Eddie George wants a 1,000-yard rusher for TSU football and Devon Starling wants to be that guy

Rushing for 1,000 yards in a season became the norm for Eddie George in his NFL career. He did it seven times in his first eight seasons with the Tennessee Titans.

As coach of the Tennessee State football team, George would like to see 1,000-yard rushers become more common for his Tigers, who started practice Wednesday.

It's been eight years since TSU had a player rush for 1,000 yards.

George is determined to change that and could be armed with the player to get it done if Devon Starling continues his ascent since transferring from Memphis.

The former Cane Ridge star rushed for 648 yards in his first season at TSU and 800 last season, which was the most for a TSU running back since Trabis Ward (1,422 yards in 2012) and Tim Broughton (1,146 yards in 2013).

"I'm feeling a 1,000-yard season," Starling said. "I've put in the work. I feel like I could have had 1,000 yards last year but I tore my labrum in the second game so fighting through that adversity all year took some carries away from me and the way that I run had to change a little bit."

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Starling, who had 180 carries and scored three touchdowns in 2021, is fully recovered and back to running the way that he did at Cane Ridge when he was the 2018 Tennessee Class 6A Mr. Football and rushed for back-to-back 2,000-yard seasons.

"I'm back; I'm running like I did at Cane Ridge," he said. "That's why I believe I can rush for 1,000 yards."

George is counting on that. In the balanced attack he installed last season George expects more from the rushing attack than he got last year when the Tigers were next-to-last in the OVC (114.7 yards).

"The goal is to have 1,000 yards rushing," George said. "Whether that's a combination of two or just one. My goal is to be able to establish the run. I make that no secret. We've got to be able to have a staple that we can rely on; that we're known for."

The OVC only had two 1,000-yard rushers in 2021 — Peyton Logan from UT Martin (1,121) and Geno Hess from Southeast Missouri (1,116).

George is confident if Starling continues to mature the way he did throughout the 2021 season he is capable of being the type of back that can help carry an offense like George did in his eight seasons with the Titans when he rushed for 10,009 yards.

"For me as a head coach, I had to understand it was Devon's first time starting last year and I had to remember my growing pains when I first started," George said. "So it was a level of compassion I had to have. I think he understands where he has to get stronger. He's done a great job this offseason adding 10 to 15 pounds of muscle and still can move."

Piling up lots of yards isn't all George is looking for from Starling in his junior season. He expects him also to become a better blocker as well as receiver out of the backfield.

That would mean helping the passing attack and that is something Starling is more than willing to do, especially with former Austin Peay starter Draylen Ellis likely taking over at quarterback. Ellis passed for 3,895 yards and 33 touchdowns in his two seasons at Austin Peay.

"I feel like Draylen Ellis is going to help our passing game a lot and I can see our offensive line coming along," Starling said. "With him throwing the ball it's going to make the box light for me. I can see it getting the box down to six or seven. Last year, there was 11 in the box sometimes and that makes it kind of hard to run the ball."

Reach Mike Organ at 615-259-8021 or on Twitter @MikeOrganWriter.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Eddie George wants Tennessee State football to have a 1,000-yard rusher