NC State running back Jordan Houston knew his ‘time was coming.’ It’s finally here
All around the Murphy Center there are pictures of Jordan Houston.
On the elevator, on the wall outside the meeting room for the running backs, even on the door, there are images of Houston carrying the football. The ball is cradled properly in his arm, tucked away near his chin.
The numerous pictures are brought to Houston’s attention. With confidence, Houston, a junior, replies it’s because he has the best ball security on the team.
That’s what N.C. State football fans want to hear.
The last three seasons, the Wolfpack had a security blanket at running back, either Ricky Person, Jr. or Zonovan ‘Bam’ Knight.
At the conclusion of the 2021 season, Person and Knight each declared for the NFL Draft. That left N.C. State without much experience at running back. Houston has been around the longest; he arrived in Raleigh in 2019, a member of the same class as Knight.
Even with Person and Knight ahead of him, Houston saw the field right away. He was the team’s second-leading rusher that season, averaging 5.2 yards per carry as a freshman. But his carries decreased each of the next three seasons. Heading into 2022, though, chances are Houston will get the first crack at being the guy.
In today’s era of college football, most guys in Houston’s position — a productive freshman season followed by fewer carries each year after — would have transferred. He stuck it out.
“I kind of always just look at the bigger picture,” Houston told the News & Observer. “I knew my time was coming.”
Waiting his turn
Houston was a late addition to the class of 2019.
The class already had Knight and for a while thought that Jamious Griffin, a four-star back from Georgia, was coming, too. Griffin decommitted on Jan. 21, and seven days later Houston committed to the Pack.
As a freshman, he rushed for 526 yards and two scores on 101 attempts. His carries dropped to 154 in 2020 and then to just 20 a year ago.
“It definitely (got) frustrating,” Houston said. “You kind of start having doubts.”
Houston flirted last spring with playing wide receiver and during the season he contributed on special teams. In the regular-season finale against North Carolina, he blocked a punt and had a big return to midfield that set up one of their last touchdowns in the comeback win.
He had a role, but what kept him around was knowing he was in the plans for the future. He had a lot of talks with running backs coach Kurt Roper, who constantly reminded him that the staff hadn’t forgotten about him.
“They put me on special teams, they know I’m going to go hard, regardless,” Houston said. “It’s really just having that thought in the back of your mind knowing that all of this is going to pay off in the end.”
Setting an example
Inside the running backs room there are four tables with two chairs at each.
Houston pointed out that he sits in the front, closest to the screen.
On the first day of spring football practice, Houston was leading the way, the first guy in all of the drills. He was followed by sophomores Delbert Mimms, III and Demarcus Jones, II. Behind Jones were freshmen Demie Sumo-Karngbaye, Michael Allen and Micah Crowell, who moved from wide receiver to running back this spring.
Sumo-Karngbaye and Allen are the future of the program. Houston is the old man in the room, who naturally made the transition to a front-of-the-line guy.
“I have to really set an example for the younger guys,” Houston said. “Trying to lead as much as I can because I have the most experience.”
Houston has 163 career carries. The rest of the position group has a combined seven. Mimms and Jones have proven themselves as standouts on special teams. People around the program are high on Sumo-Karngbaye, who played in six games a year ago on the kickoff team. Allen (‘22) and Crowell (‘21) were the top two prospects in their respective recruiting classes.
“The thing about that room is, those guys in there have been waiting,” Wolfpack center Grant Gibson said. “I don’t think that they are inexperienced. They haven’t gotten the game reps, but they all know the plays well, they’ve been here for three years. They’ve just been waiting their turn. I’m excited to see them get out there and show what they can do. It’ll be cool to see them do it.”
Houston pointed out that Roper corrects him more now in practice, on the little things, something that might have let slide in the past. Person and Knight were getting a bulk of the practice reps, but Houston was always watching.
“They pushed me to go harder,” Houston said about Person and Knight. “Every day in practice I was working to be better than both of them. It made me realize you still have work to do even when you’re not the starting guy.”
More than enough
N.C. State’s defense is returning 10 starters. The offense has quarterback Devin Leary returning and two of the top three receivers. Four offensive linemen are back. It’s the running backs are all unproven.
“We trust Jordan, Delbert and Demarcus, those guys have been here,” Doeren said. “We know what they are going to do. Now it’s time to see what the two freshmen can do and get them in the mix. So it’ll be those five that we ride with.”
That vote of confidence was all Houston needed moving forward.
“I’m definitely excited,” Houston said. “There’s no pressure. I’ve done this, I’ve been doing this. I had a good season as a true freshman, so you can only imagine how it’s going to be now.”
Houston (5-foot-10, 192 pounds) said he’ll use the offseason to bulk up and spend more time in the film room with Leary. He wants to get “mentally sharp” this summer. In three years he’s only had four games with more than 10 carries. His per-game average will likely eclipse that this fall.
At least he’ll come into the season fresh.
“That’s a real thing, though,” Houston said about having fresh legs. “Bam and Ricky have gone through multiple surgeries. I haven’t. I’m happy my body is nice and fresh.”
N.C. State was 13th in the ACC in rushing in 2021. That was with two All-ACC type running backs who will be playing on Sundays next year. The new crew of backs is unknown but confident.
“Everyone outside doesn’t know,” Houston said. “But everyone in here knows the running backs we have are more than enough.”
This story was originally published March 9, 2022 at 7:00 AM.
