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Running game not 100% the Oline fault

It looks like there is a hole but the NIU player is sitting there unblocked! Our RB would have to make him miss or lower his shoulder n get would he can!

There is literally an unblocked linebacker lol

Unless it's QB run, there is always one defender unaccounted. That's just numbers. It's the rb job to make that one guy miss. Smoke not wright can do it. At least a few times last night there were 1 on 1 in the hole and easily tackled. That just can't happen.
 
The RB runs into the back of the line instead of recognizing the hole
There’s a hole but an unblocked DL and then a MLB waiting past that. Now granted that’s going to happen a lot in modern football. But you can’t expect an RB to always shove past a guy usually 60-100 pounds heavier than he is in the DLs. That’s a tall ask. Especially when he’s not up to speed yet. And when he’s worried about how to make two guys miss at once.

With that said you have to make guys miss too.

But the backs have to be able to be confident in the lines ability. And I don’t think that trust is there yet. I’m surprised Levis hasn’t had a breakdown back there. One play he gets beautiful protection. The very next he get planted in 2 seconds. Even pro QBs would struggle with that little time.

Like has to get better. Period. I think anyone can see that right now. Opposing defenses sure can, that’s why they’re sending the house.
 
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CRod is a difference maker. We will be vastly improved with him. The o line knows how good he is and they’ll pick it up knowing he’s on the field. That’s what difference / play makers do. They elevate the field.

We just got Rich and Yenser on football these things can take time. Hold opinions until Ole Miss.
 
Agreed that Wright (or anyone) wouldn't necessarily break a long run on this play. But Wright went left and picked up a yard. If he slides right into the hole, he should have 3 or 4 yards, minimum. Maybe not a difference maker but 2 or 3 yards here and there over the course of a game can make a difference.
 
3 defenders not being blocked that could make a play

One on left..one in hole.. and one far right if he gets past other 2 for a 3 yard gain

This was bound to be a letdown game. We won. Let's see where we're at 7 days from now.
 
Unless it's QB run, there is always one defender unaccounted. That's just numbers. It's the rb job to make that one guy miss. Smoke not wright can do it. At least a few times last night there were 1 on 1 in the hole and easily tackled. That just can't happen.
I’m aware i played RB at Marshall lol and i don’t disagree that they struggle breaking tackles however in this play the tackle clearly misses the linebacker. Hence why he’s trying to recover. Typically the unblocked guy is a safety not the backer
 
Unless it's QB run, there is always one defender unaccounted. That's just numbers. It's the rb job to make that one guy miss. Smoke not wright can do it. At least a few times last night there were 1 on 1 in the hole and easily tackled. That just can't happen.
That isn’t “unaccounted”. That’s an unblocked LB w an “unaccounted” linemen looking at him like he’s lost
 
There was play ( could be this one ) where there seemed too a GIANT hole on the right side of the line and the RB cut it back to the middle . Our entire section groaned and threw our hands up .
 
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There were times they literally had eight in the box and we did not check out of the running play. There was 0 way to run against that and the safety was cheating. When a team sells out as much as they did you need not be stubborn and say you will run the ball no matter what they are doing. Even Stoops said they used an extra lineman they wasn't used to and was selling out much of the night. So what is the answer to that kind of defense? Roll the QB out and throw the ball against their one on one coverage. Over and over and over if need be. We have tons of guys that can catch the ball, speed and a QB that can get it to them. Any back or TE that can't block on doing that stands on the sideline. Most teams we play won't do that, would have been a good time to set a lot of passing records.
 
We don't need to read too much into 1 snapshot (especially when there is a dude off his block in the hole) to surmise we don't have legit Oline issues in all 4 games thsi year running the football.

- We've played Miami Oh, Florida, Youngstown and now NIU....we are 123 out of 131 teams in rushing offense. We are averaging a terrible 2.4 yards per rush and 81 yards per game. Over 4 games...3 of which are teams for non P5 conference...that is as bad as we've seen it at UK in a long time.

It's probably 90% or more on the Oline....no sense in trying to lipstick on this pig.
 
I’m aware i played RB at Marshall lol and i don’t disagree that they struggle breaking tackles however in this play the tackle clearly misses the linebacker. Hence why he’s trying to recover. Typically the unblocked guy is a safety not the backer

Typically yes. As a RB you knew to read and run off the butts of the linemen. Last night I couldn't even count how many times the rbs misread the hole and ran right into the defender.

Couple that with smoke amd wright going down by every stiff breeze and it was a very poor game for those two. They couldn't even fall forward. Just straight to the ground.

McClain was clearly not 100% but looked much better in limited action especially in making himself difficult to tackle.
 
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That isn’t “unaccounted”. That’s an unblocked LB w an “unaccounted” linemen looking at him like he’s lost

Looks like one lineman for two defenders. Either way, backer or safety, neither of those guys at niu should've been able to tackle an sec back. Neither smoke nor wright broke a tackle all night. They rarely even fell forward. It was pretty terrible
 
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It looks like there is a hole but the NIU player is sitting there unblocked! Our RB would have to make him miss or lower his shoulder n get would he can!
#23 also has a bead on him...poor execution or bad play. No body blocking or missed assignment?
 
We don't need to read too much into 1 snapshot (especially when there is a dude off his block in the hole) to surmise we don't have legit Oline issues in all 4 games thsi year running the football.

- We've played Miami Oh, Florida, Youngstown and now NIU....we are 123 out of 131 teams in rushing offense. We are averaging a terrible 2.4 yards per rush and 81 yards per game. Over 4 games...3 of which are teams for non P5 conference...that is as bad as we've seen it at UK in a long time.

