SWC75
Bored Historian
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I decided that now that we have completed the football season, I’d look back at what I said in my season preview and talk about how things worked out. I’ll focus on the players and my discussion of various departments of the team.
RUNNING BACKS
Then:
A year ago we went into the season not knowing who our running backs would be. It was as wide open as the quarterback position this year. But Jerome Smith (6-0 226) proved to be a powerful technician of a runner, using his blockers well, making the right cuts and getting the most out of every play. He ran for 1,171 yards. Prince-Tyson Gulley (5-10 192), was shifty and had the speed to break big runs and the hands to catch passes. In the bowl win over West Virginia, Gulley had TD runs of 33 and 67 yards and caught a 12 yard pass for a third score. They make an exciting tandem but they are not all we have.
George Morris II (6-0, 203), who broke a long one in the spring game, has the most speed of any of our running backs. A Georgian, he’s an early benefit of our switch to the ACC, which will allow us to recruit faster players. He’s a potential star. Devante McFarlane, (6-0 188), looked like a natural in his high school film. He just seems to have an instinct for picking his way through a broken field.
At fullback, we have Clay Cleveland, who hardly played last year and Adonis Ameen-Moore, who was thought to be a big-time recruit when he came here a couple of years ago but whose career has been disappointing, mostly because he tried to eat his way out of it. He’s slimmed down to 5-11 238 and is our biggest weapon near the goal line.
I grew up with Larry Csonka and Jim Nance paired with Floyd Little. Jim Brown played fullback in the pros and had Bobby Mitchell and then Ernie Green line up next to him at halfback. I saw Penn State with Franco Harris and Lydell Mitchell in their backfield, then the ’72 Dolphins with Csonka and Jim Kiick, the Morris. Later the Steelers had Harris and Rocky Bleier. I’m a big believer in having multiple running backs and the Mr. Inside/Mr. Outside concept. Defenses don’t know which receiver is going to get the ball on a pass: why should they know which running back is going to get the ball on a run? Halfbacks can catch passes and if you need an extra receiver on third down, you can pull one of the backs at that point. It seems to me with the depth we have at running back and the question marks we have at receiver, this would be an ideal year to go back to the traditional two back backfield, with Jerome Smith and Prince-Tyson Gully in the game at the same time, backed up by Adonis Ameen-Moore and George Morris. There have been some indications that the coaches are thinking along the same lines and I am very excited about that.
Then there’s our “H” back, which seems to mean a jack of all trades. It’s a position almost created for Ashton Broyld. In leading his high school team to the New York State title back in 2010, the looked like a high school version of Cam Newton. He’s big, (6-3, 222), but fast and powerful. He could knock tacklers on their back, zig and zag past them or just out-run them. But he could also pass. I wondered if he would be the one to become our quarterback but the coaching staff has decided he’s better used in the H position, leaving the quarterbacking for others. He spent 2011 in prep school. Last year he showed flashes of his abilities but also had a big fumble vs. Minnesota that put him in the dog house. Then he got hurt. Now he’s back and it remains to be seen just how the coaching staff will use him. I’m hopeful of seeing the halfback options being dusted off for Ashton but he’s being used more as a slot receiver. There were times I watched the powerful, fast Broyld make his moves on defenders last year and imagined that this is what it looked like when people here first set their eyes on Jimmy Brown. OK, so he’s not Cam Newton and he’s not Jim Brown. But it says something that AB gets you thinking of players like that. He was a WTYSTG last year and we’re still waiting. Brisley Estime is also being considered in this spot. Do we need two H backs?
Now:
Jerome Smith had some fine runs, including a 66 yarder that shocked Clemson. He’s not a clever runner but he has the power to break a play and the speed to take it the distance. Last year he had 227 carries for 1207 yards, (5.2 yards per carry). His one problem was finding the end zone, (only 3 scores). This year he had 200 carries for 953 yards (4.6), not quite as good but he scored 12 times and became a reliable goal line runner, (which made Adonis Ameen-Moore a spectator). Jerome decided to leave early for the NFL. We wish him well but he might have benefitted from a bigger send-off season.
