2009 Stats:
Saine - 13 Games 145 Att. 739 yards for 56.8 a game and 5.1 YPC. Only 4 TD's however.
Boom- 10 Games 153 Att. 600 yards for 60 a game and only 3.9 YPC. But 7 TD's.
If you were JTress who would you go with? In my opinion I would start Saine and spell him with Boom. Saine opens up the field that much more on passing downs and has the speed to be a game breaker. There is also the option to send Saine out wide and he has the speed to beat cornerbacks and if they put a linebacker on him you can forget about it. Saine brings game breaking ability, another potential wide-out, and can give Pryor an outlet when the pocket breaks down and he can't turn on the jets.
Boom is a more physical runner and can run up the middle with more success and play Tressel-ball, which might get him the nod, as we saw last year. He is also a superior blocker to Saine and is our go-to 3rd down back and can punch it in from 2-3 yards out as evidenced by his 7 TD's in only ten games. On the other hand, he can't match "Zoom's" speed and game breaking ability. Also, he is not an ideal fit to be split out wide.
Obviously there are advantages and disadvantages to both, but I believe that Saine's versatility and speed are too much to keep him off the field too long. Boom is a good back but Saine can do so much more and gives TP yet another option to get the ball to when he is not rushing for 100 yards a game. Whoever the starter, lets hope we see both of these guys on the field a lot enroute to that BCS National Championship!