It's probably 90% or more on the Oline....no sense in trying to lipstick on this pig.
90%!?!?!?

O line has issues, but a damn big part of our bad rushing stats is having to depend on guys not named Chris Rodriguez carrying the ball. God bless them, they are trying their best, but Smoke & Wright wouldn't have had CRod's same numbers if it was them running behind last yrs O line.

Just watch Saturday, magically all those bad rushing stats go away.
 
90%!?!?!?

O line has issues, but a damn big part of our bad rushing stats is having to depend on guys not named Chris Rodriguez carrying the ball. God bless them, they are trying their best, but Smoke & Wright wouldn't have had CRod's same numbers if it was them running behind last yrs O line.

Just watch Saturday, magically all those bad rushing stats go away.
Outside of winning the game...the next biggest sing will be how CRod does behind the same Oline Smoke and Wright got us the 123 out of 132 teams in rushing for 82 yards on 2.4 yards per rush.

I still think this Oline is the worst since Stoops 3rd year at UK....let's see what Crod does behind it. And the final comment....please stop saying we have a stable at RB. We saw last year when Smoke was the backup and he beat out McClain, Drennan, Wright, etc... for backup. We've never had really good RB room...we've just had Benny and then CRod. But guys like Rose, Smoke, etc...are not bigtime RB. And next year, it looks like a mess back there to be honest.
 
I'd like to see a .gif of that play. It looks like the back is supposed to run between the right hip of Bates (I think that’s him) sealing #15 and the left hip of the pulling guard (I can't really see the number though) taking out the LB in the hole.

If he doesn't read his blocks and go that way #6 is coming up for his safety spot to tackle him for a 2-3 yard gain at most. If he reads his blocks then #6 isn't getting to him until he's made it at least 5 yards and is starting to reach maximum speed.
 
Unless it's QB run, there is always one defender unaccounted. That's just numbers. It's the rb job to make that one guy miss. Smoke not wright can do it. At least a few times last night there were 1 on 1 in the hole and easily tackled. That just can't happen.
Not on this play, the guard did not get to the 2nd level to seal the LBer. If the LBer is good he is filling that gap and meeting the RB in the hole for no gain.
 
90%!?!?!?

O line has issues, but a damn big part of our bad rushing stats is having to depend on guys not named Chris Rodriguez carrying the ball. God bless them, they are trying their best, but Smoke & Wright wouldn't have had CRod's same numbers if it was them running behind last yrs O line.

Just watch Saturday, magically all those bad rushing stats go away.
Running back is the easiest position in football to recruit. That's why the shelf life of an NFL running back is the shortest of all positions. You can find a decent back pretty easy. I don't think our line is very good and hopefully CRod is just so good that he can overcome it. There is no way that a potential #1 draft pick can be so bad at decision making to blame it all on him. If that was the case the NFL draft experts would not be hyping him up so much. We have issues on the line.
 
Don't kid yourself the anemic running game is 100% theO lines fault. Adding C Rod will not improve our running game much either, unless the line starts blocking better
 
Outside of winning the game...the next biggest sing will be how CRod does behind the same Oline Smoke and Wright got us the 123 out of 132 teams in rushing for 82 yards on 2.4 yards per rush.

I still think this Oline is the worst since Stoops 3rd year at UK....let's see what Crod does behind it. And the final comment....please stop saying we have a stable at RB. We saw last year when Smoke was the backup and he beat out McClain, Drennan, Wright, etc... for backup. We've never had really good RB room...we've just had Benny and then CRod. But guys like Rose, Smoke, etc...are not bigtime RB. And next year, it looks like a mess back there to be honest.
The "stable" of running backs was before CRod missed 4 games, Jefferson was lost for the season, and McClain got hurt. When you subtract players due to injuries and so forth, depth disappears.

Actually, McClain beat out Smoke last year. By November, McClain was CRod's primary backup.

AJ Rose played in the NFL last year.
 
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Don't kid yourself the anemic running game is 100% theO lines fault. Adding C Rod will not improve our running game much either, unless the line starts blocking better
I read in offseason that Crod led the nation in runs after contact, or after contact behind the LOS.

Heck, load up his highlights from last year see how often he breaks a tackle behind the LOS.

He did it his last TD run against Iowa.
 
The "stable" of running backs was before CRod missed 4 games, Jefferson was lost for the season, and McClain got hurt. When you subtract players due to injuries and so forth, depth disappears.

Actually, McClain beat out Smoke last year. By November, McClain was CRod's primary backup.

AJ Rose played in the NFL last year.
I don’t buy it. I’ve never heard fans say a RB isn’t that good like we hammer on Qb, Wr, Oline, etc. But Smoke McClain, Wright all had a chance to show something and failed pretty hard. I’ll give Jefferson a pass …he played one play.

We made it thru Crod suspension…so know we can limit the Rb weakness. But we for damn sure need to hit the portal hard for a Rb next year. And no more small ish guys….get some pounders and be done with it
 
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And it looks like the cutback towards the pile is to evade #23. It's easy to say what if from a still shot, but the speed of the game dictates a lot and makes a still shot like that lack context.

Who's job was it to block that linebacker?
 
I read in offseason that Crod led the nation in runs after contact, or after contact behind the LOS.

Heck, load up his highlights from last year see how often he breaks a tackle behind the LOS.

He did it his last TD run against Iowa.
A lot of the TFL's, ankle tackles, and the one hit and down tackles for little to no gain will be negated when CRod runs. he rarely has negative yardage plays and always plows forward. CRod will run through or over some of the tackles that brought our other backs down. That's why He is a 1000 yard rusher and not the others.
 
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