As football teams gear up for the start of the regular season and players jockey for spots, position battles are inevitable. This is no different for the Elon University football team, which has seen many position battles over the weeks of preseason camp.

At the running back position, it was a three-way battle for the top spot between senior Karl Bostick, junior Tracey Coppedge and sophomore B.J. Bennett. But what was once thought to be a platoon position for the Phoenix has now turned into a need for bodies on the field.

“You always need three,” said Elon coach Rich Skrosky. “It’s not a matter of, ‘do you want to have three?’ You always need three during the season.”

Heading into preseason camp, running back was a position of strength for Elon after the trio of running backs combined for a solid 2013 campaign. In fact, the similarities between the three players’ 2013 stat lines are eerie.  

Bennett led the team with 477 yards rushing on 123 carries as a redshirt freshman, plus four touchdowns.  Bostick, who transferred from the University of Akron, rushed for 443 yards in his second year with the Phoenix, also scoring four times on the season.  Coppedge finished 2013 second on the team with 447 rushing yards on just 90 carries, good for a 4.8-yard average, which was the best on the team.

“I don’t think one guy right now stands himself out,” Skrosky said.  “Competition is good and we want competition.”

After the first scrimmage of camp Aug. 11, Skrosky still viewed the running back position as one that is up for grabs. But they now may need more than three in the competition.

Coppedge got the majority of the carries in the first scrimmage, but has dealt with an injury more recently that has kept him off the field. Bennett was also sidelined with a hand injury, which left the door open for Bostick.

“Karl is running more powerfully than he did in the spring,” Skrosky told elonphoenix.com.  “That’s probably because he’s more confident in the scheme and what we’re asking him to do.”

But Bostick’s solid camp was derailed as well when the senior suffered a leg injury in the team’s third scrimmage Aug. 20 and was carted off of the field. Skrosky later said that Bostick is expected to be out until at least late October with a broken leg.

The serious injury to Bostick, as well as the minor ones to Coppedge and Bennett, is a big blow to an Elon offense that relied heavily on the run game last season.  

In talking to some of Elon’s defensive players that line up against the running backs every day in practice, it’s obvious how highly they think of them. 

On Coppedge, senior linebacker Jonathan Spain said, “He’s got the moves. I like how he plays because he’s elusive and makes people miss. He’s the hardest person that I’ve had to tackle in a couple years.”

Senior linebacker Odell Benton said, “Bostick is a veteran and he knows what he’s doing, so he’s in the room coaching up [Coppedge] and coaching up [Bennett]. I think we have a good mix too between speed, power and having veteran experience.”  

Sophomore linebacker John Silas said Bennett “is like a wildcard. He has a nose for the end zone.”

No matter who is on the field at the running back position, something different will be brought to the table. If it’s Coppedge, elusiveness will be on display. If it’s Bostick or Bennett, it will be more of a smash-mouth style of football. But with all three off of the field, the offense is losing some firepower.

All three backs are all friends off of the field, and they know what’s at stake on the field: playing time.

“Since the first day of college, it’s always been a competition,” said Coppedge, who described his relationship with Bostick and Bennett as a “brotherhood.” “Your spot is never guaranteed so you always have to work harder than you worked the day before.”

Bostick agreed, saying, “You always have to compete and push the other guy to be better and in turn, you’re pushing yourself to be the best that you can be. If there’s ever a point where you’re not competing, then you’re not helping the person in front of you or the person behind you to get better.”

The chemistry within the group is palpable, each willing to push the other to be his best.  Now, it will be up to each one of them to push each other to get back on the field.