Why can’t we run the ball?

Donate To GopherHole
M

march madness

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 2, 2009
Messages
2,971
Reaction score
216
Points
63
We lost 1 starter at Center Nathan Boe. The rest are returning starters. Has the system drastically changed
? We went from being one of the best rushing teams in all of college, to one of the worst in the b1g?
 


Combo of:

  • Struggling line play, especially the interior line.
  • A couple historically strong run defenses for the first 2 B1G games
  • Calling more passing plays (8 more per game, with 9 fewer runs)
  • Defenses not having to respect the deep ball and playing up
  • A QB who isn't much of a run/read option threat
  • Spending more time playing from behind, so far

I don't think it's Taylor as much. His YPC has gone from 5.8 to 5.4 this year, which is in the range of recent history for Gopher RB1s. The drop could be attributed to half his games being Iowa and Michigan versus mostly non-con in 2023. Major has 4.0 YPC.
 


I think the two defenses in the B10 have been good. I'd like to see the next 2-3 games and see how they fare. If it is still a big struggle then I would be pretty concerned. It does seem the line is not as strong as in previous years though
 



denguegopher said:
1) IMHO center is probably the most important position on the OL, at least in terms or making line calls, et.
2) as I have written elsewhere, I don't think that Taylor is at 100%
my 2 cents
Click to expand...
I think we're capable, but in order to run the ball you have to be dedicated to it. It can't be something you do once in a while. This week would be a perfect time to come out running early & often. I think Greg Johnson is going to be a very good player, but he needs time to grow. Still, Boe was a very average (at best) player, so you don't need a stud to replace him.

DT looked better against MI than he has all year, but i agree that he's been visibly slower with less explosion up until last week.
 

The Gophs are passing more this year. Part of that is because they can (better QB, more experienced receiver set), they should (defenses geared to stop the run) and because of down and distance (a lot more OL penalties put them behind the sticks). More passes lead to more sacks. The sacks count as negative running plays and skew the running stats to make it look worse than it is. If you remove the impact of sacks, the Gophs have slightly less Yards per Attempt than the Mo years but not that much. I'm guessing the more the Gophs put Michigan, Iowa and UNC in the rear view mirror, the more the rushing YPA look like prior years.

1727880056092.png
 

Panthadad2 said:
The Gophs are passing more this year. Part of that is because they can (better QB, more experienced receiver set), they should (defenses geared to stop the run) and because of down and distance (a lot more OL penalties put them behind the sticks). More passes lead to more sacks. The sacks count as negative running plays and skew the running stats to make it look worse than it is. If you remove the impact of sacks, the Gophs have slightly less Yards per Attempt than the Mo years but not that much. I'm guessing the more the Gophs put Michigan, Iowa and UNC in the rear view mirror, the more the rushing YPA look like prior years.

View attachment 33889
Click to expand...
Thanks for making effort to compile these stats. I was wondering how sacks were handled. Now I know.
 



fmlizard said:
I don't think it's Taylor as much. His YPC has gone from 5.8 to 5.4 this year, which is in the range of recent history for Gopher RB1s. The drop could be attributed to half his games being Iowa and Michigan versus mostly non-con in 2023. Major has 4.0 YPC.
Click to expand...
You have to take into consideration that part of his 5.4 was an 80 yard run.
 

fmlizard said:
I don't think it's Taylor as much.
Click to expand...
I'm hoping the michigan game got some of his mojo back.

On his two TD runs, the first one was to the right side, and in the hole he bowls over #6 from michigan.

The second one was very similar where he bowled over #28 from michigan.

If he had an lingering doubts, I really hope those two runs help alleviate them.
 

fmlizard said:
Combo of:

  • Struggling line play, especially the interior line.
  • A couple historically strong run defenses for the first 2 B1G games
  • Calling more passing plays (8 more per game, with 9 fewer runs)
  • Defenses not having to respect the deep ball and playing up
  • A QB who isn't much of a run/read option threat
  • Spending more time playing from behind, so far

I don't think it's Taylor as much. His YPC has gone from 5.8 to 5.4 this year, which is in the range of recent history for Gopher RB1s. The drop could be attributed to half his games being Iowa and Michigan versus mostly non-con in 2023. Major has 4.0 YPC.
Click to expand...
Your points are well-taken.
 

denguegopher said:
1) IMHO center is probably the most important position on the OL, at least in terms or making line calls, et.
2) as I have written elsewhere, I don't think that Taylor is at 100%
my 2 cents
Click to expand...
I agree. Taylor looks like the explosiveness is gone. And tentative. I don't remember him slowing down to brace for contact, but it sure looks like that this year.
 



I think our O is super easy to scout and plan for I think half the time the defenses know what play is coming before we run it. On top of that, OL has played like shit and 1 is kind of slow.
 

using Panthadad's adjusted rushing attempts - here is the avg rush attempts per game

2024 - 27.2
2023 - 37.2
2022 - 43.5
2021 - 44.6
 

You must log in or register to reply here.



Top Bottom