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By Bill Koch
GoBEARCATS.com
CINCINNATI - The original plan for running back Mike Boone was for him to redshirt as a freshman so he would have a chance to adjust to a new position and a higher level of play, while at the same time allowing the University of Cincinnati coaching staff to figure out exactly how he could help.
"We didn't know a lot about Mike," said UC head coach Tommy Tuberville. "We saw him play as a junior at running back and in his senior year they put him at wide receiver, so we didn't know what we had and what we needed to do with him."
Redshirting was OK with the agreeable Boone, although he said, like most players, he would have preferred to play right away. But he understood that Tion Green and Hosey Williams were ahead of him.
"At the time, Tion and Hosey, they had more experience than me," Boone said. "It wouldn't hurt if I had redshirted, but I wanted to play."
So when injuries to Green and Williams left the Bearcats short-handed at the position five games into last season, he was eager to get in there.
The UC coaches were understandably wary about how he would react, but they didn't have to wait long to find out that Boone could handle whatever was thrown at him. After seeing brief action at Miami (Fla.) and SMU, Boone gained 212 yards on 19 carries for an average of 11.2 yards per carry, and scored one touchdown on Oct. 24 against South Florida at Paul Brown Stadium.
"We threw him into the fire and he helped us win games," Tuberville said. "He played better than both of the other two running backs (who played) at the beginning of the year. I think he brought fresh legs."
He brought a lot more than that. Boone, a 5-10, 205-pound sophomore from Baker County High School in Macclenny, Fla., near Jacksonville, said he felt fully prepared when he entered the USF game with 8:37 left in the second quarter because of the coaching he had received from Eddie Gran, UC's offensive coordinator and running backs coach. He proved that by ripping off a 63-yard run early in the fourth quarter.
"It was one of our read plays," Boone said, "and then the hole opened up and I just remember (quarterback) Munchie (Legaux) saying, `Hit it, hit it, and I hit it. It was amazing being out there, especially as a freshman and getting the crowd going wild."
Boone went on to lead the Bearcats in rushing last season with 650 yards on 101 carries in nine games. He averaged 6.4 yards per carry, 72.2 per game, and scored nine touchdowns, which also led the team.
If the season unfolded the way Tuberville had it sketched out, Boone would have entered spring practice this year simply trying to get noticed. Instead, he's No. 1 on the depth chart, with Green and Williams trying to catch up as they come back from their injuries, although he said he wasn't aware that he had achieved such status.
"I know what I can do and I knew Hosey and Tion are were coming back, so you've just to compete and work hard," Boone said. "I leave that in coach Gran's hands. I just try my best to execute and do what he asks. He tells us to compete and don't worry about all that."
Tuberville says Boone is "the most natural athlete on the team," with a vertical jump of 41 inches and "great mobility and flexibility in his muscles in the back of his legs. He just has God-given ability."
He also possesses the critical running back instinct to be able to read the entire defense as he approaches the line of scrimmage, which makes you wonder why he played wide receiver as a high school senior. But Boone caught 57 passes that year for 1,068 yards and 18 touchdowns, so it's hard to argue with how he was utilized.
Tuberville never intended to use Boone at any position other than running back. Based on what Boone accomplished last year, the UC coach seems to have found a back who can be a mainstay in the UC backfield for the next three years.
"He played a lot better than any freshman I've been around in a while at a skilled position like that," Tuberville said, "which meant that we had to put the ball in his hands 25 or 30 times. For an 18-year-old to do what he did last year was just amazing to watch. And he's not near as good as he'll be. He'll get better every year."
Bill Koch covered UC athletics for 27 years - 15 at The Cincinnati Post and 12 at The Cincinnati Enquirer - before joining the staff of GoBEARCATS.com as featured columnist in January, 2015.