Even with the loss of the team's most productive running back from last season, coach Pete Lembo believes his offense won't miss a beat.
Former Ball State running back Eric Williams left the program last week for personal reasons.
"There's really no change whatsoever," Lembo said. "Our competition at tailback is as great as any position in the program."
Lembo credits the depth at running back, which includes senior Cory Sykes, junior Dwayne Donigan and sophomores David Brown and Barrington Scott, as to why he believes his offense won't be affected.
"Some people don't appreciate that [Scott] and [Donigan] really carried the bulk of the load in the spring," he said. "Our other three guys that had experience were injured for most of the spring. There are no changes of direction with [Williams] leaving."
When he was hired in December of last year, Lembo said his style of offense was fast-paced and no-huddle. He also said his teams were known for passing the football, mostly out of screen plays. The screen game gives the running back position an unusual role.
Lembo said his running backs have a very versatile role since the nature of the offense is to take what the defense gives.
"We can have games where the tailback carries the ball 25 times," Lembo said. "Other games they have caught balls out of the backfield. The more versatile your tailback is, the better because we have to stress the defense in different ways."
He also said when he was hired that everybody on the team had a clean slate so he could promote competition internally.
"It lets the cream rise to the top," Lembo said. "Some guys embrace that. We've only had one player that decided to leave on his own accord. When you're in transition, to only lose one player means how happy the guys in the program are with change. But you can't make everyone happy."
With just over two months remaining before the season-opener against Indiana, Lembo has not named a first-string running back for the opener.
"Our group understands there is a lot of competition for playing time," he said. "There's no anointed go-to guy at this point, which is true with or without [Williams]."
Williams said his reason for leaving Ball State was because of not being on the same page as Lembo.
"I never really saw the same vision coach Lembo had," Williams said. "I mean, I saw what he wanted to do but the processes he took did not feel OK to me."
Williams said the decision to leave Ball State took him six months to make. He said the reason he chose to transfer to Hampton was because of family in Virginia (where Hampton is located) and wants to venture out.
"I have family in that area and a former coach who has helped me greatly with this process," he said. "I need to get away from this area and venture out. [Hampton's] history is something I respect and want to be apart of."
He also said he felt everyone in the program had some type of disappointment on his decision, but he loved having the opportunity to play at Ball State.
As for the departure of Williams, Lembo said the move may have been for the best.
"We saw very limited out of him in the spring because of injuries," he said. "I definitely think [Williams] was a great player, but if he isn't happy he isn't going to reach his potential. If guys are happy and fulfilled they are going to want to contribute more to the program."
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