Spring Position Battles - Running Backs

[cm husker]

That '06 offense was nothing special, and completely failed in every big game that year. That USC game, which I attended, was one of the worst offensive displays I've ever seen.

[Landlord]

That was entirely because of the conservative gameplan of trying to play clock churning, ball control offense. I seem to remember them doing decent against a Texas defense that ended the year ranked 5th in PPG allowed.

 

 

 

At any rate, the 2006 offense ended the season 17th in points per game. A 3,000 yard passer with 4 runningbacks averaging over 5 yards a carry, finishing with 989, 728, 335, and 370 yards respectively, along with another combined 60+ catches for 600+ yards out of the backfield.

 

That's solid offense.

[cm husker]

That's a perfect example of the paper tiger that was a Callahan offense. That USC team was very vunerable that year.

 

Control for Troy, LA tech and Nichols, and that offense never eclipsed 40. It also got held to 20 or less at least a few times.

 

Good offense is offense that helps you win games. That offense was never dangerous that year.

[The Dude]

Newby is a great athlete. I think with him it's more attitude than skill. Reports of him "running with authority" is promising.

 

While I don't think he's been the toughest runner, I think the narrative that a stiff breeze could knock him over has gotten a little out of hand.

 

Cue Jake Cotton gif.

[84HuskerLaw]

A year can make a big difference in a given player or set of players and these three RBs are certainly different with Ozigbo being the bigger, stronger 'pile pusher' with some pretty good moves and apparently pass catcher hands as well. He is young and maybe lacks a tad in the experience department but will get better. We saw him make good improvement in the limited time he got as a frosh. There is every reason to think he will work extra hard, mature and gain in strength and confidence. He should be better as most players make a big leap ahead from first to second year in playing time. We know what Newby does as we've seen it for awhile now. Not likely he makes a major jump up on the performance levels but he ought to be steady and relatively reliable. (Nothing flashy or super - just doing his job at a decent standard). Wilbon is the youngster that has not yet shown what he can do consistently. Can he break tackles and atleast fall forward after contact nearly all the time. Falling back or sideways means the 3 yard gain is not going to be 4 or 5 more often. That is a big part of the difference between the RB with the 5 or 6 or even 7 yards per carry average and the 4 to 5 yard per carry one. We need the former if we are going to compete at the Big Ten title level. I suspect Wilbon will be the scat back that is exciting to watch on those little swing passes and screens and a few draws assuming he can break those initial arm tackles behind the line of scrimmage. If he pops through the initial defensive push, he has a chance to be a medium and big play back.

"Zigbo will be a threat from 30 yards out while Newby from 45 and Wilbon from anywhere. But inside the 10, I would say Zigbo would be my choice. Third and short will be a good down for Zigbo. !st down will be Wilbon and Newby likely a second down back. If we have to choose, I go with Ozigbo as the best combination but unless one really steps up to a new level, there certainly will be times and circumstances where each can shine.

[admo]

I like this group (Oz, Newby, Wilbon). Rotation is good to keep them fresh and as they each add something different to the offense (power, quick burst, juke moves, speed, backfield swing passes). At crucial times I would like to count on the hot hand staying in.

 

I also find it great that Nabity switched to FB and is earning some early-on praises from the coaches. I think they started liking him as a football player last spring too. So hopefully he (or the other FBs) can step up where Jano left off. Will be hard to do.

[Hunter94]

considering Jano had the power to play more, i hold out little hope this kid will get the ball very much, very few teams feature the FB.......a true grinding offense will use the FB more, but now days everyone wants the touches to go to a guy who can break a big gainer at any time......i get it and see the FB getting less than 5-7 carries per game, especially when these coaches want to chuck the rock and with turnover tommie, that scares me once again.

