Elijah Faulkner isn’t the new guy anymore.
As a sophomore, Faulkner isn’t necessarily an old vet just yet either, but a lot has changed around the UMass running back since he arrived in Amherst a year ago.
Faulkner entered his first Fall Camp simply trying to figure out what college football was going to demand from him.
A year later, he’s one of the few returning pieces in Jeremy Larkin’s reshaped UMass running back room, surrounded by freshmen learning many of the same lessons he did a year ago and some veteran newcomers with lessons of their own to offer him.
“I pretty much sit in the middle kind of age wise,” Faulkner said. “I’m a sophomore, but we got two younger freshmen, TK Davis and Justin Lewis who are acclimating to college very well and they’re learning and they’re doing well, but they also got things they need to work on and Coach Larkin has done a great job with them.”
Faulkner understands that adjustment better than he did a year ago.
The Pittsburgh native arrived at UMass after a productive career at Central Catholic, one of Pennsylvania’s most accomplished high school programs. Faulkner rushed for 3,076 yards and 45 touchdowns over his final two seasons while earning First Team All-Conference honors both years.
College football required another adjustment.
Faulkner played in all 12 games as a freshman, carrying the ball 40 times for 114 yards. The year of experience at the college level was just as important as the time he saw on the field, if not more.
“Being a freshman, going through your first fall camp, you really don’t know what to expect,” Faulkner said. “I was going into the camp last year just thinking I want to do as best as I can. I want to learn as much as I can and I want to do the best as I can.”
His mindset has changed entering Year 2.
“This year going into camp, I want to just exceed my expectations and I’m going to do everything, my ability to be the best I can,” he said.
While Davis and Lewis are going through many of the same adjustments Faulkner made a year ago, veteran additions Curtis Kimmons IV and Justin Williams-Thomas provide examples of players who have already spent several years navigating college football.
“I learn from them as well, being a sophomore, seniors being through the college football process, I pick up from them every day and I appreciate them and I’m just excited for the future,” Faulkner said.
Larkin is overseeing that mixture of experience and youth, but Faulkner’s development is also being pushed by the personality that offensive coordinator Max Warner has brought to the entire unit.
“He’s unapologetically himself,” Faulkner said of Warner. “If you like it or not, there’s not really a choice. It is what it is.”
It’s a welcome and needed intensity, according to Faulkner.
“I don’t think our offense would be ready to practice every day if it wasn’t for his push,” he said. “Me personally, I feel like I have no choice but to have a good practice. Personal opinions, personal goals, but also I want to make my coaches happy and play to the standard of the team.”
There is still plenty for Faulkner to learn and plenty of competition in a running back room featuring players at different stages of their careers. But that’s what makes his place within it unique.
He’s no longer the freshman simply trying to learn as much as he can, and he’s not yet one of the veterans who has seen everything college football can throw at him.
For now, Faulkner is somewhere in the middle, with an opportunity to learn from the players ahead of him while recognizing just how much he’s already learned himself.
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