Taggart confident in all his tailbacks

TAMPA — Willie Taggart has insisted to any and all audiences that his three tailbacks are equally talented.

“We can put any one of those guys in there and get the same production that we expect,” Taggart said a week before the season opener. “They’re going to be big time for us.”

Saturday, Taggart’s declaration could face challenge yet. “Big time” meets crunch time.

Sophomore bell cow Marlon Mack, who has run for at least 100 yards in each of the Bulls’ last three games, is nursing a hamstring strain. Just how extensively he plays Saturday against SMU — a game critical to the Bulls’ bowl aspirations — is conjecture. “I should be ready by Saturday,” he said this week. But what if the worst case manifests itself? Will the tandem of sophomore D’Ernest Johnson (28 carries, 131 yards) and junior Darius Tice (37 carries, 222 yards) effectively complement dual-threat quarterback Quinton Flowers? Or will the Bulls’ rushing attack be collectively hamstrung? For Taggart, it’s not even a question. “They all bring a spark to our team,” he said. Both are listed at 5 feet 10, with Johnson (208 pounds) two pounds heavier than Tice, according to the roster. In two games this season (FSU, Syracuse), they’ve had the same number of carries. At Maryland, Johnson had seven carries to Tice’s six.

In last week’s 28-20 win at Connecticut, they combined for the same number of carries (13) as Mack.

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Joey Knight, Tampa Bay Times