Top 70 MAC Football Players: #22 Travis Greene (RB- Bowling Green Falcons)

Before the start of the 2013 season, former Bowling Green Falcon head coach Dave Clawson made the surprising announcement that a 5' 10", 175-pound wide receiver would be his starting running back.  While a lot of people were scratching their heads about the move, Clawson said that "Travis Greene has the God-given ability to make people miss when he has the football."

Whether it was divine intervention or not, Greene had Clawson looking like a prophet as he went out posted the best season a running back has ever had at Bowling Green.  In 2013, Greene rushed for a school-record 1,594 yards, surpassing Fred Durig's mark of 1,444 set in 1951.  He had nine 100-yard games, most ever in a season by a Falcon, while scoring 13 touchdowns (11 rushing and two receiving).  His 1,749 all-purpose yards were also second most in school history for a single season.

Not bad for a guy that played wide receiver in high school and was recruited to play that position in college.  Greene's success that year played a pivotal role in the Falcon's march to a Mid-American Conference Championship.   Surprisingly, he was only named second team All-MAC after his record breaking year.  Apparently, it was the "year of the running back" in the MAC that year?

Greene followed-up his breakout sophomore campaign with a productive season last year, despite missing two games with a high ankle sprain and learning the new offense of head coach Dino Babers.  He still managed to finish the year with 949 yards rushing and 12 touchdowns.  He finished the year strong, with 105 yards rushing in the MAC Championship Game against Northern Illinois, and had two touchdowns in the Falcon's Camellia Bowl win over South Alabama.

Heading into his senior season this year, Greene was named to preseason watch list for the Doak Walker Award, and was named to the preseason All-MAC second team by Phil Steele and Athlon Sports.  Greene and the Falcons have been tabbed by the media and the MAC coaches as the favorites to win their third consecutive MAC east title and advance to Ford Field in Detroit for the MAC Championship Game once again.

Greene will have plenty of help in the backfield as the Falcons are loaded with guys that can carry the ball this year.  Junior Fred Coppet (764 yards rushing and six touchdowns last year) backs up Greene and would be a starter for most MAC teams.  The Falcons also have two high profile transfers in running backs Matt Domer (Illinois) and Donovan Wilson (Georgia Tech) this season.

As his former coach stated, Greene has the uncanny ability to make defenders miss.  He can switch gears on the fly and cut on a dime, which means you rarely see him take a big hit.  He'll need all those skills as the Falcons travel to Nashville to open the season against Tennessee and then face Maryland, Purdue and Memphis in consecutive games.

Maybe he'll earn his Twitter handle (@Breakemdown-8) in those games?