Oregon State OC Expects Anthony Hankerson To Take Fewer Offensive Snaps At Cal
In Oregon State's loss to UNLV, running back Anthony Hankerson played just about every offensive snap on offense, carrying the ball 17 times for 61 yards and a touchdown. The Beavers rushed for an uncharacteristically low 137 yards, with half of that coming from Gevani McCoy's 71-yard touchdown rush.
With Jam Griffin still not playing due to injury, the coaching staff has noted that expecting Hankerson to play that many snaps is not sustainable.
"75 [snaps] is too much," Trent Bray noted in his Monday presser.
Beavs' offensive coordinator Ryan Gunderson made similar comments later in the week, noting the ideal situation would be true freshman Salahadin Allah playing roughly 25% to 30% of the Beavers' offensive snaps. This is to alleviate some of the physical toll Hankerson's physical, albeit fairly productive, run style will inevitably have on him.
"If you have 100 snaps, it's probably going to be 35. If it's 60 snaps it might be 15 to 20. I don't know. We'd like to get him maybe 25 to 30% of the snaps," Gunderson said of Allah. "But it's all based on, you know, if Hank plays 60 Snaps, are 40 of those runs? Like that's pretty taxing, and especially when they're hard runs where you're breaking tackles. The way that kid runs is not soft...He runs violently for a small guy."
Gunderson also clarified that with Hankerson obviously at the top of the depth chart, Allah is second on the depth chart, followed by Jake Reichle. Gunderson also confirmed that running backs Cornell Hatcher Jr. and Dyontae Navarrete are both also traveling with the team this week, should they be needed.
The Beavs kick off at Cal this Saturday (October 26) at 1 PM PT on ESPN2.
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Joe Londergan joined the SI brand in 2023 with G5 Football Daily. With over 15 years of experience in covering and working directly in college and pro sports, Joe's expertise has been featured in Front Office Sports, SB Nation, and XRAY.FM. He is a member of both the Football Writers' Association of America and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers' Association. Joe holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Louisville and a master's degree in sports administration from Seattle University. Outside of his writing career, Joe enjoys golfing, although he admits that while he hits driver decently, his short game is a liability.