Tulane Football Blog

We’re officially 3 short weeks away from Tulane’s kickoff. We made it through a long spring and an even longer summer. We are officially back. Now that we are 21 days out, I wanted to write about our very own #21, Makhi Hughes.

Hughes had a breakout campaign last season starting with Ole Miss, but it was in conference play that he really left his mark.

Makhi shredded our rivals by putting up 100 yards on every American Conference regular season foe except for FAU. He bullied his way through the league and won American conference Rookie of the Year in addition to being named first team all conference. Vision and change of direction were his calling cards last year as well as a hunger to get yards after first contact. In his own words, “see the hole and hit it”.

Makhi burst onto the scene last year, making his way to the top of a crowded running back room that many thought would be led by Shedro louis or Shaadie Clayton Johnson. His rise from buried on the depth chart to best back in the conference was impressive, but I think the best is still yet to come.

In speaking with Coach Craddock earlier in the offseason, he mentioned that Makhi was working hard to pick up additional speed. He was clocked at 4.44 in high school, and I wouldn’t be shocked if he was able to push that into the high 4.3s. If you look at a side by side of this year and last year’s press conferences, it is clear he’s been in the gym.

The added bulk should help him in pass protection and keep him on the field on third downs. The best ability is availability, and I want to see Makhi on the field as much as possible.

In addition to hard work in the offseason, I have two reasons to expect more from Makhi this season: the experienced offensive line and the success of running backs in the Craddock offense.

Barring injury, your starting 5 upfront from left to right will be Graham, Hurst, Murphy, Remetich and Green. 3 starters from last year and two transfers with tons of experience. Collectively, they have 143 starts up front. This ranks tenth in the nation and shares the top 10 with many elite rushing programs. This group has a high ceiling and there should be no greater beneficiary than Makhi.

Every runner needs a great line but also a great scheme. Coach Craddock has a proven track record of churning out thousand yard rushers with none better than Kimani Vidal. Vidal was a work horse in the Troy offense last year. He carried the ball 297 times for 1,661 yards last year which was second to only Doak Walker winner Ollie Gordon. I took a look at Kimani’s highlights to see what made him so successful.

The one thing that sticks out to me is how much outside the tackles running we see. A lot of stretch concepts and outside zone runs where traditionally you’re seeing Makhi pound it between the tackles. Also, Troy ran a lot of sets out of pistol which gives the back a larger running start as he receives the handoff than he would in Tulane’s traditional shotgun running scheme. Expect to see more pistol and Makhi outside the numbers in the coming year which hopefully will lead to more chunk plays.

The last thing to get excited about is potential increase in mobility at the QB position. Mike Pratt was a great runner and a warrior carrying the football, but I do think Ty Thompsons legs strike more fear in opposing defenses. The opportunity to run more zone read and option is there for us this year as well. I fully expect a big year from 21, and I couldn’t be more excited we’re just 21 days away.