A thought on the running game

[LeMoyneCuse]

I'm glad Smith and Gulley are finally getting the chance to do what they did the second half of last season- tear through opposing defenses. It's about time the offensive staff has decided to play to the team's strength.

Here's my cause for concern- The offense has to score early and the defense has to keep it close. I'm afraid playing from behind and airing the ball out isn't going to work this season. Syracuse has to score touchdowns in the first quarter and keep the opposition off the board to make this work.

 

[Doc5120]

We're clearly a running team this year and the coaching staff tailored the game plan to our strength. It was great to watch our O-line dominate, and help spring Jerome and PTG for big gains. Throw in the threat of Hunt keeping it, and it's tough to stop. If we can get some sort of production out of our WR corps, the offense can flourish. I can't wait to see what we have in store for G. Tech!

 

[kuethstheman]

Not sure how you pin this on the staff. It's the OL and Hunt that are allowing SU to be successful running. The RBs got more carries against Penn State than they did against NCSU.

 

[bnoro]

Not sure how you pin this on the staff. It's the OL and Hunt that are allowing SU to be successful running. The RBs got more carries against Penn State than they did against NCSU.

The O-Line has gotten better every game, that has nothing to do with coaching?

 

[Millhouse]

I'm glad Smith and Gulley are finally getting the chance to do what they did the second half of last season- tear through opposing defenses. It's about time the offensive staff has decided to play to the team's strength.

Here's my cause for concern- The offense has to score early and the defense has to keep it close. I'm afraid playing from behind and airing the ball out isn't going to work this season. Syracuse has to score touchdowns in the first quarter and keep the opposition off the board to make this work.

i hope if that happens, we don't abandon the run. that is one of those cliches that isn't true but people coach as if it is. "fell behind early and had to abandon the run" plenty of teams scoring fast running the ball these days.

 

[kuethstheman]

The O-Line has gotten better every game, that has nothing to do with coaching?

I hope so but the comment was about "deciding to play to the teams strengths" (i.e. run a lot).

 

[bnoro]

I hope so but the comment was about "deciding to play to the teams strengths" (i.e. run a lot).

That decision was also definitely made by our coaching staff and the players have executed since the playcalling/scheme has gotten better as we progressed. Coaching played a huge role in this.

 

[jekelish]

Speaking of the running game, I was just looking, and if we keep up the current pace we'll have five players gain between 220 and 1000 yards. Smith will probably wind up going over 1000, PTG will wind up between 600-700, Hunt is on pace for about 480, and both Morris and McFarlane are going to get between 220-270 each. To put that in perspective, last season we only had two players gain 200 yards. In 2011, only one player gained more than 200 yards. 2010 we had two. The last time we had at least three players gain 200+ yards was 2008, and two of the three didn't get above 240 yards. In the last decade, 2008 is the only time we've had at least three players gain 200 yards.

We already have more rushing yards than we did in 2005, 2006, or 2007. We are only 400 yards behind our 2008 total, 200 behind 2009, and 500 behind 2010. Our 3rd through 5th runners this year are each already ahead of their counterparts from last year.

We are averaging 5.3 yards per carry as a team.

That's incredible to me. This is pretty much the first time I've ever hoped that we would just run, run, run, and keep on running, and forget about the passing game (which is nonexistent anyway).

 

[kuethstheman]

That decision was also definitely made by our coaching staff and the players have executed since the playcalling/scheme has gotten better as we progressed. Coaching played a huge role in this.

Of course coaching played a huge role but they've been running a lot since the first game. That's all I'm saying. The staff started the year trying to establish the run. It isn't a recent decision.

 

[dollarbill44]

I'm glad Smith and Gulley are finally getting the chance to do what they did the second half of last season- tear through opposing defenses. It's about time the offensive staff has decided to play to the team's strength.

Here's my cause for concern- The offense has to score early and the defense has to keep it close. I'm afraid playing from behind and airing the ball out isn't going to work this season. Syracuse has to score touchdowns in the first quarter and keep the opposition off the board to make this work.

But, in college ball, you really don't have to take this approach. With the clock stopping on 1st downs, you can still score fairly quickly running the ball, and if you can get big chunks on runs, it's even easier. For example, on Saturday, our two second-half scoring drives were:

1. 57 seconds (5 yard pass, 57 yard run, 18 yard TD run)
2. 2 minutes, 7 seconds (42 yard run, 2 yard run, 8 yard TD run)

I think a lot of teams fall into the trap that if they're down 14 points after 2 quarters that you have to pass every play and it's just not true, unless you have a bad defense, of course.

 

[dollarbill44]

i hope if that happens, we don't abandon the run. that is one of those cliches that isn't true but people coach as if it is. "fell behind early and had to abandon the run" plenty of teams scoring fast running the ball these days.

You beat me to it. I guess I should have read the thread before my reply.

 

[upperdeck]

now that teams are running so many more plays at a fast pace, even when you get behind the other team may run 3 plays and take only a minute or 2.. the only advantage now is that a bad pass usually stops the clock, except at the pace we are on we might end up with half as many INTs as INCs

 

[sufandu]

i hope if that happens, we don't abandon the run. that is one of those cliches that isn't true but people coach as if it is. "fell behind early and had to abandon the run" plenty of teams scoring fast running the ball these days.

I haven't looked at the stats, but I bet we have more big plays running than we do passing this year.