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Illinois OC Barry Lunney Jr. hoping to lighten workload for star RB Chase Brown
By Paul Harvey
Published:
Chase Brown is off to a strong start to the 2022 season with back-to-back 100-yard games and is already over 350 yards rushing on the season. However, his workload is a bit of an issue for OC Barry Lunney Jr.
In the Week 1 loss to Indiana, the Illini rode Brown’s contributions for much of the night. He finished with 36 carries for 199 yards on the ground and 1 catch to eclipse 200 yards of total offense.
According to Lunney, that’s not something Illinois is going to be able to get away with on a regular basis. Through the first two games, Brown is averaging more than 27 carries per game.
#illini OC Barry Lunney Jr.: "Not going to be able to get away with" 36 carries for Chase Brown every game. "We got to help spread that out a little bit."
Wasn't calculated to play that way, but he was running so well.
— Jeremy Werner (@JWerner247) September 5, 2022
To start the season, Brown has 55 carries and 4 receptions for 372 yards of offense and 2 touchdowns. We’ll see if that production is able to be spread out in 2022.
One issue facing the Illini was the absence of No. 2 running back Josh McCray. McCray was injured in the Week 0 game against Wyoming and is not expected to be back before the first bye week.
Paul is a lifelong fan and student of all things college football. He has been covering college football since 2017 and the B1G since 2018.