Through four games, gap in touches is stark among the two running backs listed as co-starters on Syracuse’s depth chart. Junior Moe Neal has rushed 70 times for 346 yards and two touchdowns compared to 38 touches, 170 yards and five touchdowns from the senior Dontae Strickland.

After starting the season listed as SU’s No. 1 running back, Strickland has fallen off Neal’s pace. The pair has been listed as co-starters since Sept. 17, the Monday following the Florida State game.

Head coach Dino Babers has repeatedly said Syracuse (4-0, 1-0 Atlantic Coast) will ride with the hot hand at running back. Neal’s been the more productive back, and if the trend continues — Neal has rushed 14 more times than Strickland in the last two games — Neal will pace SU’s running backs against No. 3 Clemson (4-0, 1-0) on Saturday.

“It’s whatever the coaches say,” Strickland said. “Whoever they want out there. And whatever number they call out will be out there getting the handoffs.”

Each standing at about 5-feet, 11-inches tall, but separated by 13 pounds, Neal and Strickland are different runners.

Strickland fits the three-down back mold, sturdy enough to take a bruising while effective in the open field and catching the ball. Neal is more of a scatback, dancing to the second level and bursting down the field. Strickland initiates contact. Neal skirts around it.

Neal said of his play style: “Just a spark plug that can get the offense rolling,”

Through a third of the season, Neal averages 4.9 yards per carry to Strickland’s 4.5. That difference may appear insignificant, but across the 139 handoffs to SU running backs this season, it represents a 50-plus yard difference.

The closeness of those numbers seem less significant when looking at the usage of each back. Neal has nearly doubled Strickland’s touches. In all but one game — against Wagner, in which Neal and Strickland had nine each and Eric Dungey and Jarveon Howard individually toted the ball more — Neal has outcarried Strickland.

Strickland was listed as the starter, but Babers favored the surging Neal, who opened the season with an 84-yard night on 2.9 yards a carry.

The trajectory had been set. Neal outrushed Strickland, 71-35, on the same number of carries against Wagner. Howard had 69 of his own. The next week with Florida State visiting the Carrier Dome, Neal churned out 75 yards on 19 touches, Strickland 36 on 13.

Babers hasn’t said much about his running backs, but he did offer a glimpse into his rationale for determining the share of touches.

“I think if you’re a starter and you have the opportunity to play every snap then go ahead and play as many snaps as you can,” Babers said prior to SU’s game against UConn.

Against UConn, Neal shredded the Huskies for 116 yards on 13 rushes. Strickland saved a five carry, 61-yard performance by ripping off a 51-yarder in the first quarter.

Strickland’s main statistical edge  — along with catching more passes than Neal — is touchdowns.

Neal has found the endzone twice and hasn’t scored since the opener. Strickland’s punched in five touchdowns and scored in three of SU’s four games. In short-yardage scenarios, Strickland has often been the favored option, bowling forward toward a goal line or first down.

That tough yardage, along with pass protection, are both areas Neal has lacked in years past. Before the season, he said he made a point of emphasis to improve both facets.

“I feel like I’ve been doing a great job of that,” Neal said on Sept. 18. “Past weeks, haven’t been letting up any sacks. Been protecting the quarterback, been going to my right man, making the right protection read.”

Neal’s abilities as a ball carrier have pushed him to the de facto top of the depth chart. Now a junior, his pass blocking has improved. Syracuse has utilized him more frequently in situations where a bigger back like Strickland or Howard would previously have gotten the nod.

“Everything’s coming together,” Neal said. “So I just try to keep getting better and better each and every week.”

Published on September 26, 2018 at 10:55 pm

Contact Andrew: aegraham@syr.edu | @A_E_Graham