Something that has bothered me about our offense over the past year has been our refusal to feed the ball to our running backs. I think we rely too heavily on the QB run game and the QB run/pass option. This has left me scratching my head several times considering we have been using inexperienced QBs (Ertz, Hubener, Cook) and our rbs have done OK when given opportunities. I decided to go back and look for examples of times we handed the ball off to our running backs on two or more consecutive plays in our last 11 games (2015 conference, Bowl Game, and Stanford).
Our running backs received 2 or more consecutive carries on 41 of our 141 possessions during this time. This is only 29% of our possessions.
On the 41 possessions where our RBs received 2 or more consecutive carries we scored 116 points. This comes out to 2.83 points per offensive possession.
On the remaining 100 possession where our RBs did not receive consecutive carries we scored 155 points. This comes out to 1.55 points per offensive possession.
Charles Jones received consecutive carries on 24 possessions. On those possessions we scored 74 points. This comes out to 3.08 points per offensive possession.
When we commit to running the backs on consecutive plays the result has been that they are more effective. I think that is because the backs and the line are allowed to get in a rhythm. When our backs run on consecutive plays they average 5.23 yards per carry. When our backs get the ball sandwiched between passing plays or QB runs they average only 3.90 yards per carry.
I hope that Dimel, Miller, and Snyder will place an increased emphasis on unleashing our RBs in the upcoming weeks. Allowing our RBs to carry a bigger load will open up the QB run game and the play action passing game. Giving the ball to our backs will take some pressure off of our struggling QBs. Giving the ball to our backs will likely make us more difficult to defend.
Our running backs received 2 or more consecutive carries on 41 of our 141 possessions during this time. This is only 29% of our possessions.
On the 41 possessions where our RBs received 2 or more consecutive carries we scored 116 points. This comes out to 2.83 points per offensive possession.
On the remaining 100 possession where our RBs did not receive consecutive carries we scored 155 points. This comes out to 1.55 points per offensive possession.
Charles Jones received consecutive carries on 24 possessions. On those possessions we scored 74 points. This comes out to 3.08 points per offensive possession.
When we commit to running the backs on consecutive plays the result has been that they are more effective. I think that is because the backs and the line are allowed to get in a rhythm. When our backs run on consecutive plays they average 5.23 yards per carry. When our backs get the ball sandwiched between passing plays or QB runs they average only 3.90 yards per carry.
I hope that Dimel, Miller, and Snyder will place an increased emphasis on unleashing our RBs in the upcoming weeks. Allowing our RBs to carry a bigger load will open up the QB run game and the play action passing game. Giving the ball to our backs will take some pressure off of our struggling QBs. Giving the ball to our backs will likely make us more difficult to defend.
