Backfield Rotation

The word "potential" is overused and abused in sports but that term best describes Cal's backfield this season.

Between Brendan Bigelow, Daniel Lasco and Khalfani Muhammad, no one truly knows how good they will be or if they will even produce. One thing that probably can't be disputed, however, is the talent level all three guys exhibit. We were able to see a brief taste of what Bigelow is capable of and now that there is a new regime, there is ample evidence that Sonny Dykes and company are going to try to maximize the skills Bigelow brings to the table.

Hopefully we'll be seeing a lot of above this season. (AP)

What I am very interested to find out is how Dykes, Tony Franklin, and Pierre Ingram will use Bigelow. Long gone are the days where a running back garners 30 carries a game (although I guess Shane Vereen damn near did his last season). Instead, more and more teams on all levels of football are adopting the philosophy of split carries to keep ball-carriers fresh. Given how many plays the TFS runs on a game-by-game basis, I'd imagine there will be plenty of carries to go around.

I do wonder how much (by percentage) Cal will use Bigelow this season. Give how explosive the former Fresno standout is, I'm sure there is a temptation to give him the ball as much as possible, especially given the way the TFS is structured and how (in theory) running lanes open up as the game progresses. Looking at the splits at Louisiana Tech for the last two seasons, for instance, there is reason to believe the coaching staff will use the three running backs in much the same way that they have in the past.

2011

Player	Carries
Lennon Creer	198
Hunter Lee	135
Ray Holley	36

2012

Player	Carries
Kenneth Dixon	200
Ray Holley	142
Tevin King	46

Both Bigelow and Lasco have battled through some injuries over the last year (and in Bigelow's case a lot longer than that) so I'm sure Dykes is resisting the urge to throw Bigelow right in the mix. Ideally, if the Cal 'backs could garner a 200-142-46 split like the LA Tech boys did last season, I think that'll benefit the Bears tremendously.