Big Back Era?

[Husker from Kansas]

Someone brought this issue up recently on 1620 the Zone and they said no, they didn't think it was a return to the big backs. They agreed that it appears that Beck wants balance. I guess we'll find out in the fall, eh?

 

as much as i love tmagic i just dont see the huskers being a balanced team until either 1. he graduates and we start a qb who is more of a passing threat, or 2, tmart forces teams to respect him as a passer by having a big year this year.

 

i want very badly for taylor to improve as a passer and come out and complete 65% of his passes, even if he only averages around 200 yards a game but completes a high percentage of his passes the teams we play will be forced to respect the pass much more than they do currently. however i just dont see tmart ever reaching that point, i think that he is just not fudamentally strong enough as a passer to get there. and if he cant get there then we are going to continue to be a very one dimensional team. i do believe he is our best option at qb right now, but i think the coaches need to start recruiting more of pass first qbs with good vision, then fast athletes who play qb.

[da skers]

we aren't recruiting a single back over 200. so I'm not sure where all the talk is coming from. last year Cross just kind of popped up late. Marrow was more a matter of convenience than our "philosophy" to go after big backs.

Its because Shitel over the OWH asked the question in his blog when Green left. So of course average fan puts the brain in neutral and assumings its a true type statement. Thats why its dangerous when those guys get an agenda and don't like someone or a coach. Most people won't actually check facts.

[BOJ]

Sorry if this is in another thread buried somewhere. I didn't see it highlighted, but please merge as needed.

 

In the wake of the unfortunate departure of Aaron Green, media outlets have been buzzing about a not-quite shift in our offensive identity: the big back. This raises a few questions. Is our recruiting actually trending towards bigger, sturdier backs? If so, is it because that's the way our offense is heading? I'm not exactly sure what Beck's ideal offense is (this being his first recruiting cycle), but it seems to me he favors balance. Speedy receivers, slightly leaning run with a fair amount of option. What would the supposed 'big back' era do to this philosophy?

 

Discuss!

 

it would probably make us a better B1G team, but would get our ass kicked in any BCS game we might qualify for........speed kills.

The big back with speed dominates! See your own back now. I consider Rex a big back.

[HuskerFowler]

we aren't recruiting a single back over 200. so I'm not sure where all the talk is coming from. last year Cross just kind of popped up late. Marrow was more a matter of convenience than our "philosophy" to go after big backs.

 

Cant find the article where one of the coaches said we saw a need for a bigger back in our first year in the BIG. Ive said this before that we saw a need for a bigger back kind of like REX but a little bigger that can take the punishment in the BIG. Look what Marcus Coker did with Iowa last year. We still want the smaller speed backs as well, so we will continue to recruit both, with a little more emphasis on the bigger backs then when we did when we were in the Big12. The recruiting philosphy has changed a bit.

 

 

 

Burkhead, who earned All-Big Ten honors, excelled in short-yardage situations. Marrow and Cross could supply some relief in that regard, which would be a welcome development, considering the physical nature of Big Ten defenses.

"It was an eye-opener for all of us, the kind of conference we're in now," Brown said. "The largest people in the history of the planet live in the Big Ten. We were in a fast-break conference (the Big 12) the year before.

"We recruited speed. We have good speed. But we also have to have the ability to run up in there (between the tackles). Defenses are taking the edges away from us, forcing things to come underneath. Our quarterbacks, our running backs have to be really good inside runners."

 

http://huskerextra.c...821a947b88.html

 

 

 

3 running backs out of the 4 that are on the first page are 200 or very close as JUNIORS, so im not sure where your getting "were not recruiting a single back over 200. And before you throw the "right at 200" arguement out there, keep in mind these are JUNIORS in HS,a RB at 200 is big for a junior in HS. With weight training and nutrition these kids could put on 20 lbs of lean muscle mass by the time they step foot on the field here in 2 or 3 years.

 

http://www.huskerboa...-corey-clement/

 

5 11" 200

 

http://www.huskerboa...lor-lsu-commit/

 

6 1" 200

 

http://www.huskerboa...-rb-ryan-green/

 

5 10" 195

[Hunter94]

Cross is coming in at 225, if he he has a decent first step at all, he could help right away.

[huskerfan333157]

Sorry if this is in another thread buried somewhere. I didn't see it highlighted, but please merge as needed.

 

In the wake of the unfortunate departure of Aaron Green, media outlets have been buzzing about a not-quite shift in our offensive identity: the big back. This raises a few questions. Is our recruiting actually trending towards bigger, sturdier backs? If so, is it because that's the way our offense is heading? I'm not exactly sure what Beck's ideal offense is (this being his first recruiting cycle), but it seems to me he favors balance. Speedy receivers, slightly leaning run with a fair amount of option. What would the supposed 'big back' era do to this philosophy?

