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Home > Bison Media Zone > 'He's an unbelievable back': Bison RB Johnson running physical, confident
Podcast: Bison Media Zone
Episode:

'He's an unbelievable back': Bison RB Johnson running physical, confident
Category: Sports & Recreation
Duration: 00:00:00
Publish Date: 2022-11-17 15:39:43
Description: FARGO North Dakota State running back Kobe Johnson has the trust of his teammates, particularly the ones who are trying to create running lanes for the speedster from Lawrenceville, Ga.

"He's an unbelievable back," said Bison offensive lineman Grey Zabel. "It's really nice know the dude behind is going to make you right at all times. That's an awesome feeling when you're up front."



The 5-foot-9, 188-pound Johnson feels he's playing the best football in Bison career after coming back from an ankle injury that forced him to miss two games earlier this season.



"It comes with experience and time," Johnson said. "Do I think this is as good as it gets? Absolutely not. There's always room to improve and I'm excited to see those improvements."


Johnson could see an extended role against the Fighting Hawks with senior fullback Hunter Luepke unlikely to play with a shoulder injury.



"You hate to lose a guy like Hunter because he means so much to the team," Johnson said.



In his three games back from injury, Johnson has rushed for 179 yards and a touchdown on 31 attempts. He also caught a 27-yard TD pass in a 21-18 victory at Southern Illinois last weekend.



"Kobe is a young man that we trust on third down so he can be an every-down back," said Bison head coach Matt Entz. "He's played physical, tough football this year."



Entz said Johnson along with TaMerik Williams and TK Marshall will all likely see a few more snaps to fill the void if Luepke doesn't play against UND. The 6-foot-1, 229-pound Williams rushed for 56 yards and a touchdown on 12 attempts against SIU.



"We feel like we still have a good level of depth in that running back room," Entz said.


Entz likes the way Johnson is playing heading into the final game of the regular season. The Bison (8-2, 6-1 MVFC) could potentially earn a top-4 seed for the FCS playoffs with a victory against the Fighting Hawks.



"I think he's running hard, just confident," Entz said. "He knows the whole playbook. ... He's in great shape. He's as strong as he's even been."



Johnson a fourth-year senior has added around 20 pounds to his frame since his true freshman season in 2019. He credited NDSU strength coach Jim Kramer with his physical development. That extra size and strength has helped Johnson get more yards after contact.



"That also goes back to the confidence thing," Johnson added, "believing that the first guy is not going to take me down. I'm going to break this tackle, just have that mindset when you're going into play is a big factor."



Johnson said the two games he sat out due to injury along with a bye week was beneficial in helping prepare for the final games in the regular season.



"It helped me get my mind right and also like, my body as well," Johnson said. "Besides the ankle injury, there's always little things that your body is going to do when you're playing a physical game like football. So having those two weeks to kind of just sit back and rejuvenate kind of helped with the running mentality and the aspect of that."

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