Yeah, but I would have run him four straight times, if needed, from the wildcat when it was first and goal from inside the one after he picked up the first down. Instead we ended up settling for a field goal.
The running game... or lack thereof
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This is highly unusual and is only possible because we have a QB capable of throwing short- and medium-range passes and completing them. But that puts a lot of the success on the back of one guy. The extent that we’re able to improve the running game will likely determine how far we can go this season.
Hopefully he just wasn't as dinged as we thought... But yes, my first thought was they are just gonna make Tenn spend time on him while cooking up something else...
Would love Hill to block like a pro and take off for 200+ though... We need depth for the rest of the year that can do it all.
I googled it and google says a "mild" concussion takes 7-14 days.
I still don't like the idea of Jam back after only a week.
I still don't like the idea of Jam back after only a week.
That was back when we had one of the best RB coaches in the nation.
Him and Joe Pendry were phenomenal. I don’t think we ever really fully replaced them once they both retired.
Coach Burns went to watch Josh Jacobs play BASKETBALL of all things, and talked CNS into signing him. I think the only offer he had was to Tulsa. He and Coach Pendry were excellent at evaluation and it has shown since their departure from UA.
Last week Ty didn't take his 1st read as much as he's done since the FSU game. That was his biggest improvement since game 1 when the staff coached him to trust it. Since then, he's got the ball out much faster by trusting his 1st read. Last week, he missed one HUGE 1st down by passing on a quick pass out of the backfield to a wide open RB (think it was Miller) and we didn't make the 1st down.
I hope the coaches remind him of that again this week. It's a big reason we are converting 3rd downs so well and using the short passing game as an extension of the run game.
To date, I think Hill and Deare are just unproven. I think they may both prove to be better than Jam when they get the experience and learn to pass protection/blitz assignments.
And next year we add Crowell, who some think may be our best back in recent years!
Some of it is covered by our short passing game, but we need to hit thoses edges from time to time.
I'm pointing out that isn't the recipe for success. I also reviewed other championship teams over the past 20 years and with rare exception a strong running game was part of a championship game. I think you are conflating two things a bit. You said "you have to gain at least 40-50% of your yardage", that is not the point I am making (though I do agree controlling the clock is one important benefit).
That's not it at all. What I'm saying you need a certain percentage of your plays to actually be hand-offs to keep your offense balanced and not overly rely on the QB (you mentioned LSU, and they are an abberation but they were still a top 60 rushing team). Maintaining a balanced offense has a ton of advantages. And for the record overly relying on QB play doesn't mean you're not running the ball either, with Hurts the problem was they didn't pass enough for instance.That team had 597 rush attempts (154 from Hurts) and 333 pass attempts (including Tua's 77). That's not balanced either and it ultimately required a QB swap in the championship game as I alluded to.
But, overly relying on QBs in general was not the path to success. Mac is literally the only exception and I covered that as well, Heisman candidate at running back. So, to review, two years as Hurts starter, had to be benched in the championship game. Two years of Tua as starter, actually also got benched in the championship game. Two years of Bryce as a starter, also no championships (receivers got hurt, there was no offense left to speak of). Yes, over-reliance on the pass in two of those cases, over-reliance on the QB in all of those cases and the only time it actually worked was an aberration (you don't usually have three Heisman trophy candidates or bench a QB in a championship game and still win).
It actually should be expanded though, because we didn't just have two years of Hurts, Tua, and Young, there were two years of Milroe. Not one of those guys won as a starter! In almost every single case, the QB was overly relied upon, so much so that there were only 4 thousand yard rushers in ten years after having 8 in the previous 9 years (including a 2,000 yard rusher). About the 4 thousand yard rushers in 10 years things, it's not playing to your strengths when you have Jacobs, Gibbs and Haynes and none ever hit 1,000 yards. Literally two of the best rushers in the NFL and one of the best in college football.
If we narrow that down a bit more we have a span of 4 championships over 7 years, which include 6 thousand yard rushers. Followed by a span of 4 thousand yard rushers in 10 years and 2 championships. That's my point, one was the far better recipe for success. It isn't necessarily running for a certain number of yards though, it's simply making sure the offense is balanced and not overly reliant on QB play.
Edit: To put this into context, let''s look at Milroe last year (numbers might not be perfect, not sure I weeded out all the backups but it speaks to the offense in general):
42% of the plays were pass attempts
36% of the plays were hand offs
21% were quarterback runs.
To put that into how I view things, he shouldn't have been responsible for over 60% of the offensive plays, and hand offs should have been at least 40% of the offensive plays (neither hand offs nor pass should dip below 40% in my opinion). In this scenario, Haynes getting those hand offs at his season average would have resulted in more yards and it also would have balanced the offense and created less situations where Milroe was clearly trying to do too much.
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Transfer portal. If Haynes was still here, we would have that . Jam and Justice with Dear getting more playing time as the year progressed. All three are NFL caliber . Riley and Hill are good situational players.
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