Who cares about RB depth if we never use it

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I was hoping we'd see a little bit of Mar'Keise Irving today. He had a nice kickoff return, but no carries. I'm really excited to see what he can offer. I agree that it would've been nice to see a bit more of what we have in the stable today, maybe we'll spread the carries more against Bowling Green.
 


I was surprised they didn't mix it up a little more with the backs, especially early in the game. That said, Potts was effective and in their limited carries Wiley and Williams were not. Maybe they would have been more effective with more opportunities but once Miami OH made a game of it they had to stick with the guy who was getting yards consistently.
 

Replacement Gopher said:
Point is, it doesn’t need to be all or none.
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Actually, this was the game where it needed to be all... They needed to establish Potts as the featured back (mostly in Potts' mind for his own benefit.) Going into the game, he might have thought he can do the job... but now, after 178 yards rushing, he knows he can get it done. Running back by committee would not have helped to establish Potts as the feature back. With his confidence built up, they can vary his workload in upcoming games without causing him to doubt his abilities.
 


laazrakit said:
Actually, this was the game where it needed to be all... They needed to establish Potts as the featured back (mostly in Potts' mind for his own benefit.) Going into the game, he might have thought he can do the job... but now, after 178 yards rushing, he knows he can get it done. Running back by committee would not have helped to establish Potts as the feature back. With his confidence built up, they can vary his workload in upcoming games without causing him to doubt his abilities.
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If your running back is that insecure, he shouldn’t be your running back
 

laazrakit said:
With his confidence built up, they can vary his workload in upcoming games without causing him to doubt his abilities.
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Yeah, theoretically, they could drop his workload. But this confidence building theory is speculation. Running the same back 30 plus times a game is a pattern that will be reinforced by Potts' success today.
 


laazrakit said:
Actually, this was the game where it needed to be all... They needed to establish Potts as the featured back (mostly in Potts' mind for his own benefit.) Going into the game, he might have thought he can do the job... but now, after 178 yards rushing, he knows he can get it done. Running back by committee would not have helped to establish Potts as the feature back. With his confidence built up, they can vary his workload in upcoming games without causing him to doubt his abilities.
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If this is true I don’t think 30 carries to 3 builds any more confidence than say 25 carries to 8 for the 2nd guy.
 




Just watched the post-game interview. When asked about his work load, Potts said something about "trusting his coaches". FWIW, Morgan, sitting next to him, and not exactly a big QB, clearly looks like the larger human.
 


I get the concerns about workload and building depth....But.....

Potts - 34 carries - 178 Yards - 2 TD

Wiley and Williams combined - 5 carries - -2 yards

Now maybe isn't the time to worry about depth. They rode the guy who was getting it done. Other guys want more chances....make something happen when they hand you the ball.
 



MNVCGUY said:
I get the concerns about workload and building depth....But.....

Potts - 34 carries - 178 Yards - 2 TD

Wiley and Williams combined - 5 carries - -2 yards

Now maybe isn't the time to worry about depth. They rode the guy who was getting it done. Other guys want more chances....make something happen when they hand you the ball.
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Potts can get it done. Meanwhile Mo had 30 carries in two and a half quarters against OSU.

I imagine they are less effective as the game goes on.
 

I don’t think Potts is the guy. He looked good against lesser competition but not stellar! I don’t think he would do well if he was featured back against Ohio State or a Iowa defense
 

MNVCGUY said:
I get the concerns about workload and building depth....But.....

Potts - 34 carries - 178 Yards - 2 TD

Wiley and Williams combined - 5 carries - -2 yards
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I doubt anyone is calling for a lot more carries by Wiley and Williams. I assume almost everyone can read a box score and people watching the game are not blind. Furthermore, these two are known commodities. Williams hasn't done much since his freshman year and Wiley, although fairly effective in a limited role last year, isn't looking too great so far this season. I think people are calling for giving more attempts to Irving or even Thomas since those players were among our top recruits the last two years.

Potts did a pretty fair impression of Mo yesterday but I join those who don't like the idea of him getting 30+ carries game after game.
 

The third quarter was unfortunate, because towards the end of the 2nd quarter I was thinking this might become a blow-out.

I was thinking if we got ahead 35-3 in the third, we might see Zack A at QB get some reps and some younger RB's.

It did not happen.
In close games, I'm fine with riding your best RB. Wiley and Williams were not effective yesterday.
 



Don't get me wrong I like Potts, did a great job yesterday, runs hard and think he’ll be good/fine and do a respectable job but-and I may get flamed for writing this - given perceived high injury risk with heavy workload I guess I’m hopeful we have a home run hitter feature back coming up through the recruiting ranks. Ky Thomas seems to be one of: in the doghouse, injured or rehabbing, or maybe a miss if he hasn’t seen the field yet. Maybe there is still something there with Bryce and Cam; hard to say given very limited carries.
 

