alisa might be due for more carries, considering the pre-season projection, Mendenhall Monday said "we're trending more in that direction, just from what we (coaches) talked about today."

"I think you'll see an increased workload from week two to week three," said Mendenhall, "and it will probably continue that way as we go."

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But will that workload approach "workhorse" status, or will BYU's depth in the backfield (including mobile QBs Riley Nelson and Taysom Hill) keep Alisa's numbers down?

It has been almost two years (a span of 23 games) since a BYU running back had more than 20 carries in a game, last occurring on October 9, 2010 home meeting with San Diego State.

On that day, J.J. DiLuigi had 22 carries for 134 yds, while Bryan Kariya had 22 rushes for 85 yds; no BYU running back has topped 20 carries since.

Alisa maxed out at 20 carries (for 84 yards) last season at Oregon State.

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While their body types are not identical, Alisa and BYU's all-time rushing leader Harvey Unga share a similar pedigree and running style, and I was curious to see if the 2012 season might afford Alisa the kinds of opportunities to produce an Unga-like yardage tally.

Alisa's career per-carry average of 5.2 yards is right around Unga's career median of 5.0 yards, but what Unga had in addition to his natural skills was a consistent--and heavy--workload.

Unga averaged 18 carries per game for his BYU career, and had 21 carries or more 18 times in 38 games as BYU's main back (2007-2009). Since assuming a greater role last season (starting with the San Jose State game), Alisa is averaging 10.6 carries per contest, and has never carried the ball as many as 21 times in a game.

What Unga did not have was a lot of competition for carries. For starters, his quarterback was Max Hall, who was not a run threat, while BYU QBs have already matched Alisa's number of rush attempts through two games in 2012 (Nelson, Hill and James Lark have combined to mirror Alisa's 24 carries).

BYU's secondary ball carriers in the Unga years were primarily fullback-type backs like Fui Vakapuna, Manase Tonga and Bryan Kariya, with a dash of DiLuigi in Unga's final season.

Alisa emerged in a backfield already featuring DiLuigi, Quezada and Kariya, and is now part of a backfield with productive yard-gainers David Foote and Jamaal Williams, in addition to bigger back in Iona Pritchard and a sometimes-used smaller slot back in JD Falslev.

So, clearly, Unga's ability to shine as "the man," was largely a function of him being the overwhelming first option at tailback. The 2012 BYU offense is more versatile, varied and despite what DuPaix told BYU's Daily Universe before the season ("The philosophy isn't to do it by committee; it's to find the best [player] that can be an all-purpose back."), the backfield depth has seemingly prevented any one player from truly emerging as a go-to guy--at least to this point.

Can Alisa still be that guy? I think so, but the recent trends are away from a Harvey Unga- or Curtis Brown-like presence behind the quarterback.

*sacks against are subtracted from team rushing attempt total

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There are no players on the BYU roster who have rushed for 100 yards in a game; Quezada was the last guy to do it, in the final game of the 2010 season (101 yards on 15 carries in the New Mexico Bowl).

As a result, BYU has gone 15 consecutive games without a 100-yard rusher, the longest such streak since 1996, when the Cougars ended a 20-game century game-less streak with a breakout night from Brian McKenzie (132 yards) at Tulsa, in the eighth game of that season.

Five games later, McKenzie ran for 176 yards, Ronney Jenkins ran for 156 yards, BYU ran for 366 yards, and won at Utah, 37-17--and as I have previously noted, that was the last time BYU beat the Utes by more than a touchdown.

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In the Mendenhall era, BYU has had a 100-yard rusher in four of the seven meetings with Utah, and the Cougars are 2-2 in those games (wins in 2007 and 2009; losses in 2005 and 2008). The only Utah game BYU won without a 100-yard rusher was the Beck-to-Harline affair in 2006, when Curtis Brown led the Cougars with 42 rushing yards.

Notably, Harvey Unga hit the century mark in all three of his games against Utah, averaging 124.3 yards in the process, on 20.3 carries per game.

More than 20 carries. More than 100 yards. Perhaps those numbers will belong to a BYU back on Saturday. Perhaps that back will be Michael Alisa.

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