CORVALLIS — Jam Griffin referred to them as the “Dynamic Duo,” likening himself and Damien Martinez to Batman and Robin.
“Actually, I’m Superman and he’s Batman,” Griffin said Tuesday, correcting himself.
But there is only one superhero left in the Oregon State Beavers’ backfield.
The stunning news that Martinez, a two-time all-Pac-12 First Team running back, would be transferring despite emphatic and repeated pledges of loyalty and devotion to Oregon State left a 6-foot, 237-pound hole in the Beavers’ rushing attack.
Martinez rushed for 2,167 yards and 16 touchdowns, which included 12 100-yard performances, during his two seasons in Corvallis. He not only was positioned to be the focal point of the Beavers’ new-look offense under first-year offensive coordinator Ryan Gunderson, but also a beacon of hope for a reeling athletic program cast aside by college football conference realignment.
Coach Trent Bray said Martinez’s loyalty meant “everything” to the program during an interview with The Oregonian/OregonLive earlier this year.
“There were plenty of teams that offered him a bunch (of money) to leave,” Bray said. “So it’s just refreshing. He’s a great guy to lean on to show what you want this place to be. That’s the type of guy we want and what this place is all about. It’s been great.”
Until Tuesday, when Martinez had a change of heart. And while there’s no good news for Oregon State in the wake of his decision, the not-so-bad news is that running back is perhaps the Beavers’ deepest and strongest position group. In this case, the transfer portal giveth as well as taketh away.
OSU bolstered its running back room with a pair of notable transfers in the offseason, adding a familiar face (Griffin) and a proven commodity (Anthony Hankerson) to a position group that already included fifth-year junior Isaiah Newell.
And while none of the three have Martinez’s star power, they’ve all had their moments of excellence in spring camp.
Griffin is no stranger to Oregon State fans. He had his best season with the Beavers in 2022, rushing for 488 yards and four touchdowns, before transferring to Ole Miss two days before the start of preseason camp last year. Newell, who served as the Beavers’ third string running back behind Martinez and backup Deshaun Fenwick last season, has rushed for 180 yards and two touchdowns in limited duty during four years in Corvallis. And Hankerson, a 5-9, 195-pound transfer from Colorado, rushed for 593 yards and four touchdowns in two seasons with the Buffaloes.
There was a stretch last season when Hankerson looked like Colorado’s best running back — a reality that also surfaced in Corvallis on Tuesday.
“I thought Anthony Hankerson really ran the football extremely well today,” OSU running back coach Thomas Ford said Tuesday. “He’s had a really great spring camp for us. He’s kind of a guy that can do a lot. He’s really good in the run game, obviously, toting the rock. He’s really good in pass protection. He’s probably been our best pass protector thus far in spring camp. And he’s really versatile. We can line him up and play a little bit of receiver out there in our empty stuff, and he catches the ball well out of the backfield. So, really, he’s kind of a jack-of-all-trades (guy) and a really good player. I thought he really stood out today.”
Griffin also has shined for stretches during spring camp. The 5-9, 215-pound playmaker had a breakout season with the Beavers in 2022, which included the best performance of his career, an 84-yard, one-touchdown outburst against USC. But, curiously, just two days before the start of preseason camp last year, he entered the transfer portal.
The hasty move came, he says, because of “family issues,” and Griffin’s heart never left Oregon State.
“I didn’t want to leave,” he said.
So when Griffin entered the portal again last offseason, he immediately reached out to Bray and the Beavers to initiate a reunion.
“He did love this place,” Bray told The Oregonian/OregonLive. “And he called and said, ‘Could you take me back?’ And I said, ‘Well, yeah, of course.’”
When the reunion was finalized, Ford dived into Griffin’s film from 2022, analyzing every snap he took with the Beavers during his most productive college football season. Ford liked what he saw.
“Jam’s explosive,” Ford said. “He’s a guy that can really do a lot running the football. I think he’s got great vision. He’s got really good balance and he ain’t afraid of contact. He’s a guy that will run through your face, he’ll run around you, and he’ll do a lot of different things when he has the balls in his hands.”
Gunderson’s offensive system leans on the running back, but it won’t lean on a feature back — especially now that Martinez is bailing. Ford said Tuesday the days of “one guy getting 35 carries a game” are a thing of the past and he has told his crew he wants three guys ready to perform with “no drop off” heading into every game.
“Obviously we’ve got some really good players,” Ford said. “You’d like to see them all touch the field, but there’s only one football. So you’ve got to try to find ways to get their best ability onto the field and put them in the most successful situation with their ability.”
The Beavers lost Batman Tuesday. But Superman likes what remains.
“We’ve got some guys,” Griffin said. “We’ve got some good depth at running back. So it’s going to be exciting to see how we all get on the field together and stuff like that.”
— jfreeman@oregonian.com | 503-294-5183 | @BlazerFreeman | Subscribe to The Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.
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