Why not give Bucky some run?
 

I think we wanted to give Potts a run at that #1 spot and ... get him broken in / see how he does with it.

Considering he was productive, I'm not opposed to that. Whatever I might think of the Offensive game last game generally, Potts was pretty good. And I think later I saw stuff from him I haven't before and that might be because he got lots of time to try things.
 

Face The Facts said:
The third quarter was unfortunate, because towards the end of the 2nd quarter I was thinking this might become a blow-out.

I was thinking if we got ahead 35-3 in the third, we might see Zack A at QB get some reps and some younger RB's.

It did not happen.
In close games, I'm fine with riding your best RB. Wiley and Williams were not effective yesterday.
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Yup. Agree with this 100%, about both the RB usage and I was also hoping ZA or one of the other QBs would get some PT. I see zero issue with the concept of going with the hot hand at RB when he's running well. It's not like he carried it 50 times.
 

The way I saw it (admittedly I was half shit faced), but every time a non-Potts carried the ball, Miami had 12 men in the backfield swarming. It's like they knew what was going to happen. I wondered in the in-game thread if the other backs ever got in on passing downs, or only came in to run the ball. Haven't watched the replay to answer my own question.
 

Honest question to those that are not sold on Potts as a feature back: What is it about him that makes you think he can't be the guy?

There is no doubt he is a step down from Mo, anyone would be as Ibrahim was one of the best backs in all of college football. But I like what I saw out of Trey on Saturday, and he has looked solid in the limited action he has seen in other games as well.

34 carries for 178 yards and 2 TD is a great day no matter who you are up against. And the thing that makes that number even more impressive to me is that in the second half Miami was selling out to stop the run, and Potts still did a solid job. He gained all the yards on the key TD drive after the kick return and helped ice the game at the end. This writeup does a good job covering that.

www.thedailygopher.com

The Elite, The Meh & The Ugly - Miami (Ohio)

It was a tale of two halves for the Gophers
www.thedailygopher.com www.thedailygopher.com
 

MNVCGUY said:
Honest question to those that are not sold on Potts as a feature back: What is it about him that makes you think he can't be the guy?

www.thedailygopher.com

The Elite, The Meh & The Ugly - Miami (Ohio)

It was a tale of two halves for the Gophers
www.thedailygopher.com www.thedailygopher.com
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Are you just pretending to be dumb to play with people or do you honestly not get it? Very few are saying that Potts can't be the #1 back. The issues are the potential workload for one back and the lack of diversification in the offense.
 


cjbfbp said:
Are you just pretending to be dumb to play with people or do you honestly not get it? Very few are saying that Potts can't be the #1 back. The issues are the potential workload for one back and the lack of diversification in the offense.
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Have seen multiple posts about not being sold on Potts as the #1 guy and wanting to see Thomas and Irving. I get the workload part but there also seems to be a genuine lack of belief in his ability to be the feature back going forward.

Maybe i am just reading the room wrong but there feels like a real lack of excitement about what Potts did on Saturday in our first game after Mo's injury.
 

cjbfbp said:
I doubt anyone is calling for a lot more carries by Wiley and Williams. I assume almost everyone can read a box score and people watching the game are not blind. Furthermore, these two are known commodities. Williams hasn't done much since his freshman year and Wiley, although fairly effective in a limited role last year, isn't looking too great so far this season. I think people are calling for giving more attempts to Irving or even Thomas since those players were among our top recruits the last two years.

Potts did a pretty fair impression of Mo yesterday but I join those who don't like the idea of him getting 30+ carries game after game.
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For me, I really just don't want to see Potts with more than 20-25 carries per game. I'd like him to stay crisp throughout the game. I don't know enough about Bucky, Thomas or Wiley to say who should be getting the other 10-15 carries per game. Frankly, if they aren't productive, then I'd rather see those plays become passes.

As far as Williams, I see him in a little different role. He is more of our third down back (good pass protection, etc.).
 

MNVCGUY said:
Have seen multiple posts about not being sold on Potts as the #1 guy and wanting to see Thomas and Irving. I get the workload part but there also seems to be a genuine lack of belief in his ability to be the feature back going forward.

Maybe i am just reading the room wrong but there feels like a real lack of excitement about what Potts did on Saturday in our first game after Mo's injury.
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That's really not the vibe that I am getting. I think Potts was really good on Saturday, in fact, I thought he was so good, that it even pissed me off more about Mo's workload the last few seasons.

If my excitement seems tempered, it's only because I think he is really good and his misuse could result in (a) not having him available; or (b) he will have diminished effectiveness at the end of games.
 

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