MiQuale Lewis, Frank Edmonds, Nate Davis, Dante Love and even Doreen Burch, the third string running back, have gotten carries for Ball State University football, and they have all thrived with their opportunities.
That's three running backs, a quarterback, and a wide receiver if you're wondering. This raises the question, "Where's the love for tight end Darius Hill?"
Sure he's heavily involved in the passing game with his 25 catches, 381 yards and five touchdowns, but every dog deserves their day in the sun.
Love got it, along with just about every player who had a rush against the University at Buffalo Saturday. Love had five rushes for 33 yards, and, more notably, one touchdown against Buffalo. Numerous times in the game he lined up next to Davis in shotgun formation. Five times he carried the ball, other times he ran a route, sometimes resulting in a reception.
If Love gets to run as the 5-foot-10-inch speed guy then why not give the 6-foot-6-inch Hill his opportunity to bowl over people. They could be a new thunder and lightning pairing. Ooo, doesn't that sound good. Love has a lightning strike, then the next play Hill rolls in with the thunder. Ball State opponents wouldn't know what hit them.
Yes Hill is a tight end, but anyone who knows Ball State football knows he's not your typical tight end. He's not the best blocker as tight ends go, but he's quite possibly the best receiving tight end in the country. But a couple other tight ends at Indiana schools might have something to say about that, as in John Carlson of the University of Notre Dame and Dustin Keller of Purdue University.
All three were name finalists for the John Mackey Award in the preseason making the state of Indiana tight end central.
Giving Hill the ball would not only be a good idea to change things up but would make him stick out from the pack. Hill has the speed to make it happen, and if any coach is willing to try this, it would be Brady Hoke. Hoke loves trick plays. Every game this year he has run at least two reverses to Love or a fake reverse to Love. Why not run a fake pitch to Edmonds to the left and then hand it off to Hill running to the right. Another sweet possibility would be to line up in shotgun with Hill on one side of Davis and Love on the other. Have both take off on a passing route. Have Louis Johnson and Joe Everett line up as the wide outs and have them run post patterns. One of the four is bound to be mismatched. Having Love and Hill coming from the backfield would cause confusion for the defense and chances are one of them would get a linebacker man covering them. Both are capable of burning a linebacker if they get one.
So here I am, Hoke, hoping you take notice. Give Hill his shot; it's only fair. As for you Hill, go into practice and demand the ball - you deserve it. There is no reason that Love should get to run and you not.
Official disclaimer: if you take this seriously just give up now; you have no future.
Write to Levin at levintblack@gmail.com
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