Minnesota's Rushing Prowess

[Trueblue25]

Averaged 3.5 yard per attempt in Big 10 play on 351 carries against an average rush defense ranking of.. 41.


Syracuse averaged 4.875 yards per attempt in ACC play on 314 carries against an average rush defense ranking of..44.

Can Minnesota's rushing attack be considered a strength?

 

[Rocco]

Yes, but Syracuse is strengthier. #didicatchaninerinthere?

 

[FuzzyRump]

Big plays skew those stats. We don't have an explosively fast back who can out run the field, so most of the runs we have just chip away at yards. This is noticeable in our time of possession which ranked 11th in the nation with 32:59 minutes per game. Our hope on winning rides on being able to get a push at the line and being disciplined so that after two runs third down is manageable.

 

[Oleboy41]

Averaged 3.5 yard per attempt in Big 10 play on 351 carries against an average rush defense ranking of.. 41.


Syracuse averaged 4.875 yards per attempt in ACC play on 314 carries against an average rush defense ranking of..44.

Can Minnesota's rushing attack be considered a strength?

Most of our rushing offense at this point in the year goes through David Cobb who's averaging 5.1 yds per carry. Our QBs haven't run the ball much lately and are averaging 4.3 and 3.8 respectively (which includes sacks) and our backup who's getting like 2-3 carries per game right now is averaging 2.4 yards per carry. Our favorite receiver on the Jet sweep (which we've run 2-4 times per game since the Nebraska game) is Jones who's averaging 4.6 yards per carry. So our 2 favorite runners over the past 6 weeks are averaging 5.1 and 4.6
Here's Cobb in B1G play. Notice the results after the first 2 weeks once we actually began featuring him
DATE OPP RESULT ATT YDS AVG LNG TD
9/28 Iowa L 23-7 8 20 2.5 6 0
10/5 @Michigan L 42-13 7 22 3.1 7 0
10/19 @Northwestern W 20-17 20 103 5.2 24 0
10/26 Nebraska W 34-23 31 138 4.5 18 0
11/2 @Indiana W 42-39 29 188 6.5 59 1
11/9 Penn State W 24-10 27 139 5.1 44 1
11/23 Wisconsin L 20-7 17 68 4.0 16 0
11/30 @Michigan State L 14-3 27 101 3.7 12 0

 

[Trueblue25]

Most of our rushing offense at this point in the year goes through David Cobb who's averaging 5.1 yds per carry. Our QBs haven't run the ball much lately and are averaging 4.3 and 3.8 respectively (which includes sacks) and our backup who's getting like 2-3 carries per game right now is averaging 2.4 yards per carry. Our favorite receiver on the Jet sweep (which we've run 2-4 times per game since the Nebraska game) is Jones who's averaging 4.6 yards per carry. So our 2 favorite runners over the past 6 weeks are averaging 5.1 and 4.6
Here's Cobb in B1G play. Notice the results after the first 2 weeks once we actually began featuring him
DATE OPP RESULT ATT YDS AVG LNG TD
9/28 Iowa L 23-7 8 20 2.5 6 0
10/5 @Michigan L 42-13 7 22 3.1 7 0
10/19 @Northwestern W 20-17 20 103 5.2 24 0
10/26 Nebraska W 34-23 31 138 4.5 18 0
11/2 @Indiana W 42-39 29 188 6.5 59 1
11/9 Penn State W 24-10 27 139 5.1 44 1
11/23 Wisconsin L 20-7 17 68 4.0 16 0
11/30 @Michigan State L 14-3 27 101 3.7 12 0

Cobb is impressive. I'd worry about him more than I already do, if you guys were running an option, or had a good passing attack (no offense, our passing game leaves much to be desired as well).

I'm hoping that since we were able to manage BC's Williams, despite BC having an alright passing game as well, we should be able to contain Cobb.

But I don't know.

Syracuse is good at surprising me in the worst ways.

 

[Oleboy41]

Cobb is impressive. I'd worry about him more than I already do, if you guys were running an option, or had a good passing attack (no offense, our passing game leaves much to be desired as well).

I'm hoping that since we were able to manage BC's Williams, despite BC having an alright passing game as well, we should be able to contain Cobb.

But I don't know.

Syracuse is good at surprising me in the worst ways.

Agree with that assessment. Hopefully for us next year the passing game becomes the proper complement to the running game. As I mentioned before we have a true soph QB throwing mainly to 2 true frosh WRs and a RS frosh TE. Against WI our first 3 drives ended like this: true frosh dropped pass, other true frosh dropped pass, RS frosh TE fumbles. We're experiencing some growing pains. Last year that was our OL as we had a bunch of RS frosh and sophs playing on the line. Now those guys are mainly JRs and we're having more success on the ground but yea the key to beating us is to get us in 2nd and 3rd and long situations by stacking the box. I expect our OC to mix things up with some PA passes early and a controlled attack utilizing our FB and TEs and Cobb out of the backfield. Another thing to watch out for is that the routes we've run have opened up as the year's gone on and the frosh have gotten more comfortable in the offense. We went down field to those guys more against MSU and WI than we had in the past albeit with mixed results against very good defenses but I wouldn't be shocked to see a more open passing attack now that those guys have 3 weeks of practice to settle in

 

[Trueblue25]

Agree with that assessment. Hopefully for us next year the passing game becomes the proper complement to the running game. As I mentioned before we have a true soph QB throwing mainly to 2 true frosh WRs and a RS frosh TE. Against WI our first 3 drives ended like this: true frosh dropped pass, other true frosh dropped pass, RS frosh TE fumbles. We're experiencing some growing pains. Last year that was our OL as we had a bunch of RS frosh and sophs playing on the line. Now those guys are mainly JRs and we're having more success on the ground but yea the key to beating us is to get us in 2nd and 3rd and long situations by stacking the box. I expect our OC to mix things up with some PA passes early and a controlled attack utilizing our FB and TEs and Cobb out of the backfield. Another thing to watch out for is that the routes we've run have opened up as the year's gone on and the frosh have gotten more comfortable in the offense. We went down field to those guys more against MSU and WI than we had in the past albeit with mixed results against very good defenses but I wouldn't be shocked to see a more open passing attack now that those guys have 3 weeks of practice to settle in

Yet you finished 8-4 and .500 in the B1G.

Your future is bright. It's good to have a young team, or offense at least, and experience such success.