Marlin A. Lane Jr. (born December 31, 1991) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

Early years

Lane is the son of Marlin Lane Sr. and Milinia Williams. He attended

Mainland High School Mainland High School is a public high school located in Daytona Beach, Florida, United States. It is attended by 1,979 students of grades nine through twelve. The mascot is a Buccaneer and strongly resembles the old logo of the Tampa Bay Buccane ...

, where he played

high school football High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, part ...

for the Buccaneers. As a sophomore, he had 69 carries for 758 yards and 12 touchdowns. In addition, he caught six passes for 123 yards and a touchdown. As a junior, he had 112 carries for 1,110 yards and twelve touchdowns. As a senior, he played in only five games due to coming off of ACL surgery. He recorded 601 yards and six touchdowns on the season. He was rated as a four-star recruit by

Rivals.com Rivals.com is a network of websites that focus mainly on college football and basketball recruiting in the United States. The network was started in 1998 and employs more than 300 personnel. History Rivals.com was founded in 1998 by Jim Heckma ...

and

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recruiting networks.

College career

Before the 2011 season, Lane committed to the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state, ...

to play under head coach Derek Dooley.

2011 season

As a true freshman, Lane was an instant contributor for the Volunteers. He shared the backfield with Tauren Poole and

Rajion Neal Rajion Lashad Neal (born March 28, 1992) is an American football running back who is currently a free agent. He played college football at Tennessee. Neal was signed by the Green Bay Packers as an undrafted free agent in 2014, and has also been ...

among others. He made his collegiate debut on September 3, in a 42–16 victory over

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbi ...

. In the game, he had 10 carries for 35 yards and a rushing touchdown. In addition, he had two receptions for 16 yards and a receiving touchdown. In the next game against

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

, he had eight carries for 16 yards and another touchdown in the 45–23 victory. On October 8, against their SEC East

rival A rivalry is the state of two people or groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each participant o ...

Georgia Bulldogs The Georgia Bulldogs are the athletic teams that represent the University of Georgia. The female athletic teams are sometimes referred to as Lady Bulldogs. The Bulldogs compete in NCAA Division I and are members of the Southeastern Conference ( ...

, he had six receptions for 84 yards in the 20–12 loss. Overall, in his freshman season, he had 280 rushing yards, two rushing touchdowns, 17 receptions, 161 receiving yards, and two receiving touchdowns.

2012 season

As a sophomore, Lane and Neal were the two primary running backs with the loss of Poole to the

2012 NFL Draft The 2012 NFL draft was the 77th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players for their rosters. The draft, which is officially called the "NFL Player Selection Meeting", was held ...

. His role in the offense expanded in the 2012 season. He started the year off with 75 rushing yards and 21 receiving yards in a 35–21 victory over

North Carolina State North Carolina State University (NC State) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina system, it is the largest university in the Carolinas. The universit ...

. On November 3, he had a career day against

Troy Troy ( el, Τροία and Latin: Troia, Hittite language, Hittite: 𒋫𒊒𒄿𒊭 ''Truwiša'') or Ilion ( el, Ίλιον and Latin: Ilium, Hittite language, Hittite: 𒃾𒇻𒊭 ''Wiluša'') was an ancient city located at Hisarlik in prese ...

with 19 carries for 132 yards and two touchdowns in the 55–48 victory. On November 17, he had 108 rushing yards against

Vanderbilt in the 41–18 loss. After the Vanderbilt game, his head coach, Derek Dooley, was fired. Overall, he had 120 carries, 658 yards, two rushing touchdowns, 29 receptions, and 228 receiving yards in the 2012 season.

2013 season

Lane entered the 2013 season with a new head coach,

Butch Jones Lyle Allen "Butch" Jones Jr. (born January 17, 1968) is an American football coach who is currently the head coach at Arkansas State University. Jones previously served as a special assistant to the head coach and offensive analyst at the Univ ...

. The running back personnel situation was similar from the year before with both Neal and Lane returning. He started the year off strong against

Austin Peay Austin Peay (June 1, 1876 – October 2, 1927) was an American politician who served as the 35th governor of Tennessee from 1923 to 1927. He was the state's first governor since the Civil War to win three consecutive terms and the first to die ...

with 38 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns in the 45–0 victory. In the next game against

Western Kentucky Western Kentucky is the western portion of the U.S. state of Kentucky. It generally includes part or all of several more widely recognized regions of the state. ;Always included * The Jackson Purchase, the state's westernmost generally recogniz ...

, he had 97 rushing yards and another touchdown in the 52–20 victory. Overall, in his junior season, he had 101 carries, 534 rushing yards, four rushing touchdowns, nine receptions, and 50 receiving yards.

2014 season

In 2014, as a senior, Lane shared the backfield with five-star recruit freshman

Jalen Hurd Jalen Tyler Hurd (born January 23, 1996) is an American football wide receiver who is a free agent. He played college football at Tennessee for three years and Baylor for one year. Early years Hurd played football at Beech Senior High Schoo ...

and junior transfer Justus Pickett among others. With Hurd taking over a significant role in the offense, Lane's numbers decreased but he still contributed. In the season opener against

Utah State Utah State University (USU or Utah State) is a public land-grant research university in Logan, Utah. It is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. With nearly 20,000 students living on or near campus, USU is Utah's ...

, he had 41 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown in the 38–7 victory. In the game against Vanderbilt later in the season, he played a key role in helping Tennessee control the field position in a bowl-appearance clinching 24–17 victory. As a senior, Lane appeared in a bowl game for the first time in his collegiate career. In the

2015 TaxSlayer Bowl The 2015 TaxSlayer Bowl was an American college football bowl game played on January 2, 2015, at EverBank Field in Jacksonville, Florida. The 70th edition of the Gator Bowl featured the Iowa Hawkeyes from the Big Ten Conference and the Tennes ...

against

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

, he threw a 49-yard touchdown reception to wide receiver Vic Wharton III on a halfback-screen in his final collegiate game, a 45–28 victory.

Collegiate statistics

Professional career

Lane went undrafted in the

2015 NFL Draft The 2015 NFL Draft was the 80th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. It took place in Chicago at the Auditorium Theatre and in Grant Park, from April 30 to May 2. The previous ...

. In May 2015, he attended rookie minicamp on a tryout basis with the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team pla ...

References

External links

Tennessee Volunteers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lane, Marlin 1991 births Living people African-American players of American football Players of American football from Daytona Beach, Florida American football running backs Tennessee Volunteers football players 21st-century African-American sportspeople