The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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BY MICHAEL SPATH W hen Tshimanga Biakabu- tuka arrived at Michigan in the fall of 1993, he en- tered an intimidating run- ning backs room. Occupying one chair, Tyrone Wheat- ley prepared for his junior season having rushed for 1,357 yards and 13 touchdowns the season before. In the second chair sat senior Ricky Powers. Ranked as the No. 1 running back nationally by Prep Football Report in the class of 1990, Powers rushed for a then-Michigan true freshman- record 748 yards and four touchdowns in 1990, and had more than 2,000 yards (2,266 with 16 scores) in a productive three-year career. Senior Jesse Johnson, who had rushed for 1,426 yards and 10 touch- downs in his Michigan career, and red- shirt sophomore Ed Davis, a Super Prep All-American that had totaled more than 5,000 yards rushing in his career at Detroit Martin Luther King High School, also had a seat in Fred Jack- son's meeting room. "The way Michigan was recruiting back then, if you came out of camp the starter, you had so much confi- dence because you knew how many great running backs you had to beat out," said Biakabutuka, who would nevertheless appear in six games as a rookie, tallying 209 yards and five touchdowns on 43 carries. Fast forward more than 20 years, and in Michigan's running back room today, there are two five-star tailbacks, sophomores Derrick Green and Ty Isaac; a four-star, redshirt junior Jus- tice Hayes, who was ranked as the No. 85 overall player nationally in the class of 2011; and a pair of accomplished prep standouts in redshirt sopho- more Drake Johnson and sophomore De'Veon Smith also jockeying for play- ing time. There is a big difference, however — there is no proven ball carrier, with Green's 270 career yards the most of any current U-M tailback. "This year 's team reminds me of my sophomore year when Anthony Thomas left and it was a free-for-all," At The Starting Line For Michigan's Running Backs, The Competition For Carries Begins In Earnest With U-M's First Game