Two JUCO running backs with Georgia connections are looking to make an impact with their new teams this fall.
Alvin Kamara rushed for 1,211 yards and 18 TDs in nine games at a JUCO in 2014. (AP photo)
Auburn’s Jovon Robinson, who set the NJCAA single-season rushing record with 2,387 yards at Georgia Military College in 2013, is in a battle for the starting job at Auburn, and Alvin Kamara, who is from Norcross, will team with Jalen Hurd to form Tennessee’s top toting tandem.
Robinson is competing with Roc Thomas and Peyton Barber for the starting job at Auburn, which pretty much means a 1,000-yard season. Cameron Artis-Payne led the SEC with 1,608 rushing yards last season.
The year before, Tre Mason led the SEC with 1,816 yards.
“We have confidence in in all three of them,” coach Gus Malzahn said at the SEC Media Days. “In our system, we’re going to have a 1,000-yard rusher just about every year.”
If you missed Robinson at GMC, here are some highlights.
Kamara signed with Alabama, but transferred to Hutchinson (Kan.) Community College and then signed with Tennessee.
Hurd is the starter after rushing for 899 yards in 2014, but Kamara provides strong depth after rushing for 1,211 yards and 18 TDs in nine games in 2014. He was one of the top RB prospects in the nation coming out of Norcross in 2012.
“Alvin stepped in our program from Day 1 and didn’t say a word and just kept working and working and working, and he has earned the respect of his teammates,” Tennessee coach Butch Jones said at Media Days. “We look forward to those two playing football together.”
