Tennessee Volunteers Football: Marlin Lane’s Role To Increase?
By Zach Ragan
Oct 19, 2013; Knoxville, TN, USA; Tennessee Volunteers running back Marlin Lane (15) rushes against South Carolina Gamecocks safety Chris Moody (6) and South Carolina linebacker Kaiwan Lewis (8) during the second half at Neyland Stadium. Tennessee won 23-21. Mandatory Credit: Jim Brown-USA TODAY Sports
If you took the time to watch Tennessee’s disappointing loss to Missouri on Saturday night, then one thing was probably very evident to you in regards to the Vols’ running game.
Marlin Lane was the hot hand.
Lane was clearly the better runner on Saturday night, averaging 6.2 yards a carry to Rajion Neal’s 1.0 yards per carry average.
Despite this, Lane received fewer carries than Neal (Lane had 6 to Neal’s 8).
On Monday, Butch Jones pledged to get Lane more involved in the Volunteers offense.
"Butch Jones: You’ll see Marlin Lane’s role continue to increase. He’s back to 100%. We need burst at the second level from him."
Neal has improved tremendously this season, but Lane still looks to have more burst, regardless of him not being 100%.
The differential in the numbers between the two on the season isn’t huge, but it’s clear that Lane has been the more effective runner. Lane’s averaging 5.8 yards a carry this season, while Neal is averaging 5.0 yards per carry.
Hopefully Jones and his staff will deliver on their promise to increase Lane’s role. The Vols can’t expect to win if they don’t have an effective ground game.
Jones has been adamant about getting his best players on the field.
In this case, it’s Marlin Lane.
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