THE BYE WEEK TAPE: BC Brings the Juice. Boerne Changed the Rotation.

Everybody wanted to name an RB1 in August.

Including us.

Who gets the carries? Who becomes the guy? Who replaces the production that walked out the door?

Four games later, I’m starting to think UTRGV might be better off without one clean answer.

That’s what The Bye Week Tape is for. Put the preseason depth chart away, pull up the snaps and look at what the room has actually become. And right now, the running backs make a lot more sense when you stop trying to crown one dude and start looking at what each one brings to the picture.

Start with Brennon “BC” Carroll, No. 6.

BC has 34 carries for 256 yards and a touchdown — 7.5 yards a pop. That number matches the tape. He brings acceleration. Give him a crease and the run can change levels before the defense gets itself organized.

That’s his juice.

He doesn’t need 20 carries to leave fingerprints on a game. BC can take a run that looks ordinary at the mesh point, hit the gas and suddenly the safety is the one trying to clean up somebody else’s problem.

Then TJ “Boerne” Dement, No. 4, changed the conversation.

He leads the room with 42 carries for 224 yards and a touchdown, and the McNeese game felt like the first time we really saw what this rotation could look like when UTRGV got him into rhythm. Dement went for 144 yards, but the bigger takeaway was how the run game looked around him.

There was more space. The offensive line played cleaner. The backs weren’t constantly being asked to turn two yards of daylight into five. Dement could press the track, be patient and get downhill when the picture opened.

That matters because BC and Boerne don’t have to be the same back.

BC brings the juice. Boerne brings the rhythm.

Now you’ve got a rotation instead of an argument over who deserves the label.

And then there’s Broderick Taylor, No. 26, sitting over there with 13 carries for 131 yards — 10.1 per carry.

Thirteen carries isn’t enough to build the offense around.

It is absolutely enough to make me wonder what another five touches look like.

Taylor already has a 54-yard run, and the burst is obvious. He doesn’t need to jump Carroll or Dement on some imaginary rankings board. If your third back can walk into a game and threaten an explosive, that’s useful football.

Fabian Garcia is at 10 carries for 45 yards, but the injury has interrupted his chance to really carve out a 2026 role. That matters, because this was a guy we expected to be in the rotation. We just haven’t gotten enough healthy snaps to make a fair read yet.

Malachi Lane has 8 carries for 21 yards and a touchdown, and at 225 pounds he gives the room a different body type. His workload has been smaller, but that physical profile still gives UTRGV another way to attack a defense depending on the picture.

Freshman Jackson Regan has two carries for three yards, while William Goodloe is still waiting on his real opportunity.

Now zoom out.

The backs have combined for 680 rushing yards on 109 carries — 6.2 yards per attempt.

That’s production.

But what matters more is how the room is starting to fit together.

BC can change the picture with speed. Boerne can settle the offense into rhythm. Taylor has made a tiny workload look loud. Garcia needs to get healthy. Lane gives you a different kind of body.

We wanted an RB1 in August.

Maybe UTRGV doesn’t need one.

Because if the staff keeps finding the right back for the right picture, RB1 might matter a whole lot less than RB room.

And right now?

This room has options.