Through five games, Utah has a clear No. 1 running back.

The Utes began the season with a “running back by committee” approach that lasted an entire game. Against Baylor, senior Micah Bernard started a streak of three consecutive 100-yard games, including a career-high 182 yards at Oklahoma State that earned him Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week honors.

He had some memorable runs, including a 64-yarder with no less than four stiff arms that gave the Utes the game-winning touchdown against Utah State in Logan.

Since joining the program in 2019, Bernard has never been the featured back, always the secondary option. Therefore, his goal was to start this season and secure that RB1 role.

He did it.

“It feels pretty good. Honestly, I tried for a long time to get the most carries I ever had,” Bernard said after the Oklahoma State game. “I tried, I've been working for the last five, six years to get to this level where coaches trusted me and believed in me to have 25 runs, so it took a long time and I'm finally Glad I gained everyone’s trust to give me the ball.”

Especially after a difficult season last year that saw Bernard miss all but two games of the 2023 season due to an off-field injury, his ability to carry the ball has become one of the best stories surrounding Utah's team.

“Watching Bernard play is great. Knowing that he got hurt and missed a season and just knowing that football could be taken away from you like that. I’m glad Bernard came back, recovered and is doing really well,” said running back Mike Mitchell.

With 547 yards and a score of 82 carries, Bernard is one of the most productive running backs in the country – he ranks 14th in the FBS in rushing yards per game – and has been a key figure in Utah's offense.

“Micah was the show cow,” Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said. “He was RB1, he played his way into that role. He wasn't in that role at the start of the season, we let things sort themselves out, which they did, and he's the guy that gets the vast majority of the carries.”

Despite the production, Whittingham still wants to limit Bernard to a maximum of 25 carries per game and ideally 20 carries per contest.

“He's a great running back, but it's a marathon, it's not a sprint, so we've got to try to make sure we give him the reps he needs,” Whittingham said after the win at Oklahoma State.

While Utah has been more than happy with Bernard's performance so far, the Utes still need a secondary running back who can give the senior a break and get another look at opposing defenses.

That hasn't happened in the last two games – non-Bernard running backs have combined for just 28 yards in Utah's two Big 12 Conference contests.

These numbers don't quite tell the whole story. Against Oklahoma State, Utah continued to feed the hot hand with Bernard, and against Arizona, Isaac Wilson threw 40 passes to spark a second-half comeback with fewer runs left (Mitchell only had three runs). two meters).

Despite these caveats, Utah's other running backs need to perform better when they get the ball.

Entering the season, redshirt freshman Mitchell appeared to be Utah's No. 2 prospect, especially after his breakout game against Utah State in which he ran for 75 yards on 14 carries, but had just 11 total yards on 11 carries since.

“I didn’t do my best, but I feel like I can do a lot more,” Mitchell said. “Like I said, that little injury held me back and stopped the coaches from trying to hurt me more, so I was held back a little bit. But they see that I'm making progress and they see that I look better than I did before my injury. So that’s what I like at the moment.”

Since fall camp, he has been battling a nagging ankle injury that has prevented him from performing at his best this season. The break week helped in that regard and helped him recover a little better before the second half of the season.

“It's getting better day by day. At the moment I feel great after the injury. It's a little painful, but I feel like this is the best thing I'm going to achieve this season,” Mitchell said.

Going forward, Mitchell will certainly continue to be one of the main options alongside Bernard, especially in situations where short distance is important. This was a double-edged sword, however, as teams seemed to assume that Utah would sweat Mitchell in those situations, and it usually does. The key will be adding more outside runs and diversifying the running game.

With Wilson at quarterback, teams have the edge against the Utes this season, which presents challenges for all running backs.

“It's hard to play against a stacked box when you know we have a quarterback situation right now, but we have to attack on every play, we have to have more will. So if it’s a stacked box, we just have to hit them in the face,” Mitchell said.

Aside from Mitchell and Bernard, the third player in Utah's Opening Day running back trio – Jaylon Glover – was absent in four of Utah's five games.

After taking over at No. 2 behind Ja'Quinden Jackson last season – 137 carries for 562 yards and two touchdowns – most assumed Glover would take a step forward in his junior season. He ran for 15 yards on four carries in the opener against Southern Utah, but hasn't seen the field since.

On Monday, Glover told the Deseret News that he had some things to clean up in his personal life, but that he has cleaned them up and feels his time to get back on the field is coming soon.

“It wasn’t football-related why I wasn’t competitive. There were some things in my personal life that I just needed to sort out, and as far as training goes, football was my outlet,” Glover said.

Glover said it wasn't his play in training that was keeping him off the field and he was confident fans would see a new and improved player when he returned.

“I won't miss anything and if anything I know I'll be 10 times better than last season's performance. I just got locked in this cage, man. I'm ready to get up from there. So I can’t say what I’m going to do, but it’s going to be special,” Glover said.

It's not clear when Glover's time will come, but Whittingham said Monday that the junior running back could start getting playing time.

Aside from Mitchell and Glover, Utah has a few other options at the position behind Bernard. Dijon Stanley ran for 68 yards on 16 carries, but is more of a specialty player. Charlie Vincent also saw time with 39 yards on 11 carries, and Hunter Andrews rushed the ball twice for 17 yards.

Whether it's Mitchell, Glover or another running back, Utah needs someone to take some of the pressure off Bernard moving forward.

“I feel like we’re going to produce a lot more,” Mitchell said.