In depth look at First Half Rushing vs. WMU

[A Clockwork Orange]

I charted all of the running plays in the first half, to get a sense of what was going on. I'll present the chart below, and then make some observations afterwards.

Okay, so here's a little bit of a breakdown of the numbers. If you drop the eight short yardage plays, and the three scrambles and sack you get a sense of what the O-Line and the players did given "true" running plays. Here's how it looks:

Player	Rushes	Yards	Y/A
Moe Neal	6	32	5.3
Dontae Strickland	6	36	6.0
Eric Dungey	5	129	25.8

I think we'd all take a 5.65 Y/A average from our running backs all year. These true running plays are more indicative of what we're looking for. There could have been more than that from the backs, but both of them missed a couple of running lanes. On a personal note, pausing, rewinding, and rewatching the running game in the first half, I'm heartened by the offensive line. There were GAPING holes all over the place. Some the backs didn't hit, some they did.

Later, I will take a look at the 2nd half rushing. I'm pretty sure we'll see a slightly different outlook. I think there are some mitigating factors that I will discuss in the next post.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

You're like, really getting into this.

 

[A Clockwork Orange]

You're like, really getting into this.

Just a lazy Sunday morning. We heathens that don't go to church have to do something to pass the time. Honestly, I hate reading H0T Takes that look at the game without any analytical thinking. I hope this provides at lease a little bit of context for the discussion on the o-line and the run game.

 

[SmilinBob]

I like that. I'd love to see those numbers continue. That said, is it possible that WMU made adjustments and thus had more success vs the RB's as the game went on? I think we'll see a lot more of DB's pinching and LB's pushing north as the season progresses unless the passing game picks up.

 

[A Clockwork Orange]

I like that. I'd love to see those numbers continue. That said, is it possible that WMU made adjustments and thus had more success vs the RB's as the game went on? I think we'll see a lot more of DB's pinching and LB's pushing north as the season progresses unless the passing game picks up.

We'll see! Working on the 2nd half numbers right now.

 

[texascpa]

I love your work here, but I'll be honest, I've never seen so much consternation (not saying it's coming from you OP) for a win and 55 point offensive game. It's mind-boggling.

 

[A Clockwork Orange]

I love your work here, but I'll be honest, I've never seen so much consternation (not saying it's coming from you OP) for a win and 55 point offensive game. It's mind-boggling.

Absolutely. One of the reasons I decided to dig deeper. The folks who are saying 90% of our rushing coming from Dungey just aren't seeing the trees through the forest.

 

[AAM62]

Absolutely. One of the reasons I decided to dig deeper. The folks who are saying 90% of our rushing coming from Dungey just aren't seeing the trees through the forest.

Exactly

 

[Dodger44]

I love your work here, but I'll be honest, I've never seen so much consternation (not saying it's coming from you OP) for a win and 55 point offensive game. It's mind-boggling.

I think the consternation is that the other running backs didn't have a lot of rushing yards compared to Dungey. You need them so the defense doesn't T-off on Dungey. Plus I think fans are not happy with giving up 42 points to a Mac team. We had to outscore them to win. Defense needs to improve.

 

[SmilinBob]

I love your work here, but I'll be honest, I've never seen so much consternation (not saying it's coming from you OP) for a win and 55 point offensive game. It's mind-boggling.

Good point and guilty of that myself. I just want or see the potential of this team and annoyed at myself a bit by my own nitpicking but there is a lot of meat left on the bone plus we have seen this story before regarding ED and I want so very much for him to play 13 or 14 games this season.

 

[texascpa]

I think the consternation is that the other running backs didn't have a lot of rushing yards compared to Dungey. You need them so the defense doesn't T-off on Dungey. Plus I think fans are not happy with giving up 42 points to a Mac team. We had to outscore them to win. Defense needs to improve.

I hate the fact we gave up 28 points in the 3Q myself, but Babers warned us about this when he was hired. I think it's just something we have to live with. This is offensive team first and foremost.

 

[A Clockwork Orange]

I think the consternation is that the other running backs didn't have a lot of rushing yards compared to Dungey. You need them so the defense doesn't T-off on Dungey. Plus I think fans are not happy with giving up 42 points to a Mac team. We had to outscore them to win. Defense needs to improve.

I mean, in the first half Dungey rushed about the same as the running backs, and was gaining HUGE chunks. That's a giant weapon that we need to be using. I would like it if he slid or ran out of bounds a little bit more though.

 

[A Clockwork Orange]

I hate the fact we gave up 28 points in the 3Q myself, but Babers warned us about this when he was hired. I think it's just something we have to live with. This is offensive team first and foremost.

In the past, maybe we win this game 23-10. The difference is in the philosophies. With that said, the defense was disorganized and winded in the third quarter.

 

[texascpa]

In the past, maybe we win this game 23-10. The difference is in the philosophies. With that said, the defense was disorganized and winded in the third quarter.

Who's past? Babers or Shafer's? or Marrone's?

 

[A Clockwork Orange]

Who's past? Babers or Shafer's? or Marrone's?

Shafer's, Marrone's (in 2010).

 

[texascpa]

Shafer's, Marrone's (in 2010).

Well, I personally don't see much difference between a 55-42 win an a 23-10 win. You could argue that neither Baber's O is that sustainable nor is Marrone's/Shafer's D that sustainable. They're both 13 point wins.

 

[A Clockwork Orange]

Well, I personally don't see much difference between a 55-42 win an a 23-10 win. You could argue that neither Baber's O is that sustainable nor is Marrone's/Shafer's D that sustainable. They're both 13 point wins.

I didn't say there was a difference. A 13 point win is a 13 point win. I said it's a difference in philosophies. Which it is.

 

[sufan4eva13]

THANK YOU for posting this! The biggest misconception coming out of this game was that our rushing attack was anything but VERY effective.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

Well, I personally don't see much difference between a 55-42 win an a 23-10 win. You could argue that neither Baber's O is that sustainable nor is Marrone's/Shafer's D that sustainable. They're both 13 point wins.

Uh, I see a big difference.