Jim Harbaugh reminded of Toby Gerhart watching Kalel Mullings

Michigan running back Kalel Mullings has only been playing running back for the Wolverines for only about a year. But Wolverines head coach Jim Harbaugh already has some high praise to put upon the former linebacker.

During his Monday press conference, Harbaugh compared Mullings and the way he was running Saturday against Rutgers to one of the most successful running backs he has ever coached in Toby Gerhart.

“He was really going,” Harbaugh said. “I was reminded of Toby Gerhart watching Kalel on those carries, and I hope that continues.”

Mullings ran the ball six times for 40 yards in the game, including a run of 14 yards. He now had 10 carries for 57 yards on the season.

Gerhart had a standout career at Stanford playing for Harbaugh. He was a two-sport athlete, playing both baseball and football for the Cardinal.

The bruising running back emerged as a star his final two years at Stanford. In 2008, Gerhart ran for 1,136 yards to break the school record.

He was even better the following season, rushing for 1,871 yards and 28 touchdowns in a historic season for Stanford. Gerhart won the 2009 Pac-10 Offensive Player of the Year, Doak Walker Award, Archie Griffin Award, Jim Brown Award and was a unanimous All-American.

Mark Ingram, who played for the eventual national champion that year in Alabama, won that year’s Heisman Trophy but only by 28 votes over Gerhart.

Mullings is behind two standout players in senior Blake Corum and junior Donovan Edwards on the depth chart but Harbaugh said Mullings fits the vision he has for a big back in the room. He was previously a linebacker for multiple seasons before making the move to the offensive side of the ball.

Corum and Edwards make up one of the most dynamic duos in college football. However, Edwards has been off to a slow start this season. He has only 109 yards on 33 carries, although he does have 11 catches for 100 yards.

“There are going to be games where one back might be featured more than another,” Harbaugh said. “That’s kind of how it’s been here. Look at last year, the year before, the year before that. All eight years we’ve been here. We’ll probably have this conversation again next week if Dono carries more of the load. You might ask me what happened with Blake. Blake had a heck of a game [against Rutgers]. Dono had less carries but really affected the game catching the football.”