I was curious, so I took a look at our rushing yards per game over the past 5 seasons. Over the past 5 seasons we have had a consistent dropoff in rushing yards per game...its startling in fact.
2009- 208.2 yards per game-Season Record 10-3
2010-198.7 yards per game-Season Record 11-3
2011-186.9 yards per game-Season Record 11-3
2012-145.8 yards per game-Season Record 7-6
2013-119.8 yards per game-Season Record 8-5
See any obvious trends??
Somewhere along the way we lost the ability to impose our will on opposing defenses.
Of course, we lost Ryan Williams, Darren Evan's, and David Wilson, and replaced them with Michael Holmes, J.C. Coleman, and Trey Edmunds.
I truly believe the only way we get back to being an 11-3 team or better is for us to learn how to pound the rock for at least 180 yards per game....history speaks for itself.
Comments
In NCAA '14, I can pretty much run the ball at will to the point of opponents quitting the game early. Wish we could do that in real life.
Back in NCAA '06, after I got through the first couple of seasons and all of the starters left, I thought I was toast. So I just started running the ball. I was just going to do it until someone stopped me. 14-0, National Champs.
There was also that one little issue of graduating 4 starting OL after the '11 season.
Why didn't Beamer hire you as offensive coordinator?? He blew it with Loeffler...
Lmao! This is great.
Right...I understand the running backs aren't the only ones to blame....many things factor into it. The talent of the RB's, the quality of the OL...the QB play, the play calling, etc. Putting all that aside, the Hokies need to find a way to run the ball. No matter what the reason is, we need to run the ball better. 119 yards a game is just flat out pathetic for this team and our style of play. I find hope in the turnaround that Auburn had in their running game this season. Grimes recruited the Auburn OL....
2012-148.4 yards per game
2013-335.7 yards per game
Yup, thats right....335.7 yards per game. How's that working for them??
FWIW, look at how their RBs did in 2012. The top 2 averaged about 6 ypc, much like this year. Problem was, the QB couldn't convert a 3rd down and the defense couldn't stop anyone, so the running game was all but abandoned by the second half.
Exactly. No unit operates in a vacuum.
I'm hoping that we can stop with the five yard pitch backs. Every time I saw that play, LT would toss the ball back 5 yards to the runner, who would run really hard up to the line of scrimmage and get stuffed, because the defense had those extra five yards to get ready for him.
Or the slow developing run play where the RB or WR comes from the slot and runs parrallel to the line for half the field only to cut up late for 2 yards. Its not fooling anyone.
You mean the jet-sweep, the most successful run play in the Sun Bowl?
One game it semi worked. But how many times did you see Edmunds or Colemen running it where it just took forever and never got anywhere.
It has several different functions.
1 is to keep linebackers and safeties honest and keep them from crashing the middle.
2 gain yardage in games where the linebackers are not good at lateral movement.
3 open opportunities for WR to have the benefit of. CB or safety hesitate so they can get a step.
In the bowl game, it was specifically run to gain yardage as the NME linebackers didn't move we'll laterally.
i also feel like we run plays like that to try to wear defenders out. make em run sideline to sideline early and then pound it up the middle late, ideally at least.
What is the trend nationally? Has there been a migration towards more passing vs running?
Not necessarily. Stanford, Bama, Auburn, Clemson, etc. all focus on running the ball. The only difference now is how they do it, with a good number of teams spreading the field more and more.
The RB's had 350 touches this year and ZERO fumbles. First time in the Beamer era this has happened. Courtesy of @VT_Football twitter. But yeah, anybody who knows anything about football will tell you the more you run the ball successfully, the more you win. Maybe we didn't know until now how lucky we've been over the years with guys like Lee, Suggs, Imoh, RMFW, Evans, Wilson, etc etc.
I am not asking for 300 plus yards like Auburn...but I don't think it is too much to ask for 180 plus per game. I think Shai Mackenzie and Marshawn are a step in the right direction however. I also think Grimes bringing in 5 of his own OL recruits is going to payoff down the road. Add in Pffaf, Wyatt Teller, and Alston Smith and its like he is bringing in 8 new offensive lineman. The only starting lineman graduating is Miller, so we have those 4, the 8 new ones, Augie Conte, and Parker Osterloh. Thats 14 OL's to choose from. I would think he should be able to piece together a solid OL from that group.