Prince-Tyson Gulley had an injury plagued senior year, carrying 83 times for 485 yards, (a strong 5.5 average) and 4 scores after getting 859 yards and 9 scores the year before. But his absence enabled us to have a look at the future. George Morris and DeVante MacFarlane showed decent power, good instincts and explosive speed. Both have good size, (Morris is 6-0, 203 and MacFarlane 6-0, 201) without being bulky. They have good vision and sue their blockers well. Morris gained 346 yards in 79 carries and MacFarlane 302 in only 48 tries. Smith and Gulley were never used in tandem, (the Csonka-Little days are gone, unfortunately) but Morris and MacFarlane were. They are similar enough that the coaches might not see them as being a change of pace for each other. Perhaps they will continue to put them in there together and make the defense cover both of them. They only caught six passes between them but I think they could be good receivers.
Neither Broyld or Estime were ever used at running back. We didn’t need them. But we will need some more runners in the pipeline with Smith and Gulley gone. Maybe Moore will make some kind of a come back in his senior year. There are no other returning players listed as running backs. We have one recruit so far listed as a running back- Ervin Phillips, who is rather small at 5-11 176 with no star rating listed. I have to think there will be some kind of recruiting news on this front in the near future, especially with the news that Smith is leaving. Maybe Broyld or even Estime will see time as running backs next year.
I felt all season that with our wealth of running backs we would have been well advised to do something like what Auburn did and put multiple backs in the backfield and run a versatile running attack, passing only when we had to or as an occasional surprise. Hunt was a good runner and with three or even four guys back there we could have kept the defense guessing. We would have been going to our strength rather than to our weakness. But the coaches wanted to run a balanced offense even when we didn’t have balanced talent and experience. Next year, with the lack of depth at running back, we will need a more balanced attack. I don’t think we can afford to run the ball constantly with only two proven running backs.
RUNNING BACKS
Then:
A year ago we went into the season not knowing who our running backs would be. It was as wide open as the quarterback position this year. But Jerome Smith (6-0 226) proved to be a powerful technician of a runner, using his blockers well, making the right cuts and getting the most out of every play. He ran for 1,171 yards. Prince-Tyson Gulley (5-10 192), was shifty and had the speed to break big runs and the hands to catch passes. In the bowl win over West Virginia, Gulley had TD runs of 33 and 67 yards and caught a 12 yard pass for a third score. They make an exciting tandem but they are not all we have.
George Morris II (6-0, 203), who broke a long one in the spring game, has the most speed of any of our running backs. A Georgian, he’s an early benefit of our switch to the ACC, which will allow us to recruit faster players. He’s a potential star. Devante McFarlane, (6-0 188), looked like a natural in his high school film. He just seems to have an instinct for picking his way through a broken field.
At fullback, we have Clay Cleveland, who hardly played last year and Adonis Ameen-Moore, who was thought to be a big-time recruit when he came here a couple of years ago but whose career has been disappointing, mostly because he tried to eat his way out of it. He’s slimmed down to 5-11 238 and is our biggest weapon near the goal line.
I grew up with Larry Csonka and Jim Nance paired with Floyd Little. Jim Brown played fullback in the pros and had Bobby Mitchell and then Ernie Green line up next to him at halfback. I saw Penn State with Franco Harris and Lydell Mitchell in their backfield, then the ’72 Dolphins with Csonka and Jim Kiick, the Morris. Later the Steelers had Harris and Rocky Bleier. I’m a big believer in having multiple running backs and the Mr. Inside/Mr. Outside concept. Defenses don’t know which receiver is going to get the ball on a pass: why should they know which running back is going to get the ball on a run? Halfbacks can catch passes and if you need an extra receiver on third down, you can pull one of the backs at that point. It seems to me with the depth we have at running back and the question marks we have at receiver, this would be an ideal year to go back to the traditional two back backfield, with Jerome Smith and Prince-Tyson Gully in the game at the same time, backed up by Adonis Ameen-Moore and George Morris. There have been some indications that the coaches are thinking along the same lines and I am very excited about that.
