Lots of question marks with the run game. Why did BF abandon it? Didnt feel like UM was stuffing it for no gain, seems like we got 3-5 a pop. Why are our number 1 and 2 guys missing creases and honestly, way too slow to hit it up in there? Poor play by those guys. Goodson is our best option at this point...work on your blitz pickups this week, son.
Run game issues...
- Thread starter HawksMN
- Start date
okeefe4prez
Well-Known Member
It's not just the blitz pickup. Goodson probably only gets a handful of reps with the ones in practice. He's a helluva ball player, but it's gonna take several more weeks before you can move him into a role where he gets a material portion of the carries. You can't just throw the kid to the wolves as a freshman.
I agree, but the effort our 1 and 2 guy put out there Sat was dang poor. Slow and creases missed all over.
Have to run the ball to set up play action. If we don't slow down LBS, well........Saturday will happen again
frannymacfan
New Member
I don't have a play count but when did we become a zone option run team? I would bet we ran out of the shotgun more than under center. Michigan has given more yards up on the ground than Rutgers and we manage 1-yard rushing? There is something systematically wrong with Iowa's run game. It's time to abandon the zone blocking scheme and start getting our lineman to move the line scrimmage upfield instead of sideline to sideline, get blocks in the 2nd level of defense. Sgt and Toren Young are not the type of back that are going to gash teams on cutbacks lanes, and those cut back lanes are not there like they use to be because every defense knows when Iowa's line zones right or left they just shoot those gaps.
homes
Well-Known Member
I agree that they gave up on the run game. They were only down a TD, and Michigan didn't have any offense to speak of in the second half other than the one drive. If I counted correctly, 28 passes, 7 rushes. Take away the last drive, it was 20 passes to 7 rushes. It seemed like Iowa played right into Michigan's blitzing defense in the second half, they had no regard for staying at home in run defense. Not every play has to go for 8 yards, but if you can pop off a long run once in awhile, it's the same as a long pass, and the defense would not be breathing down Stanley's neck every time he's back in the shotgun.
Brian abandoned the run game because he is clueless as OC and has no business being in the position. Young and Sargent are not B1G level backs. No vision, no speed, nothing. Stanley is not going to beat anyone with a pulse throwing the football, and we looked good the first 4 games because we played terrible completion. Michigan is not a good team, and we looked like dog shit on offense. Our blocking scheme is ancient and needs to be scrapped.
eveningnewsteam
Well-Known Member
Ya pretty much this
hawkfan2679
Well-Known Member
I have only watched about the first 10 minutes of the game from Saturday but I've seen our other games this year and we do seem to have ramped up the run calls out of the gun. But it seems like it is another area where we are almost trying to evolve, but we're doing it with one hand tied behind our back. If you don't have a threat to run the ball from the QB position, then you aren't going to get a solid "hold" on the backside of the defense and they are still going to be able to flow almost immediately to the play side. Sure, you might get a couple of those instances where Stanley pulls it and the defense is so caught off guard that he makes good yardage with it, but that's maybe 5% of the time (?). Secondly, and I could be wrong on this one, have we ever ran a running play out of the gun where the play side wasn't opposite the side the ball carrier started on? Meaning, if the back was on Stanley's left, have we ever run a play this year where the play design is for the play to go left as opposed to right? I'm not sure I've seen one...so in essence what we're doing is saying we're either going to run in one direction or we're going to pass. If that's the case I'd rather we get back under center and at least give the impression we could go in either direction. We can still run the same formations and same personnel groupings...just with more balance and at least a faint hint of bootleg action as a pass option.
JoeyLabasForPresident
Well-Known Member
You’re right, it’s systematically wrong for Iowa to net 1 yard rushing because of sacks.
We went empty backfield shot-gun a lot, which plays directly into Michigan's strength. No threat to run whatsoever. Michigan is happy to blitz and play man to man. If we're going to do that, Stanley needs to take off sometimes like he did against ISU.
We have been telegraphing the direction we run forever with hardly any counter action. It is terrible to not have some misdirection.
hawkfan2679
Well-Known Member
I think we've (as in you and I, even) have had this discussion before. Other than the bootleg action, the only counter we'll consistently run is that one where we flash fake one way, the back counter steps and then we hand it the other way. We have gone to the jet sweep well a few times with fleeting success, but I wouldn't call that one of our "series" or bread and butter plays that provide constraint for a defense and it itself is not really a counter play...more of a horizontal stretch play by which other plays can help setup (or it can be a setup to run inside itself, if we used it more regularly).
We haven't broke the top 50 in YPC rushing since 2008. In that time period we've put quite a few OL in the NFL so something must be wrong. You'd think even with the average RB's we've had we could get in the top 50 at least.
HawkeyeWalker
Well-Known Member
We ran pretty well with a lead FB it seemed.
HawkeyeWalker
Well-Known Member
Yep, I noticed multiple times empty against an effective blitz with no check down. Frustrating to say the least.
HuckFinn
Well-Known Member
Michigan D backs were really good; our receivers, who are pretty good, really struggled to get open, so Mich played man D throughout. That allowed them to run many and varied stunts ranging from six rushers to four rushers, with a late blitzes from the safeties, or Lb’s, who often came through untouched. Players did not adjust and apparently the coaches were unable to help them out. And, Alaric J. Was not ready to play at full speed. Lots of blame to go around. Penalties, turnovers, a couple of bad calls by the officials, crowd noise, and we played a team that was absolutely desperate for a win, and a coach who pulled out all the stops, fighting for his job. Pretty tough to overcome that much momentum.