I can't help but feel hopeful that we can return to the days of having a good solid rushing attack...and with that I think we can return to our string of 10 win seasons.
That is my hope for Grimes as well. He is also willing to shake things up to try and put together the best line possible.
When your QB is your leading rusher 2 years in a row, 180 WAS too much to ask for.
Our running backs never had a chance to fumble since they would get tackled in the backfield before they had a chance to fumble. :)
Usually that's a recipe for more fumbles- especially if you get hit during or immediately after the QB-RB exchange...
Downfield you expect to be tackled. You don't usually expect it when the ball is just getting to you.
I credit Shane on that one. Every time I see him in practice, he's holding a punching glove at the end of a stick. He must have really ingrained protecting the ball into the backs heads.
Here is passing totals over those years
2009 183.9
2010 203.6
2011 226.1
2012 230.9
2013 236.2
You play to your strength. It is fair to say that 2014 will be a rebound in both trends.
Good point on the passing yards increasing...but it doesn't seem to be working for us. Once we balance it out a little more we will be in good shape. I think we would all love to see 180 rushing and 180 passing...with our defense and that balance we will win the ACC Coastal every year.
Ehhh... try 300 passing and 180 rushing. <200 yards passing is generally considered a pretty bad performance.
Oh, I would LOVE 300 passing....but look at our passing totals over the recent years. Our high was only 236 per game.
What we've seen and what the ideal is are two COMPLETELY different things. 180 yards passing per game is entirely unacceptable. We're gonna have to be able to throw it better than that. And the 300 isn't just a number I pulled out of nowhere, it's Loeffler's goal. Now, will that happen? Probably not, but I think 250ish/180ish is reasonable to shoot for, especially once we get the new guys into the system and our QB situation figured out.
i think frank would be fine with 200 yard passing, 200 yards rushing.
Combine that with a couple turnovers and/or blocked kicks (the return of true BeamerBall), and you'd have yourself a fantastic football game.
Actually, I'm sure Frank would be perfectly content with about 5 yards passing, so long as we won the game.
No, he wouldn't like that.
It means the passing game is a comedy and the opposing team can sell out on the run next game.
*sigh* ok, let's say we won the NCG like that. THEN, he'd be happy with 5 passing yards.
No way......
: )
I'm no clair danes, but I am getting a vision.
I think that pic was taken during the MD game.
Uhh...I don't remember doing that. Shut up! None of your business!
Look's like Shane's boxing glove on a pole approach worked.
Edit: Just saw that AZ_Hokie beat me to the punch on that
ahh...I see what you did there
Having Tyrod as a legitimate duel threat helped these yards, along with an experienced line, NFL level talent at the RB spot, NFL talent at the WR spots (so you can't play man-to-man without risks).
I think this is a chicken/egg situation. We were running and winning, or we were winning and running (because Beamer hates to run up the score and would rather kill the clock when up by anything over 10 points).
Of course, I agree with you totally. Tyrod did help, his dual threat ability opened up the offense and made it easier to run. I also agree we had a better line and better RB's. That wasn't my point. I was pointing out the downward trend in the rushing yards coinciding with the Hokies success. For better or for worse, any good coach is going to look at stats and try to use them to their advantage. I am sure the coaches have seen the downward trend and I am sure they would like to improve our rushing totals.
It all comes down to " YOU PLAY TO SCORE POINTS! YOU PLAY TO WIN THE GAME"
Hokieknightfx2...Whats your point?
Nothing. It just seemed like an appropriate time for the Herm Edwards "play to win" quote. What's yours lowercase vthokie?
I think my point was pretty clear.
"I truly believe the only way we get back to being an 11-3 team or better is for us to learn how to pound the rock for at least 180 yards per game."
I felt like your title to this thread goes in hand with the Herm Edwards. Got me pumped and stoked.