2024 Countdown to IUFB Kickoff: 17 Days (Ty Son Lawton)

Written by T.J. Inman

College football is just a few short weeks away. Today is a double feature on Hoosier Huddle’s Countdown to IUFB Kickoff. The second player is running back Ty Son Lawton.

Ty Son Lawton

Height: 5’9”

Weight: 207 pounds

Hometown: Staten Island, New York (transfer from James Madison)

Class/Position: Redshirt Senior/Running Back

It has been a long journey from high school to the Big Ten for running back Ty Son Lawton. He spent his high school career at Curtis High School in Staten Island and led his team to a pair of New York City Public City Athletic League titles and a 23-1 record. Despite his high school success, Lawton was considered undersized and was passed over by FBS schools. He enrolled at Stony Brook and redshirted the 2018 season before appearing in nine games in 2019, rushing for 648 yards and seven touchdowns. Stony Brook only played four games during the spring of 2020 but Lawton made the most of it, leading the team with 268 rushing yards. He was Stony Brook’s best player in 2021 and earned first-team All-Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) honors as he racked up 1,088 yards. Lawton started the 2022 year as the preseason player of the year in the CAA but missed the last eight games of the campaign due to injury. His performance caught the eye of Curt Cignetti and he transferred to James Madison. He split the load in the backfield with Kaelon Black and finished with 568 yards and five touchdowns. Curt Cignetti clearly loved working with him as he brought Lawton with him to Bloomington to be a member of the Hoosiers’ backfield.

Lawton is incredibly experienced and he offers proven production. He has appeared in 39 career games and could surpass 50 career games if he stays healthy at IU. Lawton already owns a bachelor’s degree and he’s working on a masters degree at Indiana. 

There is no mystery about what kind of player Lawton is. He is a tough runner that impressed during IU’s spring game, offering a burst of quickness and the willingness to run through defenders to finish a run. The big mystery is how the IU running back rotation is going to shake out. Wake Forest transfer Justice Ellison was a representative at Big Ten Media Days, Kaelon Black was singled out as a leader during the spring and he led the JMU Dukes in rushing in 2023, Elijah Green was a contributor at North Carolina when healthy and Cignetti knows exactly what he is getting in redshirt senior Ty Son Lawton. IU figures to use all of them over the course of the season but fall camp will go a long way towards determining which running backs carve out roles to begin the season.

The Hoosier Huddle Countdown to Kickoff continues each and every day so be sure to check back often for the latest profile piece!