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Highly sought El Campo running back Rueben Owens II is excited to enter his third year on varsity, as well as play under new Ricebirds head coach Chad Worrell.
In 2020, Owens bulldozed his way to an eye-popping line of more than 1,500 yards and 22 touchdowns.
"Year 3 starts tomorrow morning," Owens said in a post to his Twitter account on Aug. 1.
There is widespread optimism toward the team's chances this year, those were also expressed by Owens himself.
"We can definitely go to state," Owens told ABC13.
Worrell also has high hopes for the upcoming new season following the early practices. He believes the running game with Owens will be central to the team's success.
"I saw a lot of positives today," Worrell told ABC13. "We're going to hang our hat with the run and be physical up front, be a physical running team."
ABC 13 reported that the five-star junior aspires to rush for 3,000 yards. Owens has received offers from Texas, Texas A&M and reigning national champion Alabama. Other offers include Arkansas, Auburn, Baylor, Colorado, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Houston, LSU, Miami, Michigan, Mississippi State, Missouri, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oregon, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Oregon State, Penn State, Purdue, Texas Tech, USC, UTSA, Virginia Tech, William and Mary and Wisconsin.
247sports has Owens listed as the 2nd best running back recruit, the 4th best recruit in Texas and the 37th best recruit nationally. The site's experts believe there is a 94% chance he will attend UT.
This week marked the first week of full-contact practice, with the practices being open to the public. El Campo is excited for the season due to a new offense being run, according to ABC13. The offense will include many more formations, including the spread and result in a wider variety of players getting touches.