Horne Finds Carries Hard to Come By
Story Links
CHARLOTTESVILLE – On the depth chart UVa released before its Sept. 4 football opener against Richmond, Perry Jones and Raynard Horne shared the top spot at tailback.
On the depth chart distributed Monday, Jones is listed as the starter, followed by Keith Payne and then, at No. 3, Horne.
“I don’t think it’s as much what Raynard is not doing,” first-year coach Mike London said Monday. “I think it’s what Perry and Keith are doing.”
Payne, a 6-3, 255-pound senior, is averaging 85.5 yards per game, fourth-most in the ACC. Jones, a 5-8, 185-pound sophomore, is seventh, at 75 yards per game.
With five touchdowns, Payne is second only to Georgia Tech quarterback Joshua Nesbitt among ACC players. Nesbitt, however, has played in three games, to two for Payne.
A 6-0, 210-pound senior, Horne has rushed seven times for 20 yards this season. In Virginia’s most recent game, Sept. 11 at the University of Southern California, he carried twice for 9 yards. Jones and Payne ran for 77 and 56 yards, respectively, against the Trojans.
On three kickoff returns this season — all against Richmond — Horne has totaled 57 yards.
“So we’ll keep plugging away trying to find ways to get Raynard the ball,” London said. “But at the same time we don’t want to limit the opportunities of two players that have been productive thus far for us.”
Dominique Wallace’s decision to give up football means, in all likelihood, that sophomore Torrey Mack is now the team’s No. 4 tailback.
Mack has yet to play this season, but he impressed at practice last week during a scrimmage “for guys that haven’t been playing as much,” London said.
“Torrey will be on the field in a special-teams role. We’ll just have to see how it plays out, whether it’s as a regular down the stretch as a running back.”
Mack’s 2010 debut is likely to come Saturday. UVa (1-1) hosts VMI (1-1) at 1:30 p.m. at Scott Stadium.