Though much of the buzz around the ISU football team centers around the quarterback position, whoever gets the carries out of the backfield may hold just as much of the team’s fate in his hands.

Alexander Robinson, the fourth-leading rusher in school history and the man affectionately known to Cyclone fans as “A-Rob,” left some big shoes in the backfield to fill when he graduated.

Sophomores Shontrelle Johnson and Jeff Woody look like the leading candidates to inherit some of Robinson’s carries.

“Everyone wants carries, but the thing that matter more is, how are we going to get wins,” Woody said.

As far as running backs go, these two could not be much more different in terms of running style and what they each bring to the table.

Johnson, a 5-foot-9, 187-pound speedster from DeLand, Fla., relies on his ability to make quick cuts and his breakaway speed. He has carried the ball 35 times as a Cyclone for 218 yards and two touchdowns, while also averaging 23.4 yards on 25 kick returns last season.

Johnson was also named a fourth-team All-Big 12 unit kick returner.

On the other hand, Woody, a Pleasant Hill native, is a 6-foot, 235-pound bruiser that can pick up tough , physical yards for Paul Rhoads’ offense. He ran for 191 yards and a touchdown last year, earning a 4.1 yards per carry average.

“You just have to work with what you’re given and try to develop those skills,” Woody said. “My skillset kind of dictates that this is what I do, and I work on developing other skills to complement that as a countermove to the straight crash style.”

The  players’ different styles may dictate who gets the carries in certain games.

“If it happens that in one game Shontrelle gets 30 carries and we win and I get none, to me it’s a W,” Woody said. “And vice versa, if I get 30 and he gets none, it doesn’t matter as long as we win.”