The South Florida Bulls ground and pound game looks interesting going into the 2022 season. With junior running back Kelley Joiner sidelined due to an injury during fall camp, senior Jaren Mangham and sophomore Brian Battie will have to take it upon themselves to lead the backfield.
Battie expressed his emotions about Joiner’s injury. “Without him being here, of course I have to step up a little more, but I also get a lot more opportunity in the backfield”, Battie said. “I’m ready for anything that comes my way, and I know I, along with the other running backs, will have to step up a little more this season.”
Joiner is out with a fractured bone in one of his feet but is expected to make a return mid-season. This is a huge loss for the Bulls as Joiner was the team's second-leading rusher in the previous season. However, I believe Battie will greatly impact the run game this season. In his first year, Battie was able to rack up over 300 yards in just under 60 attempts.
Battie is also a lethal weapon on special teams. Last season he led the nation with three kickoff returns for touchdowns and tied an NCAA game record with two 100-yard returns in the same game, joining Utah’s Reggie Dunn as the only two players in NCAA history to accomplish that feat. Battie finished fifth nationally with a 32.5 yards per return average on 20 returns, was named the American Athletic Conference Special Teams Player of the Week twice in the 2021 season and earned NCAA Consensus All-American (kick returner) honors for just the second time in USF history.
Battie knows that he will probably see teams kicking away from him this season.
“Yeah, we’ve got some game plans. We know a lot of teams want to kick away from me,” Battie said with a smile. "I’m going to just do my best for the rest of the kickoff return unit. Even if other guys get opportunities and get the ball kicked towards them. I’m going to do my best to still do something to try to get some big blocks. When I do get the ball kicked to me, I’m just trying to do my best and put some points up on the board.”
Coach Scott believes this backfield is the deepest group on the team. Walk-on Mychael Hamilton led the team in rushing yards in April’s spring game, and junior transfer Michel Dukes (Clemson) can help take some heat off Mangham and Battie. Also returning from a season-ending ACL tear in 2021 is redshirt freshman K’Wan Powell. Battie had some praise for Powell.
‘K’Wan, he’s a great running back,” said Battie. He came in as a true freshman last year. Unfortunately, he got hurt during fall camp last year, so he wasn’t able to play in any games. While he was here, practicing, he showed a lot of explosiveness. We’re excited that we’ll be getting him back at some point this year. He’s been practicing with us. He’s moving around pretty good. He looks good out there. He’s definitely going to be a big time player in the future.”
So, even with a the injury for Joiner, the Bulls' backfield is still strong, and they all look to do whatever they can to help lead this team to victory.
