It was a start.

Miami University’s running game has been Job 1 on head coach Don Treadwell’s need-to-improve list this year, and the RedHawks took a baby step forward during last Saturday’s intrasquad football scrimmage at Yager Stadium.

That doesn’t mean the running backs were great. Thirty-nine carries for 71 yards is far from great. But the ground attack looked stronger than what was displayed in the spring game, when the backs were a very thin group.

“The backs are knowing that, ‘Hey, if we could even be 3 to 4 yards per carry, that’s pretty good at the end of the day,’ ” Treadwell said.

“I think they have a better feel for what we need consistently as opposed to maybe at times in the past looking to produce a big play, but you can’t stop your feet in the hole to produce a big play,” he continued. “We’d rather have you run forward.”

“As a whole running-back corps, the main focus for this year is to be more accountable, be more of a product for the team,” said walk-on Robert Williams, an Elder High School graduate who led the way in the scrimmage with 28 yards on nine carries. “For the first scrimmage, that wasn’t too bad. But we’ve all got to get better.”

Williams was a cornerback on Miami’s club team as a freshman and a scout-team player for the varsity in 2011. Redshirt junior Justin Semmes (10 carries, 22 yards) was the first back on the field Saturday.

Redshirt junior Erik Finklea (three carries, minus-2 yards) and redshirt freshman Spencer Treadwell (five carries, 8 yards, 1 TD) also saw action, as did true freshmen Spencer McInnis (four carries, 12 yards), Garret Becker (three carries, 4 yards) and Jack Snowball (five carries, minus-1 yard).

Another frosh, Jamire Westbrook, was held out of the scrimmage.

“He’s had some strains and things that we’re just being precautious on,” Don Treadwell said of Westbrook, a Kings High School grad. “He’s just been one that we’ve had to ease into it. We want him to focus on what’s important right now, and that’s getting out on the field and playing full speed.”

Semmes would appear to be the No. 1 guy right now, but new running backs coach Robert Lee has said he has no depth chart, and the backs are taking him at his word.

“I don’t think it’s a big deal who’s starting and who’s not starting,” Williams said. “I think it’s more like who’s going to produce once we get in.”’

INJURY UPDATE: Junior wide receiver Allen Veazie and sophomore offensive tackle Zach Lewis are both sidelined indefinitely, Veazie with a shoulder injury and Lewis with “a concussion-type thing,” according to Treadwell. Lewis is a returning starter.