Campus Crunch: Don't Be Surprised by Increased Role for Broderick Green

No doubt Arkansas has many bright spots on the offensive side of the ball. In fact, the Razorbacks have so many beacons of hope offensively, it's hard to put a finger on just who will play the most important roles in the offense from this point on; not just for the rest of this season, but also the next.

One of the pieces to this offensive juggernaut that left many people wanting more early in the season,is redshirt sophomore Broderick Green. After watching him gain enormous confidence over the past three games, it's obvious Green will figure in the mix with some enormously talented backs in the fight for fifth-year senior Michael Smith's starting job when it opens after this season. It's sure to go to whichever back among that talented stable can contribute most consistently.

Of late, and including Michael Smith in that mix, that's been Green.

He's getting more carries and having a greater impact on a consistent basis than any of the other running backs. His early play may have tempered expectations from fans, but lately Green's numbers and impact are beginning to look eerily similar to the numbers of the last running back Bobby Petrino put into the NFL: former Louisville Cardinal Michael Bush.

Over the last three games Green is averaging just over 7.5 yards per carry, which is exactly how many yards Bush averaged in his last season at Louisville before going down with a season-ending injury.

Feel like the numbers may be a little skewed in one way or another? Lets look at it a more realistic way.

Bush averaged 5.6 yards per carry in his most successful season in Bobby Petrino's Louisville offense, in 2005, a season in which the NFL-caliber running back ran for over 1,000 yards and scored 23 touchdowns against Big East competition. Green in his first year in the Petrino system has averaged 4.6 yards per carry and is on course to reach double digits in touchdowns in 2009 against elite SEC defenses and one of the toughest schedules in the country.

It is important to note that Arkansas hasn't always been able to run the ball as consistently as Petrino would like this year.

Is it so much of a stretch to think that Green could put up the monolithic numbers Bush did in his second year under Petrino? I don't think so.

Petrino has never been known to use a "feature back" even in a self-professed "Feed the Studs" system. But numbers like those Bush put up are not out of reach for a running back who has the physical build, and now the apparent confidence, that Petrino likes in his Power Spread offense.