Last season Marcus Carroll was part of a three-pronged running attack at Georgia State, sharing carries with Tucker Gregg and Jamyest Williams to produce the top rushing numbers in the Sun Belt Conference.
This spring, with the graduation of his compadres, Carroll is getting used to the idea of being the main man. While others will be mixed into the equation, it’s Carroll who will bear the brunt of keeping the chains moving on the ground.
It’s a responsibility he’s happy to accept.
“Being the No. 1 guy is nice,” he said. “I’ll just do whatever I can. If I get the ball 20 times a game and it helps us win, I don’t mind taking that load for the team.”
He got a taste of it last season when Williams missed four games because of injuries. Carroll wound up with 127 carries for 622 yards, a 4.9-yard average, and six touchdowns. He had 100-yard games against Old Dominion and a season-high 143 yards and a school record-tying three touchdowns against Southern Mississippi.
“I got out there, and I was able to make some plays and help the team out,” he said. “It’s been a great journey.”
But his fondest recollection came from the season opener at South Carolina, when he reeled off a 44-yard run in front of 78,297 fans at Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia.
“I wasn’t able to score, but just being in that atmosphere and being able to silence the crowd,” he said. “That’s something that’s always stuck with me.”
Carroll was an all-state player at Hapeville Charter School and visited other schools before deciding on Georgia State. As a kid who grew up in Atlanta, Carroll couldn’t get away from the notion of playing in his hometown. And once he made a visit to Georgia State and met the coaching staff, he was sold.
“I played rec ball here, high school … it’s nothing like Atlanta,” Carroll said. “I met the players, and I saw the dream they had with this program. I saw it, and I knew I wanted be a part of it, for us to do something. You know, sometimes you just feel like it’s the right place for you.”
Carroll now is a sturdy 5-foot-10 and 205 pounds. Coach Shawn Elliott called him, “Muscle Man.” He has a unique blend of power and flash and is expected to be the latest in a long line of running backs that have embraced the spotlight during the Elliott Era, starting with career-leader Tra Barnett and continuing through last season when the Panthers were the No. 14 rushing team in FBS, at 213.5 yards per game.
“It’s very humbling, especially when you had a lot of guys that came before me,” Carroll said. “I learned them. I learned from Tucker and Jam and Destin (Coates). I saw what those guys have been through, and they showed me the ropes. I’m simply trying to improve by 1% every day. Just getting better every single day, bonding with guys, building with the team outside of football. That’s all you’ve got to do is get better every day.”
It’s uncertain who will be the secondary back. Carroll raved about redshirt freshman K.Z. Adams, saying, “He has something you cannot teach.” And he predicted that Jay Dixon “will be a workload.” Highly regarded freshmen Charlie Pace and Jaylen Foster will join the team for the preseason camp.
Carroll said, “We’re blessed to have some great backs, and we all work together and build each other up and learn from each other. Some things I learned from K.Z. and some things K.Z. learned from me. It’s definitely a good room.”
The Panthers will complete spring practice with the annual Blue and White Game on Thursday at Center Parc Stadium. The game starts at 6:30 p.m. Admission and parking are free.
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