Florida State’s running back group has been thinned due to injury but is not lacking experience.
Tre Wisner enjoyed a 1,064-yard season in 2024 at Texas, one where he also had 44 catches for 311 yards. With five rushing touchdowns and one receiving touchdown, it was a breakout season for Wisner.
With Ousmane Kromah out for the season and Samuel Singleton Jr. out indefinitely, the Seminoles’ running back depth has time to rest and prepare for the stretch run in the bye week before playing host to Clemson on Oct. 31 (7 p.m. on ACC Network). The Seminoles (3-4, 1-3 ACC) have five games left, including four against unranked teams, although they will face a pair of rivals in the Tigers and Florida.
If FSU is to keep the run game going, and have a chance to accomplish some goals — defeat a rival and earn bowl-eligibility — Wisner will be a pig piece of the offense.
“First and foremost, praise to Ousmane. Wonderful guy. I love him so much,” Wisner said on Tuesday. “That’s my little brother. Secondly, I feel like this ties into the vet aspect of things. I have played a lot of football, seen a lot of things. Always be ready for your number to be called.”
That time is now for Wisner, freshman Amari Thomas and veteran reserve Zay Parks. FSU was viewed as having a deep running back room going into 2026, and the group will be tested in the next five games.
FSU no doubt needs to get Duce Robinson more involved and Ashton Daniels must continue to build chemistry with Micahi Danzy, Jayvan Boggs and Jasen Lopez. But the Seminoles are determined to run to build drives and take pressure off Daniels.
“I’ve got a lot of belief in Tre, Amari and Zay Parks,” FSU coach Mike Norvell said. “Those guys can all go out there and play the game at running back and do all things.”
Kromah had been physical and consistent, rushing for 80 or more yards in each of FSU’s first six games. That consistency helped him match an FSU record, held by Warrick Dunn in 1995, of six straight 80-yard games. Kromah was also one of just three FBS rushers with 80 or more yards in the first six games this fall.
He was on pace to a seventh against Miami, picking up 44 yards late in the second quarter before he suffered multiple broken bones in his foot/ankle, his mom posted on Facebook on Sunday. Kromah finished with 609 yards on 114 carries with five touchdowns and had season-ending surgery before returning to Tallahassee on Sunday.
Wisner was a big acquisition in January, a transfer with experience that on the outside was viewed more as a want than a need for Norvell and the staff. But Norvell was always going to lean on the run game in 2026, as he has often done in his seven seasons at FSU. The 6-foot, 203-pound Wisner was also valued as a pass-catcher.
The unfortunate reality is FSU lost Singleton due to injury at Alabama and Wisner to injury at Miami. Norvell indicated Singleton could return later in the fall but definitely not in the next few weeks, which would rule him out for the Clemson game.
Wisner opened the season as FSU’s No. 3 back in part because he missed a few weeks of camp due to injuries. Kromah was poised to break out in year 2, and Singleton had one of the better camps of any of the Seminoles, coaches as well as sources indicated to the Osceola.
But FSU will now turn to Wisner, who has 38 carries for 204 yards this fall. He also had four catches for 56 yards at Miami, including a 28-yard screen pass that he turned into a touchdown.
Wisner has been praised as a leader, helping share his experiences to Kromah and Thomas. Now, he’s ready for increased playing time.
“Ous went down and I’m right there, watching my brother on the floor crying in pain,” Wisner said. “That also instills something in you. I know how hard he is going to go so I’m going to go hard for him.”
Thomas, who is 5-11 and 200 pounds, has three carries for 11 yards against FCS Central Arkansas and will see more carries. FSU won a recruiting battle in December with South Carolina to land Thomas, who starred at nearby high schools in Marianna and Blountstown.
“Amari was limited earlier in the season,” Norvell said. “He started to emerge more in special teams. Had a tackle on the punt coverage end this week. He's playing more. I’ve seen his growth in practice, but also he's a part of a very talented room.
“Now with Ous going down, it is going to accelerate his snap count. You can turn and hand off to somebody, but it's all the other parts that go go with it. And I think Amari is a really smart young man that is growing in his confidence of what to do with and without the ball in his hands.”
Parks, who is 5-11 and 204 pounds, doesn’t have a carry this fall. But he did have 15 carries for 95 yards and a touchdown, seeing most of his playing time against FCS East Texas A&M and Kent State.
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