[Redux]

considering Jano had the power to play more, i hold out little hope this kid will get the ball very much, very few teams feature the FB.......a true grinding offense will use the FB more, but now days everyone wants the touches to go to a guy who can break a big gainer at any time......i get it and see the FB getting less than 5-7 carries per game, especially when these coaches want to chuck the rock and with turnover tommie, that scares me once again.

You say that after Jannovich was one of our most reliable offensive weapons last season.....interesting.

[cm husker]

 

considering Jano had the power to play more, i hold out little hope this kid will get the ball very much, very few teams feature the FB.......a true grinding offense will use the FB more, but now days everyone wants the touches to go to a guy who can break a big gainer at any time......i get it and see the FB getting less than 5-7 carries per game, especially when these coaches want to chuck the rock and with turnover tommie, that scares me once again.

You say that after Jannovich was one of our most reliable offensive weapons last season.....interesting.

How many touches per game did Jano get? What was his high number and low number?

[Redux]

 

 

considering Jano had the power to play more, i hold out little hope this kid will get the ball very much, very few teams feature the FB.......a true grinding offense will use the FB more, but now days everyone wants the touches to go to a guy who can break a big gainer at any time......i get it and see the FB getting less than 5-7 carries per game, especially when these coaches want to chuck the rock and with turnover tommie, that scares me once again.

You say that after Jannovich was one of our most reliable offensive weapons last season.....interesting.

How many touches per game did Jano get? What was his high number and low number?

You like numbers, look it up.

[Redux]

Tell me this, among 1st year head coaches last season known for slinging thr ball around more often than not, whose FB had the best year? Serious question, if it wasn't Mike Riley and Nebraska I'll be shocked.

[cm husker]

 

 

 

considering Jano had the power to play more, i hold out little hope this kid will get the ball very much, very few teams feature the FB.......a true grinding offense will use the FB more, but now days everyone wants the touches to go to a guy who can break a big gainer at any time......i get it and see the FB getting less than 5-7 carries per game, especially when these coaches want to chuck the rock and with turnover tommie, that scares me once again.

You say that after Jannovich was one of our most reliable offensive weapons last season.....interesting.

How many touches per game did Jano get? What was his high number and low number?

You like numbers, look it up.

I'm just wondering why an offense failed to get the ball to "one of its most reliable weapons" on a regular basis. Maybe it has something to do with what urban Meyer identified.

[Bowfin]

A year can make a big difference in a given player or set of players

 

Agreed!

 

Roger Craig went into the NFL with this quote: ""The 49ers didn't get the bruiser they so sorely needed to handle short-yardage situations." Craig was aso labelled as not being a receiver type back because he had only 16 receptions in four years at Nebraska.

[Redux]

 

 

 

 

considering Jano had the power to play more, i hold out little hope this kid will get the ball very much, very few teams feature the FB.......a true grinding offense will use the FB more, but now days everyone wants the touches to go to a guy who can break a big gainer at any time......i get it and see the FB getting less than 5-7 carries per game, especially when these coaches want to chuck the rock and with turnover tommie, that scares me once again.

You say that after Jannovich was one of our most reliable offensive weapons last season.....interesting.

How many touches per game did Jano get? What was his high number and low number?

You like numbers, look it up.

I'm just wondering why an offense failed to get the ball to "one of its most reliable weapons" on a regular basis. Maybe it has something to do with what urban Meyer identified.

Maybe it was the f'ing transition period. Maybe quit bitching about this staff after one year. You love numbers so much, I should think a larger pool of data would excite the crap out of you.

[84HuskerLaw]

I believe the 49ers got Roger Craig upon strong rec of TO and because he was a strong blocker and had of course shown pretty good ball carrier skills and had been described as having good hands for receiving. Of course he became a pro bowler and MVP type player because of his all around RB skills from sweeps to screens and swing passes to blocking, etc. He was tough and very hard to arm tackle as he ran with a stride where his knees came up very high, making tackling him in the legs a rather punishing ordeal for corners and safety types. Great pro player and Husker legend.