 

Discuss!

 

it would probably make us a better B1G team, but would get our ass kicked in any BCS game we might qualify for........speed kills.

 

 

Great point. Alabama uses big backs so that must be why they can never win any BCS games. For some silly reason they think "power & size" are also very, very important.

 

TO was a moron too using guys like LP, Rozier & others that were wayyyyyy bigger than Green. Devaney also with Orduna, Kinney, etc. That's probably why they couldn't win any big games either.

 

Richardson RAN A 4.4 40. Yes, a person that runs a 4.4 40 is strictly a power back. Are you kidding me? Im pretty sure thats called a BALANCED back. He had wheels but could also break tackles. Mark Ingram was a BALANCED back. A POWER BACK is strictly a power runner without that much speed, which wont work nowadays in college football. You either need a balanced back or a power back AND a speed back.

[zoogs]

Or a mix. An all-purpose back to carry the load, but there's room for speed changeup guys in space and also for your goalline, 3rd-and-short guys.

[Hunter94]

no matter who gets the ball, an offensive line would help............here we go.

[bshirt]

no matter who gets the ball, an offensive line would help............here we go.

 

Yep.

 

I think you're going to be a happy camper this year. Oh, we won't be vintage pancakers yet (at all) but we'll be the best we've had in a long, long time. You'll like it.

[lo country]

IIRC, Bo made a comment last year about the B1G changing to us and not the other way around. It would appear, that on both sides of the ball, Bo is changing us to match the B1G. I hope we will not become a big slow plodding team.

[Hunter94]

IIRC, Bo made a comment last year about the B1G changing to us and not the other way around. It would appear, that on both sides of the ball, Bo is changing us to match the B1G. I hope we will not become a big slow plodding team.

 

 

agree, that would not be good.....it's going to be interesting to watch the changes and how we adapt........the B1G is much different from the Big 12 style of football.

[druski_2k5]

IIRC, Bo made a comment last year about the B1G changing to us and not the other way around. It would appear, that on both sides of the ball, Bo is changing us to match the B1G. I hope we will not become a big slow plodding team.

 

Yes, Bo did make statements about last year on how the B1G will adjust to us and we will not adjust to the B1G. That made me smile with hope when he said that, but you are right, it seems we are trending away from that. I do like the fact though, that we are very fast at receiver, probably one of the most explosive units at that position we have seen in years might be over the next few years, starting this fall.

 

My fear for this program, is that we are going to be stuck in neutral. I fear we will go dive down into the 1987-1992 years where we are a decent team but get destroyed in bowl games because we are big and slow.

 

We have got to get faster on defense [linebackers, defensive ends] and we either have got to blitz more or get some penetration from our front four so we can play coverage behind that. On offense, I don't want to see power back strictly, unless they are mixed in with other all-purpose backs.. I want to see either balanced backs or speed backs. When we won National Championships and many conference titles, we were not a slow team. We had guys who could break tackles but could also take it to the house. Anyone could get the ball and make something of it. You never knew who it was going too, and sometimes you did know but you couldn't stop it. We were very multiple [yes I said it] on offense, but we were fast and tough. I don't think our offenses or defenses are tough anymore and hopefully we get that mentality back on both sides of the ball.

 

When I think of big backs, I see Ron Dayne, Jerome Bettis, Mike Alstot. We need running backs who were like Ahman Green, Lawrence Phillips, Brian Westbrook, Danny Woodhead type of running backs. We need guys in that 200-215 range who can do a lot. But then we need bigger backs [perhaps even a full back....] to take a hammer at the defense.

 

Our offense looks to be like Burkhead being and Cross the balanced backs, Abdullah being the slasher, and then Marrow as the hammer of the backfield.

 

On the Aaron Green story, I believe he left because he wasn't happy with playing time. Just my opinion, no inside sources, his dad said himself he is not a patient guy.

 

With that said, I still think we are going to attempt to be a very balanced team, but I don't want to become so big that we are so slow from 1987-1992 that we get KILLED by SEC teams.

 

It was only when we made recruiting changes [recruit speed], and defensive philosophy changes [5-2 to 4-3, blitz more] until we became team of the decade with all of our success. Not saying it will happen again or overnight, but I believe that's the philosophy we need to take and let everything else fall where it may.

[Scratchtown]

no matter who gets the ball, an offensive line would help............here we go.

 

Yep.

 

I think you're going to be a happy camper this year. Oh, we won't be vintage pancakers yet (at all) but we'll be the best we've had in a long, long time. You'll like it.

 

 

not if barney is still around.