:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/69994298/1341351384.0.jpg)
I’ll admit coming into this season I thought for the first time in a long time it was going to be a one-man show in the backfield. Don’t get me wrong, in the past few seasons it’s ‘sort of’ been the Jaret Patterson show in the headlines but if you’ve really followed the team you know that Kevin Marks was playing at or around the same level as Patterson the whole time.
When Marks entered and came back from, the portal it was a high drama time because behind him was a lot of unproven talent. So the return I thought would make him the show of the offense.
Instead, he’s taken Patterson's role as the workhorse backed by solid production behind him. Halfway through the season UB does not have a back on pace for 1,000 yards, and that’s odd. But they do have three backs on pace for 650-740 yards.
| NAME | ATT | YDS | AVG | LNG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kevin Marks Jr | 94 | 368 | 3.9 | 30 | 5 |
| Dylan McDuffie | 60 | 349 | 5.8 | 37 | 5 |
| Ron Cook Jr | 46 | 322 | 7.0 | 63 | 2 |
They also face some very iffy run defenses in our next three games and have sparked in the past couple of weeks to the point where each looks like they are very capable of a “breakout” game.
So with all this production where do they stand all time?
| Rank | Last Year | ATT | Yards | TD | YPC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | Kevin Marks | 2021 | 613 | 2989 | 33 | 4.88 |
| 51 | Dylan McDuffie | 2021 | 98 | 573 | 5 | 5.85 |
| 57 | Ron Cook Jr. | 2021 | 84 | 499 | 3 | 5.94 |
Kevin Marks: Sharing the workload this much has muted any chance Marks had at catching Patterson and Branden Oliver but he’s still on pace to finish his career all time at #3 (Ahead of James Starks) in yards and #2 (Ahead of Branden Oliver) touchdowns.
Right now he’s 33 yards behind Allen Bell and 151 behind Starks.
Dylan McDuffie: To this point in the season he is averaging about 60 yards a game, another 360 yards puts him at about #31 all time with Dane Hightower, who played in the early 80’s.
Ron Cook: Cooks has been stacking up about 55 yards a game, but he’s also got the highest per carry total for the Bulls. If the pace continues he’s going to land in Mario Henry’s neighborhood somewhere between 37 and 40 all time.
It’s going to be interesting to see how this group performs down the stretch.
Marks is starting to hit his stride, McDuffie has been maybe the most consistent back, and Cook is very explosive. Anyone of them seem like they can take over a game which hopefully turns this season around for Buffalo.