Travis Dye opens up about the tight competition between him, Austin Jones in USC backfield

USC running back Travis Dye had an eye-catching performance against the Fresno State Bulldogs on Saturday, racking up over 130 all-purpose yards and a touchdown in the 45-17 blowout victory. His touchdown run came on a 25-yarder down the right sideline in which he made five Bulldog defenders miss on his way to paydirt. He’s been on plenty of talented college football teams in the past, but Dye has stated that this is the most talented team he’s been on and he knows that his backfield mate, Austin Jones, is perfectly capable, too. Following the Fresno State game, Dye discussed whether or not he or Jones are capable of carrying the workload for the Trojans backfield.

You can listen to the sound clip in the video below from 0:20-0:44 or you can read the transcribed version here.

“100 percent. 100 percent. I know we both have the capability of doing it. You know, he’s a great back. I like to think of myself as a great back and that doesn’t mean that we have to be competitors, not even competitors, like hate each other, because we’re good backs. We can feed off each other. We can bounce ideas. If he does good, it just makes me want to be better, too. I see it as a great relationship,” Dye said.

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Dye is a former three-star recruit in the Class of 2018. He became a star for the Oregon Ducks, where he ran for 1,271 yards and 16 touchdowns in 2021.

One thing is for certain thus far in the 2022 college football season. The USC offense looks like a methodically well-oiled machine, no matter who touches the football. The Trojans should light up the scoreboard all season long on offense, like many people expected.

Travis Dye is now splitting carries

While suiting up for the Ducks, Dye was a workhorse running back. Now, at USC, he’s one of several capable running backs, which means he has to split the touches. That can make it difficult to get comfortable over the course of the game.

“It all depends,” Travis Dye said. “If you feel like — it just depends on the play calling and what’s going on that drive. But, if you break it for 40 yards or you have a 10-play stretch, you’re going to want to get a breather. Stuff like that. But yeah it does help, though, that you’re out there and you can have a rhythm, stuff like that, but you know it just depends on the situation.”

On3’s Daniel Morrison also contributed to this article.