FLOWERY BRANCH -- Falcons coach Arthur Smith, who unleashed Derrick Henry on the NFL for more than 2,000 yards last season as Tennessee’s offensive coordinator, wants a better assessment of his team’s rushing attack.
Caleb Huntley made the start Friday night and rushed six times for 18 yards in the 23-3 loss to the Titans. Javian Hawkins had five carries for two yards and D’Onta Foreman had three rushes for 10 yards. Smith wants more than 14 carries for 30 yards when the Falcons play the Dolphins at 7 p.m. Saturday at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla.
“I didn’t think it was a fair assessment of the running backs with Caleb, Little Hawk or Foreman,” Smith said. “We just didn’t get enough carries, and we were in lot of second-and-longs. We kind of forced a couple of runs so that we could get a couple in there.”
Smith would like to stay with the run.
“We have to do a better job of staying on track so that we can get an evaluation of them running,” Smith said. “Then obviously on third down will be critical in the pass game protection-wise.”
Smith has to determine if he wants to play running back Mike Davis and Cordarrelle Patterson.
Huntley, an undrafted player from Locust Grove High and Ball State, is hoping to show what he can do. He rushed 576 carries for 2,902 yards (5.0 avg.) and 21 touchdowns in 33 games for the Cardinals.
“Ball State is like nine hours away from here (in Muncie, Ind.),” Huntley said. “The winter can get pretty cold. We didn’t have an indoor (facility). So, we were really getting it out of the mud up there.
“We were practicing when it was negative temperatures outside during winter workouts or at practice. But it’s just a gritty school in Indiana where we put in work just like anybody else.”
Huntley was named the Region 4/5A offensive player of the year when he rushed for 1,487 yards and 13 touchdowns as a senior in 2016.
“At Locust Grove High, my grades were not where I wanted them to be in high school,” Huntley said. “A lot of schools passed me up, and I almost had to go the (junior college) route. I ended up doing pretty good my senior year and getting the GPA that I needed.”
Ball State continued to recruit Huntley.
“Ball State said they were going to be with me through that whole process, and they stuck to their word,” Huntley said. “I had to do the same and honor my word, go up there and play for them.”
Huntley hopes to get some more opportunities against the Dolphins.
“I’m just here to do what my coach needs me to do,” Huntley said. “I’m not trying to do anything spectacular. Just what the team needs me to do.”
Huntley knows he’ll have to play on special teams to have a chance to make the roster.
“I can play wherever they need me to play,” Huntley said.
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