Five players—Marion Lukes, Myles Bailey, B.J. Harris, Nahree Biggins, and Germanuel Tanelus—return to Central Michigan's running backs room with in-game experience. Running backs coach Cornell Jackson has a deep, talented, and versatile running backs room that features a variety of talented individuals.

Last year, CMU combined to run for 1,913 yards and 21 touchdowns on 455 attempts (4.2 yards per carry). Running backs comprised two of the top five pass catchers on the roster. Look for those numbers to increase in 2024.

RUNNING BACKS PERSONNEL ROSTER
0 | Nahree Biggins | 6-1 | 210 | R-Jr. | Hillside, N.J.
4 | Jakivion Calip | 5-11 | 200 | R-Fr. | Lewis Center, Ohio
9 | Marion Lukes | 5-9 | 210 | Sr. | Charlestown, Ind.
22 | Brock Townsend | 6-0 | 220 | Fr. | Caledonia, Mich.
24 | Mekhi Jenkins | 5-9 | 190 | R-Fr. | Detroit, Mich.
26 | Myles Bailey | 5-10 | 230 | Sr. | North Brunswick, N.J.
28 | B.J. Harris | 5-9 | 210 | Sr. | Chattanooga, Tenn.
32 | Kadenn Rose | 5-8 | 190 | Fr. | Mount Pleasant, Mich.
46 | Germanuel Tanelus | 5-10 | 205 | R-So. | North Lauderdale, Fla.
49 | Jason Philpot-Dixon | 6-0 | 200 | Fr. | Detroit, Mich.

The M&M Brothers Myles Bailey and Marion Lukes headline the running backs group as the returning starters.

Bailey gives the Chippewas a tough, rugged, bruising-through-the-line rusher. In 29 career games and six starts at running back, Bailey has rushed for 766 yards and three touchdowns on 101 carries with a 4.7 yards per carry average, caught 28 passes for 241 yards and a touchdown, and returned five kickoffs for 106 yards with a long of 29 yards. He has three career 100-yard all-purpose games and one 100-yard rushing game. Last year, he saw action in 10 games with five starts and rushed for 476 yards and three touchdowns on 101 carries (4.7 yards per carry) with a long of 48 yards, caught 14 passes for 112 yards with a long of 23 yards and concluded the year with 476 all-purpose yards. He ranked No. 2 on the squad in rushing yards (476) and all-purpose yards (588), third in touchdown rushes (three), fifth in both receptions (14) and receiving yards (112). He also had two games of more than 100 all-purpose yards (139 vs. Eastern Michigan, 108 vs. New Hampshire) and finished with one 100-yard rushing game, a career-high 108 yards and a touchdown on 24 carries vs. New Hampshire.

Lukes is CMU's speed back, ducking, dodging and speeding past would-be tacklers. He enters the 2024 season as a Doak Walker and Paul Hornung Award Watch List nominee. A two-time All-MAC selection (First Team in 2023 and Third Team in 2021), Lukes has totaled 2,698 combined all-purpose yards and scored 11 total touchdowns in his three-year, 33-game career. He has rushed for 1,154 yards and eight touchdowns on 217 attempts, caught 43 passes for 445 yards and a touchdown, and totaled 1,099 kickoff return yards on 48 attempts (22.9 yards per return). Of his 11 touchdowns scored, he has eight rushing, one receiving, and two on kickoff returns. He also proved to be the league's top all-purpose player, accumulating a conference-best 1,618 all-purpose yards (737 rushing, 300 receiving, 581 on kickoff returns) and led the MAC in all-purpose yardage (MAC only games) with 151.63 yards per game (1,213 yards). His 1,618 all-purpose yards ranked No. 18 in season records at CMU.

As a rusher, Lukes led CMU and ranked No. 7 in the MAC in rushing with 737 yards and five touchdowns on 144 carries (5.1 average per carry), caught 29 passes for 300 yards, and returned 25 kickoffs for 581 yards, including an 86-yard touchdown. He registered six games with 100 or more all-purpose yards and two 100-yard rushing games with his top performance coming against Northern Illinois, where he topped career-highs for rushing yards (202) and all-purpose yards (254).

B.J. Harris has a tremendous amount of game experience as he has seen action in 31 games combining his career at both Missouri and Central Michigan. Last year, he was listed as the backup running back on the depth chart, rushed for 43 yards on 19 carries and caught one pass.

Since moving from defensive back to running back prior to spring drills, Nahree Biggins has been impressive in both spring and in fall drills. On defense during his first three seasons, Biggins has seen action in 16 career games with 15 tackles, 2.0 tackles for loss, two pass breakups and an interception.

Germanuel Tanelus saw action in three game last season, mostly on special teams. Two players—Jakivion Calip and Mekhi Jenkins—both earned redshirts last season.

Joining the unit is freshmen Brock Townsend, Jason Philpot-Dixon, and Kadenn Rose. Townsend is a two-time first Team All-State player. He rushed for 1,507 yards, 19 touchdowns and an 8.2 yards per carry average as a senior.