During Oklahoma State media day, a reporter posed this question to running back Caleb Hawkins — “What do you expect from yourself this season?”It’s a normal question. Hawkins provided a matter-of-fact response.“To hopefully just be better than last year,” he said with a slight smile.It’s a great goal, but it will be hard to top. As a true freshman at North Texas, he was one of the best backs in the country. He set the FBS record for most touchdowns scored by a freshman (29). He was the FBS statistical champion in total touchdowns, rushing touchdowns and scoring. He was named a first-team freshman all-American and a second- or third-team all-American by multiple outlets. As much publicity as has surrounded quarterback Drew Mestemaker, Hawkins is deserving of as much. But an encore after that season feels impossible — unless one looks at it differently.Can Caleb Hawkins Be Better Than Last Season?Oklahoma State’s Caleb Hawkins. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters ConnectHead coach Eric Morris — who coached Hawkins at North Texas last season — admitted that he felt Hawkins became a big overused last season. Hawkins touched the football 263 times. UNT ran the ball 517 times last season and he carried it 44.6% of the time. No other back in the offense carried it more than 75 times. It led to massive numbers — 1,434 rushing yards, including 1,056 yards after contact, and 1,804 all-purpose yards. But Morris worries it could lead to overuse, and he experienced that first-hand last year during the American Championship game.“I thought there was times we probably put a little bit too much on him, to be honest with you,” Morris said. “And it came back [on us]. He he got hurt the first drive of the conference championship game, and it changed the outlook of what was going on.”Morris believes he’s adjusted for that this year. He’s brought in a set of transfers that have all been productive at their former schools — James Madison’s Ayo Adeyi, Central Oklahoma’s William Mason, Abilene Christian’s Tre Page III and North Texas’ Dennis Moody III. Adeyi had been a 1,000-yard rusher under Morris at UNT before he transferred to JMU. Mason had more than 1,500 yards for his career at UCO. Pate would have been a 1,000-yard rusher last year had he not missed a few games due to injury.Plus, there is freshman KD Jones from Jenks, Okla., who had 5,748 all-purpose yards for his career.None are Hawkins duplicates, either. All of them can fill different roles. Even Hawkins sees it. “We’ll have some guy that weighs 225 pounds [Mason] and we'll have somebody that weighs like 180 [Page] that's really fast,” Hawkins said. “So, I think the diversity helps us a lot. They're not going to know who's coming out there and what skill set they're gonna bring.”Morris envisions opportunities to use different backs to exploit matchups and give his lead back a little more rest during games. Hawkins, who is 6-0 and 219 pounds, admits he invites contact. He’s a bruiser. He knows it. The constellation of backs around him should keep him fresher, especially later in the season when the games could matter a great deal — if the Cowboys exceed expectations.Hawkins may not duplicate the numbers of a year ago. But he would be OK with duplicating UNT’s record from a year ago — 12-2. If so, it means that Hawkins will still have a huge impact, even if he doesn’t quite carry the same heft as a season ago.Add us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow