Lack of a running game

demoncore1031

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May 18, 2008
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It seems like when we have a RB start getting into a groove, that player stops getting the ball. Kene has been banged up a bit, but there have been times where he has looked pretty good and then doesn't get touches. Lang was having a decent game against Baylor early on and then didn't get any touches again until late. Croney… well he's just not very good. And I don't think Hall and Brock should get into any games if it's just for a play or two. Brock got in for one play against Baylor. What was the point of that? One of those two, if not both, should redshirt if they're not gonna get carries.

Here are the carries by game, not counting QB's:

BAYLOR (15)
J. Lang - 6
S. Croney - 6
K. Nwangwu - 3

ULM (22)
S. Croney - 9
J. Brock - 5
B. Hall - 5
K. Nwangwu - 2
J. Lang - 1

IOWA (9)
K. Nwangwu - 6
J. Lang - 2
B. Hall - 1

UNI (42)
J. Lang - 14
S. Croney - 13
B. Hall - 11
K. Nwangwu - 4

I personally don't feel that the RB's are being utilized properly. With Kene's open field abilities, why is he not being used out of the backfield in the passing game? Same with Hall.
 
It seems like when we have a RB start getting into a groove, that player stops getting the ball. Kene has been banged up a bit, but there have been times where he has looked pretty good and then doesn't get touches. Lang was having a decent game against Baylor early on and then didn't get any touches again until late. Croney… well he's just not very good. And I don't think Hall and Brock should get into any games if it's just for a play or two. Brock got in for one play against Baylor. What was the point of that? One of those two, if not both, should redshirt if they're not gonna get carries.

Here are the carries by game, not counting QB's:

BAYLOR (15)
J. Lang - 6
S. Croney - 6
K. Nwangwu - 3

ULM (22)
S. Croney - 9
J. Brock - 5
B. Hall - 5
K. Nwangwu - 2
J. Lang - 1

IOWA (9)
K. Nwangwu - 6
J. Lang - 2
B. Hall - 1

UNI (42)
J. Lang - 14
S. Croney - 13
B. Hall - 11
K. Nwangwu - 4

I personally don't feel that the RB's are being utilized properly. With Kene's open field abilities, why is he not being used out of the backfield in the passing game? Same with Hall.

Kene isn’t healthy or id bet he would be the starting RB
 
Totally agree with you, especially about croney. I get that the staff thinks he’s the best blocker and he probably is, but man I want to pull my hair out any time he touches the ball.

Not even sure what he is doing a lot of the time. Just seems to run into the pile. His 2.2 YPC is probably the worst in the country for a RB with that many carries.
 
Line blocking and offensive scheming by coaches seems like a bigger issue to me than whoever totes the ball right now. Can someone make more on their own than Croney has? Possibly. But is the line doing their job to create holes for the run game? Is our offensive staff doing a good job of finding plays that create more space for rushing well over the course of the game?
 
ISU finished 107th in rushing last year with one of the all time greats in the backfield. There is a structural problem and part of it is deficiencies up front. Lots of Croney bashing going on. He may not be a feature back, but the guy is rock solid on pass protection. When 25 is in the game, he does his job in that aspect very well. He's also a pretty good pass catcher.
 
Line blocking and offensive scheming by coaches seems like a bigger issue to me than whoever totes the ball right now. Can someone make more on their own than Croney has? Possibly. But is the line doing their job to create holes for the run game? Is our offensive staff doing a good job of finding plays that create more space for rushing well over the course of the game?


Line Blocking you say...That sez it all...at this time Manning does not trust the OLine to block well enough to have a running game. Late in these games Manning just calls passes only and Brock Purdy does his thing...That's our offense for right now....
 
The RB's are either young or inexperienced, so they are learning on the job, as they go. The OL is improved, but we do not have one dominate player in the unit this season. There is not one player on the OL that is that will be playing at the next level next year. The younger players we will see, but the seniors are average college players at best.

We are close to being a very good football team, we just have to continue to keep building and not lose faith in what we are trying to do here. If you want dominate teams, go be a fan of Alabama, OU or Ohio State, we are what we are, we will high times like last week and games like yesterday, but we can still get to 8 to 9 wins and go from there.
 
A running game can be a rhythm thing and picking one RB and sticking with it and letting them find that rhythm may help.

This has been the week (Sept-Oct) under CMC the last three seasons where something changed to ignite ISU a bit and we'll see if that's the case next Saturday. Maybe Hall or Brock have been emerging and now's the time?

Maybe start getting Wilson or Shaw more time and in space? I think there's potential there.

With the way the 3-3-5 look is becoming normal things are going to have to come back inside offensively so the run game needs to be a thing.
 
Said in another thread that Lang needs to be the feature guy going forward. I get he struggles pass blocking, but he's been our best back.
 
The RB’s weren’t amazing yesterday but I didn’t see the line opening many holes. They were getting pushed back an awful lot yesterday. Overall I thought they took a big step backwards.

Reminded me of the Richardson days where scrambling from the pass rush was most of our running game.
 
ISU finished 107th in rushing last year with one of the all time greats in the backfield. There is a structural problem and part of it is deficiencies up front. Lots of Croney bashing going on. He may not be a feature back, but the guy is rock solid on pass protection. When 25 is in the game, he does his job in that aspect very well. He's also a pretty good pass catcher.

That really says it all. One of the best backs we've ever had got us to 106th in the Country. I think that they have different plays for the different RB's. Which is really questionable. Why do you use a true FR RB for one play on 4th and 1? Just not logical.
 
OL was just not good yesterday. I thought Lang was okay, Croney was his usual run to the hole that isn't there guy. Kene is still ISU's best option, but you could tell he was hurting yesterday. Wish one of the freshman would have gotten carries, but when the OL is getting blown up, it really doesn't matter a lot.
 
  • Agree
Reactions: huntt26
Biggest running game issue, for me, is Brock's not reading the defender correctly on RPOs. He's keeping the ball too often when he should be giving it to the RB. The line looks good to me.
A comparison of the QB rushing stats is telling:

_______________Att_Yds__Avg
Brock_Purdy_____13___3__0.2
Charlie_Brewer__13__29__2.2

These are not sack adjusted. And, in all fairness, Brewer's numbers here are not stellar either. But the Baylor OC restrained him until late in the game, where his rushing made the difference on the game winning FB drive.

Purdy-Brewer is quite a dual, otherwise, of QBs with very similar skill sets. I think both will get their shot in the NFL, and if they do, we can look forward to these showdowns for years to come.
 

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