Bringing the Juice – Martin Takes Advantage of Running Back Opportunities
Pete DiPrimio | IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - What’s next for Khobie Martin as he transitions from fourth-quarter running back closer to key Indiana full-game rotation contributor?
We’re about to find out.
“My coaches want me to step up,” the redshirt sophomore says. “I want to step up, too. Become a better leader.
“I think this is the year that I show everybody what I can do. I’m grateful the coaches have given me the opportunity to be in the rotation.”
What can this 6-foot, 204-pounder do? For starters, he runs through tackles as if his next five meals depend on it. That was apparent in his college debut, when in the second game of the 2024 season, a 77-3 win over Western Illinois, he ran for 57 close-out-the-game yards on eight carries.
Last season, Martin thrived in a backup role, totaling 505 rushing yards and six touchdowns on 78 carries while averaging 6.5 yards per carry behind Kaelon Black and Roman Hemby, both now in the NFL. He also caught a 14-yard pass.
The workload is certain to increase this coming season, especially after an impressive spring.
“Khobie Martin has really taken a step,” head coach Curt Cignetti says. “He's improved as much, or more, as anyone in that first recruiting class.
“Every time he has an opportunity, he takes advantage of it. He practices really hard. He runs with good pad level. He's a load. He does a nice job catching, and most important to me, he’s very consistent. I really like him a lot.”
There’s plenty to like, including Martin’s coachability under running backs coach John Miller.
“Coach Miller has done a great job with me,” Martin says. “You can tell my progress from last year to now. I have improved. Last year, I stepped up. I’ve stepped up again this year.”
Improvement centers on speed, strength, and leadership.
“I'm trying to be one of those guys that brings everybody together, lifts the spirit up, gets everybody going, bringing that juice, speed, and strength,” he says.
“I'm getting my diet right, making sure I take care of my body. Your body's one of the most important things. If I take care of my body, everything else can follow through.”
Martin also praises the impact of former IU running back Justice Ellison, now on the offensive quality control staff focused on running backs.
“With him being a (former) player, he’s a great leader and mentor. That he’s become a coach is a great blessing. He’s helped me shape into a better running back and a better man.”
That includes faith as well as football.
“(Ellison) makes sure I’m growing to be the man I want to be,” Martin says. “It helps with my leadership skills. It helps off the field. Any problems, I can talk to him. He’s a great addition to the (running backs) room.”
Martin was part of Cignetti’s first IU recruiting class after originally committing to Miami (Ohio). Former Hoosier head coach Tom Allen had also offered him, and Martin says he wasn’t sure what would happen with the Indiana program after Allen left following a third-straight losing season and Cignetti was hired. Would Cignetti still want him? Would he want to be a Hoosier?
The answers to both questions, as it turned out, were yes.
“IU was coming off a losing season, the head coach is gone, and especially nowadays a new coach switches up a little bit,” Martin says. “When we heard Coach Cig was coming, we knew this is a dude who will come in and help us and make us a winning team. You see we won a national championship, so it was a great decision to come to IU.”
The first time Martin met with Cignetti, defensive tackles coach Pat Kuntz was with him. They made quite an impression.
“They were looking at me up and down, evaluating me,” Martin says. “That’s how (Cignetti) does it. I knew he was serious.”
Seriousness has its benefits. Cignetti’s two-year Indiana record is 27-2 with a 16-0 national championship. Because the Hoosiers spent much of last season blowing out opponents -- 12 wins came by 10-or-more points, 10 by at least 25 -- Martin got plenty of fourth-quarter opportunities, and he made the most of them.
“Shout out to the coaches,” he says. “They believed in me. They kept me here for a year to ensure I could be the best running back I could be.”
Martin’s opportunity last year came at the expense of veteran Lee Beebe Jr., who played just over two games before a knee injury ended his season.
Beebe Jr., who was sidelined for spring practice, is set to return for August camp. Add Boston College transfer Turbo Richard and some promising young players, and the Hoosiers seemed primed for a third-straight dominating rushing season.
“Coach Martin and Justice Ellison do a great job,” Cignetti says. “I like that running back group.”
Martin says he’s fine sharing the rushing load.
“It’s good for a running back. It gives us time to refresh our legs. We get to encourage our teammates to go out there and work as well.
“Last year with KB and Roman, there was never any bad blood between them. We try to be great. If we need multiple running backs to do that, then that’s what we need.”
Martin arrived in Bloomington after a standout career at Fishers High School near Indianapolis, rushing for 2,746 yards and 38 touchdowns over three seasons. Injuries cost him two games as a senior, but he still ran for 1,379 yards and 19 TDs.
Martin says he grew up thinking of Indiana as a basketball school. When the Hoosiers nearly won the Big Ten football title under Allen during the COVID season of 2020 (IU finished 6-1 in the conference with a close loss to Ohio State), it made a big impression.
“It was like, wow, they could actually do something,” Martin says. “Then Coach Cig came and this happened.”
What’s next for Martin? His work will determine that.
“Coach Cig told me to try to grow and become the best back I can,” he says. “That’s what I’ve been working on.”