STEPHENVILLE – Tarleton State’s run game thrived on All-American running back Kayvon Britten in 2024.
Despite Britten’s graduation, a high-level run game is still the plan in the Texans’ playbook even with the task of replacing an All-American running back.
Instead of leaning on one guy for the carries, the Texans’ run game plans to be more collective.
“It is a challenge, but we have the guys in place that can do that,” running backs coach Pepe Pearson said. “We may be able to do our running game differently. The guys in the room right now are very capable of having that same production. We have explosiveness and we have everything you need at the running back position in our room.”
The Texans currently have a pair of running backs in Braelon Bridges and Caleb Lewis who rushed for Tarleton State last season. Bridges was the Texans’ second-leading rusher and scored three touchdowns while Lewis played five games on the Tarleton State gridiron.
Bridges gave Texan Nation something to look forward to when he rushed for 112 yards on 15 carries (7.5 YPC) to go with a pair of touchdowns in his collegiate debut against McNeese in 2021. That excitement, however, was put on hold when Bridges was sidelined with an injury.
The injury allowed the junior from Houston to turn his focus from himself to his teammates. Bridges kept to himself and turned his attention to the field in his first year in Stephenville.
When he got injured, the 5-foot-10-inch running back made being the best teammate on the sidelines his priority. The injury also allowed Bridges to pay more attention to detail on how to get the extra yards and make tacklers miss.
Bridges is back stronger than ever in 2025 and “looking like the old Braelon”, according to Pearson.
“(The adversity) has been pushing me and it’s helped make me a better human,” Bridges said. “I’m going to be out there on the field and I can tell that I am going to be a different person and a different back. I just thank God for that because that’s a lesson that I needed.”
In addition to the returning letterwinners from 2024, the Texans also strengthened their run game through the transfer portal. Junior running back Tylan Hines brought lengthy FBS experience to Tarleton State, having played the past three years at Hawaii.
He appeared in 29 career games there from 2022-24, rushing for 889 yards and two touchdowns on 149 carries (6.0 yards per rush), adding 294 yards and three touchdowns on 39 receptions. Hines ranked second nationally among freshmen in yards per attempt (7.6) in 2022 and tied for sixth nationally among freshmen with seven runs of 20-plus yards.
Seeing Britten’s success with the Texans influenced Hines to improve his game in Stephenville.
“KB is a great back,” Hines said. “He has vision, speed and the ability to make people miss. Coach Pepe has given me a different perspective and that has helped a lot. Just seeing how his backs set up blocks and paying attention to the little things has been the biggest thing that has helped me here.”
In addition to Bridges, Lewis and Hines, Tarleton State will also get a boost from explosive backs like Tre Page III and Deangelo Rosemond. Rosemond was Tarleton State’s leadoff kick returner last year and is expected to transition more to the backfield.
Tarleton State’s running backs have been amongst the nation’s best over Pearson’s first two years leading the backfield. As long as progression is being made, Pearson believes there is no reason why that cannot be the case again for the Texans in 2025.
“We’re progressing at a good pace. I’m happy with where the running backs are right now,” Pearson said. “We have a lot of responsibility and they are honing in on what they need to do individually and as a group. I’ve been pleased with them, but we have to keep pushing and get better every day.”
Be the first to comment