So early Friday evening, I was trying to find out if there was going to be a stream of Master Teague’s season opening game. I couldn’t find one, so I stopped looking. Eventually, one was sent to me on Twitter, so I was able to watch a bit and grab some clips.
As you might expect, Teague stands out.
I guess I should add some background. Teague is a 4-star running back from Murfreesboro, Tennessee (Blackman High School) who committed to Ohio State back in the summer. He is rated the No. 3 running back in the nation per 247Sports. Scout, meanwhile, ranks him as the No. 88 running back in the nation. Don’t worry, that’s gonna change.
Anyway, I don’t have exact totals, because the stream didn’t really talk much about stats, but Teague did have over 100 yards rushing in the first half, as well as a 32-yard touchdown catch, and a 95-yard kickoff return for a touchdown. He scored four touchdowns in a 63-28 victory over Hendersonville.
[Saturday Morning Note: Teague rushed for 186 yards on 18 carries with two touchdowns; he caught two passes for 58 yards and one touchdown; he added a 95-yard kickoff return for a touchdown as well.]
Thoughts
Master Teague hits the hole immediately and is into the second level almost too quickly, which is a ridiculous criticism that I’ve scoffed at in the past with other running backs.
Unlike a lot of fast running backs, he doesn’t try to get his yards out wide. He is entirely comfortable just running up the middle and taking the straight line to the end zone. Sometimes a safety flashes and trips him up, but Blackman doesn’t care because they run up-tempo and get right back to the line.
Teague doesn’t do much dancing. That doesn’t seem to be the mentality of the offense. It’s more slicing and dicing than ducking and diving. He gets his foot in the ground and pushes up field. Any given play can go the distance, but the point is simply to move the chains. It is an aggressive approach, and one that can really wear a defense down over three or four quarters.
Highlights
On about his third carry of the game, he went 63 yards for a touchdown.
Master Teague's 63-yard TD run. https://t.co/N1iy9mfmk6
— Tony Gerdeman (@TonyGerdeman) August 19, 2017
His second touchdown came via a 32-yard touchdown pass on a wheel route. Teague does a great job of maintaining balance.
Blackman 14, Hendersonville 0. B – Connor Mitchell 32 pass to Master Teague. 6:13 1Q @Kreager @cecil_joyce pic.twitter.com/RD6dTGfXum
— Ryan Jent (@rjent4) August 19, 2017
His third touchdown went 95 yards. Again, no wasted yards.
Me: "Oh, they're gonna kick off to Master Teague? Let me hit record…" pic.twitter.com/KIdVZvOAzt
— Tony Gerdeman (@TonyGerdeman) August 19, 2017
His fourth touchdown was of the simple variety.
I was a little late on the trigger here, but here's a short TD run by Master Teague early on. pic.twitter.com/neIE0jNhpS
— Tony Gerdeman (@TonyGerdeman) August 19, 2017
Again, there isn’t any hesitation. He’s a yard churner.
Swing pass to Master Teague… pic.twitter.com/p8vE1FhNWJ
— Tony Gerdeman (@TonyGerdeman) August 19, 2017
Here is an almost identical run on a toss to the right.
Blackman won by a lot and Master Teague had a bunch of yards. Here's a quick toss play. pic.twitter.com/7zSy4vGEno
— Tony Gerdeman (@TonyGerdeman) August 19, 2017
You can see how quickly he gets to the second level here.
Master Teague up the middle pic.twitter.com/iNg2gTr53E
— Tony Gerdeman (@TonyGerdeman) August 19, 2017
And one last clip for the heck of it.
One last clip of Master Teague here… pic.twitter.com/NCycRRX1A8
— Tony Gerdeman (@TonyGerdeman) August 19, 2017
This young man is special beyond question. I wanted him over Zamir White and every other running back. His profile from the first time I ever saw him was 4-6, A-B without anything in between. This time next year we’ll be talking about a runningback controversy between Master Teague and JK Dobbins. I think JK is a special back too, but I wouldn’t be the slightest bit surprised to see Master take the job in fall camp 2018. He really is that good.