factman wrote:I think that there a couple of things that you have to take into consideration, when you are talking about our running backs, and those are
catching ability and blocking, in addition to their running ability. I think it is very hard for most of us to judge those things in only a "game" situation, and that is exactly why Mr. Winovich gets alot of the time at the RB spot, because of those abilities. We do not have a PJ Pope this year that excels at running the ball, catching the ball and blocking or pass protection, but two or three different backs that excel in one or two of these abilities, but not all. Until we find that person, or one improves in "other" areas, we will see RB by committee, which tends to tip our hand. Maybe we will see a more diverse offense now that we are into the MAC schedule.
Exactly...you also have to consider how much of the ofefnse is built around the RB having the skill set that Eric Ransom has and Willie Geter will have when he matures a bit. Bullock is a bit of a square peg for that hole...that's not to say that he has no place in the offense, but you have to install plays that can take advantage of his skills...when you do that you run the risk of becoming, as factman pointed out, more predictable
Bullock was very successful running out of the spread sets last year. I'm pretty sure those plays are still in the playbook. Bullock didn't show any noticeable deficiencies last year blocking or catching the ball out of the backfield. I hope he's just been absent as a gameplan type thing, and not a permanent type thing. He was a Freshman All-American. At our level, we can't afford not to have talent like that on the field making plays.
I still think we can run the ball if we want to. I wonder sometimes if our OL struggles aren't stemming from the play selection. Sometimes those big boys up front just want to push some people around in the run game. Maybe they're getting discouraged that they aren't getting that chance, and their pass-blocking is suffering because of it. We know it isn't a talent issue.
And that was LAST YEAR...THIS YEAR we started the year with an offense that featured a different style of runningback with a different set of skills. We can adjust the offense to take advantage of those skills...we actually should do that but ithe skill set each back brings to the table are dissimilar enough to make the offense a tad more predictable.
Losing Ransom was a big deal. I don't know if you could figure on hm as a 3 down back, but he was a big part of the offense. Willie Geter will get there, but he isn't Ransom yet.....I wonder if some of our line problems aren't related to Stud's departure. Even as OC I imagine he had qute an influence on the way the OL got handled.
It's not the fall that hurts...it's when you hit the ground.
That's fine Flipper. We are more suited for a fast back this year rather than the bruiser in Bullock. Even if you accept that premise it doesn't make us any less able to run. Heck, Bullock still has more carries than Geter does. If the staff doesn't think Bullock is suited for this scheme this year, then why not give Geter more carries? He is averaging > 5 yards per tote.
BGSUFootballFan hit on something that really jumped out at me when I was watching the Florida/LSU game Saturday night. Quite simply this offense was designed for a mobile QB. When Josh was here we ran that counter/veer/option play all day long. There was a question in the defense's mind whether J5 or Pope had the ball, and by the time they figured it out we had 5 yards. Urban is still doing that today in Florida and it was working quite well for the most part on Saturday.
I love what Tyler has done thus far in the season, but I'm still think (just as I did when Omar was the QB) that a more mobile QB is required to run this system to it's fullest potential. I certainly wouldn't advocate making a change now but it is something to think about as Glaud/Brown develop could either of them eventually unseat Sheehan just because they're more suited to the scheme? The thing I love about Tyler, though, is his leadership ability & moxy.
I'm still somewhat hopeful that we are going to start running the ball a little more in the coming weeks. I agree with coach Brandon that running it is not our best chance to win when we're playing the BCS teams, but now that we're in the conference schedule we should be able to impose our will on a few defenses.
As for Glaud's performance and the playcalling when he was in there? He looked good Saturday, but I don't take much from those situations. You had our backup unit against their backup unit. They were nursing a huge lead and playing a nothing defense. Yes, it was nice that he was able to execute and put some points on the board, but I don't think it's really very telling on the whole. Basically both teams were just trying to get out of the game without any injuries at that point.
I'm not saying we shouldn't run or run between the tackles...I'm simply trying to point out that it might not be as easy to accomplish as just running Bullock out there every now and then. Adjustments may need to be made to the offense and that can get tricky once the season starts
One thing I really like about Willie Geter is that he doesn't usually go down on the first contact. He bounces off tacklers and has that innate ability to keep his balance when doing it. I'd love to see him get more carries and I'd love to see Bullock catch a few out of the backfield...it will make our offense harder to defend based on what offensive unit we have in.
Although the traditionalist in me would love to see Schiedler and O'Dro lined up as TE's with Winovich and Bullock lined up in the "I" behind Sheehan under center. Not even AT would try to bounce that play outside
It's not the fall that hurts...it's when you hit the ground.
The thing that annoys me most about our running game (and this may have been said already, long posts make me sleepy) is that everything's on a delay. Shotgun snap, Geter takes two steps to the side, then cuts back and takes the handoff. It seems like we're hoping for overpursuit each time, but never really get it.
"I don't believe I can name a coach, anywhere, anytime, anyhow, who did it better than Doyt Perry."
-1955 BG Assistant Bo Schembechler
TG1996 wrote:The thing that annoys me most about our running game (and this may have been said already, long posts make me sleepy) is that everything's on a delay. Shotgun snap, Geter takes two steps to the side, then cuts back and takes the handoff. It seems like we're hoping for overpursuit each time, but never really get it.
Mis-direction runs are the staple run play of our offense (as they are in Gibbs' SB winning offense @ Washington). The beauty of our version of the counter tre is that (in its conception) you never knew who was running the ball. The QB & RB should split the carries 50/50 to make the play work to it's perfection.
Unfortunately the running system was clearly devised with a mobile QB in mind.
TG1996 wrote:The thing that annoys me most about our running game (and this may have been said already, long posts make me sleepy) is that everything's on a delay. Shotgun snap, Geter takes two steps to the side, then cuts back and takes the handoff. It seems like we're hoping for overpursuit each time, but never really get it.
Mis-direction runs are the staple run play of our offense (as they are in Gibbs' SB winning offense @ Washington). The beauty of our version of the counter tre is that (in its conception) you never knew who was running the ball. The QB & RB should split the carries 50/50 to make the play work to it's perfection.
Unfortunately the running system was clearly devised with a mobile QB in mind.
Tyler Sheehan is a lot more mobile than he is given credit for, and maybe part of why they don't want to call more runs is because they don't want to get him hurt. After all, we all saw what happened in 05 when Omar went down and in 06 against Kent when AT was unable to play.
On a related note looking into the future, how mobile is Brown? He looks big and tough enough to be able to take the kind of hits needed to run a lot.
MarkL has spoken.
You may all now return to your daily lives.
I always liked that play where we would run an option with Cole Magner in the slot. We ran that some in 2003. Barnes would be a pretty good guy to run that play with.
I'm all about misdirection, but it seems slow... it may have to do with what you said about the option of the QB keeper in that situation, or me picking out the wrong plays to critique each time, but it doesn't seem like we have too much of a variable on our most predominant running play, which doesn't help when it seems so slow to develop.
Not seeming to have a runner that can bust it up the gut when needed takes away one of the greatest plays in the last five years, the Omar to PJ touchdown at the GMAC Bowl. THAT was a thing of beauty.
Then again, I'm hardly a football coach, so I'll just kick back, drink a brew and pull for 7 wins to finish the year, no matter how we get them.
"I don't believe I can name a coach, anywhere, anytime, anyhow, who did it better than Doyt Perry."
-1955 BG Assistant Bo Schembechler
