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With the 2023 Oregon State football season firmly in the rearview, BeaversEdge begins an article series analyzing how each position group fared throughout the season and previewing spring football 2024!
Today we dive into the running backs, which returns Damien Martinez and Isaiah Newell and welcomes in several new and familiar faces!
Note: Only scholarship players are listed
MORE:
Who's Gone?
Deshaun Fenwick - Graduation
2023 Recap
Anchored by returnees Damien Martinez, Deshaun Fenwick, and Isaiah Newell, Oregon State's backfield picked up right where they left off in 2023.
The biggest surprise for the group itself actually came ahead of the start of fall camp when Jam Griffin announced that he would be transferring to Ole Miss. Griffin's presence was missed in the backfield in 2023 and it's a huge boost that he's back in 2024 because the Beavers only having three scholarship RBs entering the season wasn't ideal.
Martinez was great as expected, tallying his first 1,000-yard season (1185) and nine touchdowns, while Fenwick chipped in a quality 515 yards and five touchdowns on the ground.
As a whole, however, the Beavers went from 196.5 rushing yards per game in '22 to 167.1 yards per game in '23. You might ask, with an equally as effective OL as the year prior and largely the same group of personnel, why would the Beavers have a dip in production?
Griffin is the simple answer...
Simply put, the Beavers didn't have a "third" RB emerge in '23, and that was exactly what they were missing. Griffin averaged just over 40 yards per game for the Beavers in '22 as the second or third back, and that role was never truly seized by Isaiah Newell in '23 as he tallied 25 carries for 78 yards.
Considering that Griffin had nearly 90 carries for the Beavers as the second or third guy in '22, it was very surprising that the Beavers didn't look to get Newell more involved. 25 carries throughout the season isn't enough to create any momentum, which meant the Beavers exclusively utilized two backs in Martinez and Fenwick.
While the numbers dipped slightly from a year ago, it didn't seem like the Beavers were missing a punch in the backfield, a credit to the talent of Martinez and Fenwick. However, when you compare to that '22 campaign, you realize the Beavers are at their best when they get 3-4 guys involved.
Who's Back?
Damien Martinez, Jr.
Isaiah Newell, Jr.
