Louisville football added its third commitment from the class of 2017 Thursday when Itawamba (Miss.) Community College running back Octavius Matthews pledged his allegiance to the Cards.
Blessed to say I've committed to university of Louisville... L's up?? #BirdGang17 ?? pic.twitter.com/Iz5I3OQmq3
— Octavius M... (@octaviusmatthe1) April 21, 2016
The 6-foot-1, 190-pound Matthews is rated as the nation's No. 1 junior college running back by 247Sports.com. He rushed for 808 yards and four touchdowns as a freshman at Itawamba last season.
Matthews is a nice change of pace for Louisville, which has loaded up on bruising running backs in recent years. While Matthews does need to add a bit of weight in the next year, that additional load shouldn't affect his breakaway speed, an asset which figures to serve him extremely well when playing in an offense that will position him next to Lamar Jackson.
Here's Matthews in action last season as a JUCO freshman:
