Markel Smith Off to Slow Start

[thejumper5]

Uhhhh, guys, I hate the be the bearer of bad news, but Smith did not improve as the season went on. I looked it up. In his last game, Smith had 4 carries for -1 yards. (10/25). The game before that he had 2 carries for 3 yards. The game before that he had 3 carries for 6 yards.

I can say with certainty that every RB on the current Iowa roster put up better stats than that prior to coming to Iowa. In fact, it is possible that every RB in Iowa football history put up better stats than that.

Maybe Smith is hurt? Maybe the competition is better this year than he is used to. But there is no excuse for a kid to average 1 yard per carry at any level to be expected to be a decent Big 10 running back. It's time to move on.

I guess it's a good think Smith is averaging 4.3 yards per carry this year.

 

[iowalaw]

Brilliant. Perhaps he carried 1x and 4x ect. because he is the 5th string running back on his prep school team? Yup.

Do you think maybe they don't have a very good offensive line and that could be the culprit?! I haven't seen a good RB do much of anything without blocking. And how would you know with games where he has carried 1x, 4x etc.

 

[hawkjunkie]

How has the rest of the teams RB's ypc been? That will be telling. If the O-line stinks, then they all should be low...

 

[imported_ankle23]

just went thru about 4-5 of their RBs - looks like Smith is excelling at the position on this team.

 

[Knight78]

How has the rest of the teams RB's ypc been? That will be telling. If the O-line stinks, then they all should be low...

The last game, against Erie JC, 9 different backs ran 29 times for a combined 21 yards.

The game before, against Yale, 9 different backs ran 24 times for a combined 17 yards.

That does NOT sound like a running back problem, that sounds like an O-line problem.

 

[iowalaw]

Meanwhile, Brandon Wegher, playing against similar competition, is running for 300 yards per game. It must all be in the OL.

 

[Hawkfnntn]

Hadn't heard anything recent on Smith is he still on track to sign with Iowa this FEB?

 

[Hawkcrush]

Meanwhile, Brandon Wegher, playing against similar competition, is running for 300 yards per game. It must all be in the OL.

That will happen when you are literally a man amongst boys. As I remember it he chose to leave unfortunately, Sounded like some baby mama drama.

 

[imported_ankle23]

That will happen when you are literally a man amongst boys. As I remember it he chose to leave unfortunately, Sounded like some baby mama drama.

take a guess at what his grade situation must have been like. perhaps it wasn't only his choice to vacate.