Running Back Room

caveman99 said:
All of Whipple’s college career points to a balanced offense though. I went ahead detailed it below for you, the highest he got to was just under 56% for 2 years at UMass. Those years his teams averaged just over 40 passing attempts per game vs just over 32 rushing attempts per game, a far cry from being a pass first, along it all over the field type of play caller. His trend in the last 4 years since those 2 years is to average a few more passes per game than rushes. I also went and added his prior college stop to UMass, which was at Miami, yes the hated Canes. Whipple still ran a balanced offense there, but he actually leaned slightly more to the run calling a running play 51-52% of the time.
 

Reality is that it may seem that NU will be pass happy under Whipple as Frost had been heavier on the run than pass (52.9%, 62.6%, 59.4%, and 57.5% run play percentages the last 4 seasons), but the reality is that the offense will most likely just become a bit more balanced under Whipple. 

Whipple Offense Ave Pass Attempts/Game %
Pitt 2021 - 51.7%
Pitt 2020 - 52.9%
Pitt 2019 - 54.4%
UMass 2018 - 50.9%

UMass 2017 - 51.7%

UMass 2016 - 53.6%

UMass 2015 - 55.8%

UMass 2014 - 55.9%

Miami FL 2010 - 48.3%

Miami FL 2009 - 47.8%
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Those numbers clearly show he tends to call more passing plays than running plays.  Especially if you consider all the broken pass plays that went down as run plays in the stat sheet.  The ratio would be even more pass heavy.

Nothing about this shows me calling him a pass first coordinator should be nearly as controversial as it is.

You even said yourself that everyone understands he's going to pass more.  I thought this was a point we could all agree on.  :dunno

 
He might pass first but still will run the ball. For me yes i understand he had a great qb and receiver last year but probably didn't have enough talent to run the ball like he probably wanted to do at times. Im saying Pitt wasn't a very good run team bc of o-line and probably bc of the running back room. He won't have that problem with AG or Gabe, or Allan. It might be the other way here better run blockers then pass blockers actually. Our feature back is not going to lack touches regardless if he calls about 10% more pass plays.

 
The Dude said:
Those numbers clearly show he tends to call more passing plays than running plays.  Especially if you consider all the broken pass plays that went down as run plays in the stat sheet.  The ratio would be even more pass heavy.

Nothing about this shows me calling him a pass first coordinator should be nearly as controversial as it is.

You even said yourself that everyone understands he's going to pass more.  I thought this was a point we could all agree on.  :dunno
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I think it's more that the term "pass-first" comes with the idea that it's a offense that passes a lot more than runs. So how much is "a lot more" or said differently "what's a balanced offense vs pass-first or run-first?"

IMO 45-55% either way is a balanced offense, so based on the above stats Whipple has had a balanced offense 8 out of 10 times and a pass-first offense 2 out of 10. I'm not sure what point you're trying to make with calling him a pass-first OC but I'd call him mostly a balanced OC.

 
RedDenver said:
I think it's more that the term "pass-first" comes with the idea that it's a offense that passes a lot more than runs. So how much is "a lot more" or said differently "what's a balanced offense vs pass-first or run-first?"

IMO 45-55% either way is a balanced offense, so based on the above stats Whipple has had a balanced offense 8 out of 10 times and a pass-first offense 2 out of 10. I'm not sure what point you're trying to make with calling him a pass-first OC but I'd call him mostly a balanced OC.
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Exactly, well said

 
The Dude said:
Those numbers clearly show he tends to call more passing plays than running plays.  Especially if you consider all the broken pass plays that went down as run plays in the stat sheet.  The ratio would be even more pass heavy.

Nothing about this shows me calling him a pass first coordinator should be nearly as controversial as it is.

You even said yourself that everyone understands he's going to pass more.  I thought this was a point we could all agree on.  :dunno
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Does it really matter which play he runs first?  

 
Even though Whipple hasn't had a 1000 yard rusher while he has been a oc, one could argue that he never had a stud running back either like Grant. That's how much i believe in his ability to produce. If it were someone else other then Grant yeah definitely see in the 7-8 hundred yard range. Yes i know Grant has never played a down for us yet but just watching him on film and in highlights he clearly sticks out or looks like he has separated himself. I'm not saying the other running backs haven't done a good job either.

 
Mavric said:
Grant, Ervin and Johnson (in some order) continue to be the top three backs.
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Makes sense as Johnson finished '21 as the starter, Ervin was the game 1 starter in '21 and if you believe coach speak is back to form and Grant was the top JUCO and by all accounts has been doing well in camp.  As the season wears on, it's hard not to imagine 1 or 2 getting nicked up and missing some time, so I think Yant will see some decent reps as well as some flashes of Allen/Emmet J. --although it would be nice to be able to limit them to 4 and preserve their shirts.

 
That Irvin’s knee is having a flare up is a red flag. That questions whether his knee can hold up for the whole season. Good that N has other backs. 

 
Pedro G said:
That Irvin’s knee is having a flare up is a red flag. That questions whether his knee can hold up for the whole season. Good that N has other backs. 
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Hopefully its just maintenance for the grind of the season, but not great that he missed the scrimmage.

 
RedDenver said:
I think it's more that the term "pass-first" comes with the idea that it's a offense that passes a lot more than runs. So how much is "a lot more" or said differently "what's a balanced offense vs pass-first or run-first?"

IMO 45-55% either way is a balanced offense, so based on the above stats Whipple has had a balanced offense 8 out of 10 times and a pass-first offense 2 out of 10. I'm not sure what point you're trying to make with calling him a pass-first OC but I'd call him mostly a balanced OC.
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Not really. What you are describing is a pass heavy offense. A pass first offense is an offensive mindset where you use the passing game to spread the field and open the run game up to face more 6 man sets. The opposite is the run first approach which means you are using the run game to crowd the box, getting the defense to commit an 8th man to the run defense and drawing the safeties in then using the pass to exploit the space that creates downfield. Not quite the same thing.

 
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