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Honest question about the running game

BWCD

BWCD

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I think it's obvious that Deejay has had more consistent success on the ground than Homer in less touches. His running style fits us being able to drive the football, while Homer can (pun intended) hit the homerun more easily than Dallas.

BUT - that's not my question. My question is about the timing of the running plays that we run currently. It seems like no matter if we're out of the shotgun or (rarely) under center, that our running plays are super-long developing compared to other teams who hand it off and have their RB hit the hole more quickly.

So - is this by design? If so, why (i.e. - are we trying to give our OL time to set up blocks)? If it's not by design, what's the variable causing the slow development of the play (QB related/RB taking their time/etc)? Would executing these plays more quickly help or hurt the run game?

Thoughts?
 
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how has he had more consistent ground success?
Deejay looked good but I just Don’t understand the statement
 
LSU:

Rosier 16 carries
Dallas 8 carries
Homer 7 carries

Wisconsin:

Rosier 9 carries
Dallas 8 carries
Homer 12 carries

Clemson:

Rosier 10 carries
Dallas 6 carries
Homer 14 carries

Pitt:

Rosier 12 carries
Dallas 3 carries
Homer 7 carries
 
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Rosier's carries are inflated by the number of tuck and runs he has. Very rarely does he progress beyond his first read. It has never been more evident than the last 4 games. The o-line has broken down at times, but for the most part pass protection hasn't been nearly as big of an issue as run blocking.

If I see Richt call one more shotgun HB draw on 3rd and less than 4 I am going to break my TV.
 
canesarchitect said:
Deejay had 8 carries, Homer 7.
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brock said:
how has he had more consistent ground success?
Deejay looked good but I just Don’t understand the statement
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I'm talking about overall, not just this one game this season. By consistent, I mean that Deejay normally gains yards...Homer gets stuck for no gains or losses more often than Deejay does. That's simply my observation.
 
It seems to me like we are really not made for the outside zone plays we regularly call. We can't consistently get guys moving and create creases. I don't know if it's leverage, hand placement or assignment but we routinely get bottled up on early downs against good defenses. I don't really care if we run the ball for huge yards, but I do want to be effective. I'm also, to be fair, not sure a power run game would work either because our interior lineman are as stout as a jelly fish.
 
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I don't think we are a good running team in general. Think the strategy has to be to try and pass to set up the run.....trying to pound the ground game as some fans apparently want to do isn't going to work, IMO.
 
Richt said it himself, Malik should not be pulling the ball and running. He just isn't athletic enough. If you look closer at the stats, Homer and Deejay combined to rush for 4.5 yards per carry. That's pretty damned good. Give those two even half of Malik's carries, and we are now over 100 yards per game.
 
BWCD said:
I'm talking about overall, not just this one game this season. By consistent, I mean that Deejay normally gains yards...Homer gets stuck for no gains or losses more often than Deejay does. That's simply my observation.
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Homer was over 4 yards per carry. Try again. These guys need the ball more.
 
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Gables Canes said:
Rick's inability to stick to the ground game WITH HIS RB'S is an enormous flaw.
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Our OL needs to man up. Homer is a very good back. Almost every carry he ran into a wall and had to change directions.

I really like DJ too, but let’s cool it on the Homer isn’t a good back talk
 
AustinCane6688 said:
Homer was over 4 yards per carry. Try again. These guys need the ball more.
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I'm not dogging Homer here. He has his strengths, and they're different from Deejay's. Also, I do agree they need the ball more...especially on catches out of the backfield in addition to more carries.

The only reason Homer was 4 ypc was because he had a 17 yard run blended in with his 7 carries for 30 yards. Take away that run, he's 6 carries for 13 yards. 2.2/carry.

Take away Deejay's longest run of 9, he would have had 7 carries/29 yards. Still 4.1/carry.

That's why I say Deejay is more consistent in terms of gaining yards and Homer is more apt to break a big run. It's not downing or pumping up either guy...it just is what it is.
 
We don't quite have the offensive line to line up in power formations and cram the ball down the other team's throat (especially not a defense like LSU) but they should run the ball out of spread formations more often. They were getting consistent yards against LSU on the ground but you can't expect to get any yardage when you only call 7 or 8 running plays in the whole first half. The less Rosier throws, the better IMO.
 
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The issues I have are:

1) The RB rotation made no sense
2) The run game was working well, so why the **** were we passing so much?

Here's the 1st half stats:

Homer: 2-19 yds, 9.5 ypc
Dallas: 7-29 yds, 4.1 ypc
Gray: 1-4, 4.0 ypc
All RB's: 10-52 yds, 5.2 ypc

Homer got a carry the 1st play of the game, and didn't get another carry until the 6th series. That can't happen. There should never be a scenario where we're down 24 pts before Homer gets his 3rd carry of the game.

There's needs to be an awareness that:

1) All RB's were running well, so the RB's should've been used more. When the game started getting away from us, a run heavy clock eating drive would've been nice to see.

2) Homer is playmaker. Yes, it may have been scripted that Homer gets the 1st 2 drives, Dallas gets the next 2, etc. but when the game started getting away from us, be aware that we NEED to get the ball in our playmakers hands. F*ck the script, adjust to the game.
 
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There certainly appears to be something/many things wrong with our running game at this point, but I admit that I don't know which factors are causing us to have so much trouble getting a running game going on a consistent basis.

Is it the fact that our OL aren't effective run blockers, or is it that our scheme is not a good fit for our players (RBs, OL, TEs, etc.), are we not sticking to it long enough, or is it that our scheme is just generally ineffective, or is it that teams know that because of the lack of reliable passing game, they can crowd the box and take their chances with Rosier making them pay? Is it all of those things, some of them, I honestly don't know.

What is clear is that we are not able to consistently sustain a running game, despite the fact that we appear to have a ton of talent at the RB spot, and that inability to run the ball is putting even more pressure on a QB that is inaccurate and inconsistent enough as it is. Whether it's Malik (which I hope it's not), or another QB, we need our running game to become much more consistent to take pressure off of our QB.
 
Richt recruited a fullback and some OL he claims can move people. Use them.

Scaife / Reed / Gaynor / Donaldson / Campbell
 
RaiseCane said:
There certainly appears to be something/many things wrong with our running game at this point, but I admit that I don't know which factors are causing us to have so much trouble getting a running game going on a consistent basis.

Is it the fact that our OL aren't effective run blockers, or is it that our scheme is not a good fit for our players (RBs, OL, TEs, etc.), are we not sticking to it long enough, or is it that our scheme is just generally ineffective, or is it that teams know that because of the lack of reliable passing game, they can crowd the box and take their chances with Rosier making them pay? Is it all of those things, some of them, I honestly don't know.

What is clear is that we are not able to consistently sustain a running game, despite the fact that we appear to have a ton of talent at the RB spot, and that inability to run the ball is putting even more pressure on a QB that is inaccurate and inconsistent enough as it is. Whether it's Malik (which I hope it's not), or another QB, we need our running game to become much more consistent to take pressure off of our QB.
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Agreed all around. I hate to say it, but we've been an offensive team that's had to throw to establish the run for too long. That's a tough way to live when your QB isn't well above average or elite.

I'd like to see more wildcat w/Deejay and Homer. Mix Lingard in some on the jet action as well since speed is his game. That takes the Rosier tuck & run variable out of the equation.
 
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