Western Carolina
#5 Michael Johnson
Class: Senior
Hometown: Decatur, Ga.
High School: Southwest DeKalb HS
Height / Weight: 5-10 / 205
Position: RB
2011 (Junior): Played in seven games with five starts in the offensive backfield, missing the first two and last two games due to injury ... Was sidelined with a shoulder injury that kept him out of the first two games of the season while a knee injury ended his season two games early ... Finished with 274 yards on 88 carries, averaging 3.1 yards per carry and 39.1 yards per game ... Scored two rushing touchdowns, both coming against top-ranked Georgia Southern ... Rushed a season-high 21 times against Elon ... Added five catches out of the backfield for 31 yards, tallying 305 all-purpose yards ... Rushed for 89 yards on 12 attempts with a touchdown in WCU's annual Spring Game.
2010 (Sophomore): Played in all 11 games, starting in the backfield nine times ... Led the team with 611 yards rushing on 151 attempts on the season, averaging 55.5 yards per game on the ground ... Rushed for a team-high five touchdowns, ranking tied for second on the team in scoring with 30 points ... Hauled in six passes for 39 yards ... Finished with 650 all-purpose yards to rank second on the team ... Eclipsed his single-game career-high for rushing with 117 yards on 14 carries against Samford which included a career-long rush of 41 yards ... Tallied a career-best 129 all-purpose yards against the Bulldogs ... Twice earned the team's offensive MVP award including after the Samford game and again at Wofford after rushing for 69 yards and a TD.
2009 (Freshman): Started nine of the 11 games in which he saw action ... Named the 2009 Southern Conference Freshman of the Year by both the league's head coaches and the voting members of the SoCon Sports Media Association ... Was additionally selected to the SoCon All-Freshman team ... Was twice named SoCon Freshman of the Week after both of his two, 100-yard rushing performances during the regular season which came against No. 6 Elon and No. 6 Appalachian State two weeks later ... Rushed for a then career-high 116 yards against Elon representing the only opposing rusher to top the century mark against Elon, which boasted the nation's fourth-toughest run defense at the time of the game and finished the regular season second in the NCAA FCS in total defense and ninth against the run ... Ran the ball a career-high 24 times at ASU ... Finished as the top freshman rusher in the conference - ninth overall - compiling 568 yards and four TDs, adding 25 receptions for 137 yards out of the backfield on the year ... Rushed for two of his four seasonal scores at home against Wofford, which included the first points of his career on a one-yard plunge early in the second quarter ... Missed the 2010 Spring Drills and annual Spring Game due to injury.
Prior to Western: Rushed for 335 yards and four touchdowns in five games before having his senior season cut short after suffering a broken leg in practice ... Was listed on the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's top 150 rankings of high school prospects and was listed as a two-star prospect by Rivals.com ... Averaged over seven yards per carry and scored five touchdowns while splitting carries out of the backfield as a junior ... Also ran track & field and wrestled in high school.
Personal: Full name is Michael Davaun Johnson ... Is the son of Michael Johnson and Maranda Knox.
Courtesy WCU Sports Information
ASU #5 