Then there’s our “H” back, which seems to mean a jack of all trades. It’s a position almost created for Ashton Broyld. In leading his high school team to the New York State title back in 2010, the looked like a high school version of Cam Newton. He’s big, (6-3, 222), but fast and powerful. He could knock tacklers on their back, zig and zag past them or just out-run them. But he could also pass. I wondered if he would be the one to become our quarterback but the coaching staff has decided he’s better used in the H position, leaving the quarterbacking for others. He spent 2011 in prep school. Last year he showed flashes of his abilities but also had a big fumble vs. Minnesota that put him in the dog house. Then he got hurt. Now he’s back and it remains to be seen just how the coaching staff will use him. I’m hopeful of seeing the halfback options being dusted off for Ashton but he’s being used more as a slot receiver. There were times I watched the powerful, fast Broyld make his moves on defenders last year and imagined that this is what it looked like when people here first set their eyes on Jimmy Brown. OK, so he’s not Cam Newton and he’s not Jim Brown. But it says something that AB gets you thinking of players like that. He was a WTYSTG last year and we’re still waiting. Brisley Estime is also being considered in this spot. Do we need two H backs?
Now:
Jerome Smith had some fine runs, including a 66 yarder that shocked Clemson. He’s not a clever runner but he has the power to break a play and the speed to take it the distance. Last year he had 227 carries for 1207 yards, (5.2 yards per carry). His one problem was finding the end zone, (only 3 scores). This year he had 200 carries for 953 yards (4.6), not quite as good but he scored 12 times and became a reliable goal line runner, (which made Adonis Ameen-Moore a spectator). Jerome decided to leave early for the NFL. We wish him well but he might have benefitted from a bigger send-off season.
Prince-Tyson Gulley had an injury plagued senior year, carrying 83 times for 485 yards, (a strong 5.5 average) and 4 scores after getting 859 yards and 9 scores the year before. But his absence enabled us to have a look at the future. George Morris and DeVante MacFarlane showed decent power, good instincts and explosive speed. Both have good size, (Morris is 6-0, 203 and MacFarlane 6-0, 201) without being bulky. They have good vision and sue their blockers well. Morris gained 346 yards in 79 carries and MacFarlane 302 in only 48 tries. Smith and Gulley were never used in tandem, (the Csonka-Little days are gone, unfortunately) but Morris and MacFarlane were. They are similar enough that the coaches might not see them as being a change of pace for each other. Perhaps they will continue to put them in there together and make the defense cover both of them. They only caught six passes between them but I think they could be good receivers.
Neither Broyld or Estime were ever used at running back. We didn’t need them. But we will need some more runners in the pipeline with Smith and Gulley gone. Maybe Moore will make some kind of a come back in his senior year. There are no other returning players listed as running backs. We have one recruit so far listed as a running back- Ervin Phillips, who is rather small at 5-11 176 with no star rating listed. I have to think there will be some kind of recruiting news on this front in the near future, especially with the news that Smith is leaving. Maybe Broyld or even Estime will see time as running backs next year.
I felt all season that with our wealth of running backs we would have been well advised to do something like what Auburn did and put multiple backs in the backfield and run a versatile running attack, passing only when we had to or as an occasional surprise. Hunt was a good runner and with three or even four guys back there we could have kept the defense guessing. We would have been going to our strength rather than to our weakness. But the coaches wanted to run a balanced offense even when we didn’t have balanced talent and experience. Next year, with the lack of depth at running back, we will need a more balanced attack. I don’t think we can afford to run the ball constantly with only two proven running backs.
