USC Transfer Stephen Carr Earns Starting Job at Running Back for Indiana

There were several starting spots that needed to be earned during Indiana's fall camp, and the spotlight shined brightest In the battle to start at running back. 

Stephen Carr, who grew up under the bright lights of Los Angeles, stole the show. The former 5-star running back who transferred from USC, stole the show and will be No. 17 Indiana's primary ball carrier when it starts the season on Saturday at No. 18 Iowa.

When Stephen Carr transferred to Indiana back in May, Indiana coach Tom Allen said Carr was going to have it come in and earn that top RB spot that Stevie Scott had held down for three years. Sophomore Tim Baldwin Jr. and freshman David Holloman continued to impress throughout camp as well, but come Monday when Indiana released its depth chart, Carr's name was at the top of the list.

"Yeah, I think for him at that position, it became pretty obvious," Allen said. "There's no doubt, he came here and knew and he had to earn that and I believe that he has."

Like in past seasons, though, Indiana will use multiple backs throughout games and the season, meaning Baldwin and company will still get plenty of opportunities to be on the field.

But as far the starting running back, Carr gets to take that claim in his first year with the Hoosiers.

"He will be the starter for Game 1, and I feel like from day one he came here with zero entitlement at all. He knew he had to earn the spot, and he came in ready to work and was a total team guy," Allen said. "And not just in his words. His words definitely were that way, but his actions – and that's what I look for – just his body language and  how hard does he practice and how hard does he work on special teams and during those drills are those things that we ask him to do in those areas."

Carr rushed for 1,329 yards on 264 carries (5.0 average per carry) with 12 touchdowns in 35 games (six starts) with USC. He caught 57 passes for 421 yards (7.4) with one score, and he returned 15 kickoffs for 321 yards (21.4).

The way he practiced once arriving in Bloomington stood out to Allen, and it also stood out to his teammates. They've been impressed from the get-go, too.

"Just the work ethic that he put in. He goes every day like even in jog-through practices or walk-through practices, he's one of the guys that's more tempo, always communicating, just always wanting to know what's going on. He can play fast all the time," Indiana quarterback Michael Penix Jr. said. "He makes big plays in open field, and he can get loose, and you're not going to catch him once he gets out, so I feel like that's real good."

"Stephen's a really impressive player," Indiana wide receiver Ty Fryfogle said. "He's a power-back, a speed-back, a scat-back, he's a complete package. I'm really excited to see him bring the Cali swag here."

Carr has talked about his aspirations of getting to the NFL, and he was linked up with Deland McCullough at USC when McCullough was the running backs coach there during Carr's freshman year.

McCullough left in 2017, went to the NFL and won a Super Bowl ring with the Kansas City Chiefs.

Now that McCullough is back at Indiana, it was a big reason why Carr decided to come to Bloomington. McCullough now has that professional experience and has worked with elite NFL running backs that will appeal to college players wanting to get to the next level.

Carr said during an interview that McCullough has taught him more about the running back position than any other coach he's had.

Despite the aspirations to get to the NFL, Allen and the coaching staff have never questioned Carr's team-first mentality.

Running the ball has been a big key for Indiana's offense to improve in the 2021 season, and offensive coordinator Nick Sheridan said they've done a lot to try to make it better, but the true test will be this Saturday against Iowa.

"We'll find out in the run game on Saturday, you know we're going up against a perennial top-10 rushing defense in the country. Talk is cheap right now as far as the progress we've made," Sheridan said. "As far as Stephen goes, there's just the presence, a maturity, a confidence. 

"He's been a great addition and we're expecting big things out of him, and I know he's expecting big things out of himself."