Cal may need Ashton Emory sooner than planned.
With starting running back Adam Mohammed questionable after what looked like a left knee injury last Friday against Clemson and backup Carter Vargas still sidelined by the knee injury he suffered in the opener against UCLA, the Golden Bears could be leaning hard on the third-string back when they visit UNLV on Saturday in their final non-conference game.
Coach Tosh Lupoi isn’t hiding his trust in the redshirt sophomore transfer from UTEP.
“He’s somebody we can win with,” Lupoi said this week.
Lupoi also praised Emory’s style, calling him “a hard-nosed runner, man. Just appreciate his effort. He’s a strong instinctual player,” and pointing to “His premium on the ball and ball security and just following the rules and what he’s been asked to do.”
He stopped short of naming Emory the starter, but made clear the role could grow quickly. “the day-by-day status of our other players, it could potentially ramp up in terms of what we ask of him. I’ve got full faith.”
That confidence isn’t coming out of nowhere. People who coached Emory at UTEP and Rockwall High School in the Dallas area say Cal is getting a runner built for bigger moments.
“He’s a really good football player,” said Jourdan McNeill, who coached UTEP’s running backs the past two seasons. “He’s a gamer. When the lights come on, they’re not going to be too bright.”
“Oh man, he’s one of my all-time favorite kids, favorite players and favorite human beings, too,” veteran Rockwall coach Trey Brooks said in a phone interview.
At UTEP last season, Emory led the Miners with 569 rushing yards and four touchdowns, earning Conference USA All-Freshman honors. His best day came Nov. 22 against New Mexico State, when he ran 18 times for 181 yards - a 10.1 per-carry average. That was the most rushing yards by a UTEP back in nine seasons.
O‘Neill, now coaching at Texas A&M-Texarkana, said Emory repeatedly made things work even when the blocking wasn’t clean.
“The thing I remember most is there were a couple plays in a five-man box and a six-man box that weren’t blocked up perfect,” he said. “The one thing about Ashten is he was going to make you right more times than not.
It's just how hard he ran when the play isn’t blocked perfectly. That’s the makeup of a true really good back at the FBS level.
He was able to do that constantly in that game. Ten yards a carry - we probably should have handed him the ball a little bit more.”
McNeill said Emory played much of that season, including the New Mexico State game, with a cast on his left wrist after an injury, and still never put the ball on the ground. He also described Emory as tough, gritty, quick, and sharp in his cuts.
“He’s one of the few players I feel like I could leave the (running backs) room and tell him what to teach and he could teach the entire room,” McNeill said. “He made very minimal mental mistakes.
Emory’s high school résumé was just as loud. As a senior at Rockwall, he was named Texas District 10-6A MVP after piling up 2,035 yards, averaging 9.1 per carry, and scoring 25 touchdowns. He had five games with at least 200 rushing yards.
Brooks said he was a dynamic back who could get loose in space, but also run through contact.
“His senior year was one of the great seasons we’ve had from a running back at Rockwell High School,” Brooks said. “I’ve been here 13 years and I’ve seen some really good ones.”
Brooks added that Emory was a captain and a model teammate, with a personality that made him impossible not to like.
“Just an infectious personality. Always in a good mood.
I’ve never been around a kid quite like him,” Brooks said. “Everybody loves him.”
Brooks also coached Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who currently leads all NFL players with 27 catches for 405 yards and six TDs through three games.
He pointed to Smith-Njigba’s famous five-touchdown first half against undefeated Allen in the 2019 Texas Class 6A Division I playoffs at AT&T Stadium as a benchmark for one of Emory’s biggest prep moments.
“It was that kind of game, where he just carried the team,” Brooks said.
In 2023, Emory did exactly that in Rockwall’s Class 6A playoff win over Waxahachie, rushing 32 times for 270 yards and four touchdowns in a 46-43 shootout.
“It was one of the most epic performances I’ve seen from a single person,” Brooks said.
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