Daily briefing: On Ohio State’s RBs, Paul Chryst and Lane Kiffin’s running game

Ivan Maisel’s “Daily Briefing” for On3:

Miyan Williams has been impressive for Ohio State

I don’t think the running back “situation” at Ohio State is even a situation yet. We have no reason to believe that Miyan Williams will displace a healthy TreVeyon Henderson. But as impressive as Williams’ 189 yards and five touchdowns against Rutgers on Saturday was, so is this: On 143 carries over three seasons as a Buckeye, Williams is averaging 7.3 yards per carry. At 5 feet 9, 225 pounds, Williams is built like a really fast Minion. If low man wins, he’s a seven-point favorite in every collision. No one’s paging Wally Pipp yet – Ohio State coach Ryan Day sounded optimistic about Henderson’s foot injury – but Williams has taken advantage of the opportunity presented him.

Paul Chryst is 5th coach fired this season

Coaches have shown they have no loyalty. They will leave for a better deal on a moment’s notice. Universities now act in the same vein. Five weeks into the season, five coaches have been fired. What has Paul Chryst done for Wisconsin lately? He went 67-26 in seven-plus seasons and won three Big Ten West championships and represented the Badgers like the son of Madison that he is. The Badgers are a rough-looking 2-3 this season. Their only wins are against FCS Illinois State and New Mexico State. They are the only 0-2 team in the Big Ten West. The other six teams are 1-1. Bret Bielema, who coached at Wisconsin from 2006-12, brought Illinois into Camp Randall Stadium on Saturday and shut down the Badgers 34-10 (Bielema is 45-5 in Camp Randall, 61-61 everywhere else). And yet somehow, Wisconsin firing Chryst says less about Chryst than it does about the state of college football. Outside of Stanford (10 consecutive FBS losses and counting), there is no patience anymore.

Lane Kiffin is used to good RBs

When we think of Lane Kiffin, we think of throwing the ball all over the yard. The list of quarterbacks he has developed is long and impressive, including Jalen Hurts and Matt Corral. But before we go all slack-jawed over how the No. 9 Rebels are 5-0 because Kiffin is – OMG! – running the ball, consider the identity of the offensive coordinator when Reggie Bush of USC and Derrick Henry of Alabama won their Heismans (2005 and 2015, respectively). Same coach.