I still maintain that yard- s rushing are worth more in terms of winning games than are yards passing. I admit I have not read the specific stats to prove this point but after watching football for about 40 years now, it seems evident to me that the team that runs the ball best normally wins the game. Often, teams that have 300 yards passing but rush for less than 100 will lose to an opponet that runs for 300 and passes for less than 100. I do recall seeing stats that show that Nebraska, historically over many decades, has won a very very high percentage of their games when rushing for 400 yards and even at the 300 yards mark won a high percentage. The same cannot be said for Nebraska teams which passed for over 400 or even 300 yards, in any style or type of offense or in any 'era' of the game, atleast in the past 40 years.
OU won an extremely high percentage of games in their wishbone attack when rushing for over 400 yards, even when passing for less than 50.
Again, I don't have the statistical research to back my opinion up as such, but I would tend to say that, in general, a team which averages 300 yards rushing and 100 yards passing will be favored to win vs a team with run/passyards in reverse. And this would assume average defenses on both sides. This is supported by the conventional wisdom / coach and commentator that most defensive coaches will want to first stop the run and make the opponent one dimentional and that one dimention would be to make them throw. A team could grossly overplay the pass and stop all the passing completely but will lose to an offense with a strong run game. And any team with a great run game and 'average' passing capabilities will find that once the opponent goes all in to stop the run the passes become easy and will make the average passer look like Payton Manning versus many opponents (Nebraska excluded).
It is very true that rules have changed favoring the pass over the run as compared to 25 years ago. But, I also believe a Sooner wishbone or Husker "Osbone' attack would be just as capable of delivering National championships in 2017 as they were in 1980s and 90s.
Riley is NOT a run first, pass when forced to do so, believer. He has never in his career had a team with the capability to exert its will on the oppoent and has always had to use finesse and deception and so on to find a way to pull out a win. He has had to win most of his games by outguessing and so on and not by out powering and dominating physically. Hopefully, he understands that you win most games before the game is played by being bigger, stronger, faster and more prepared, physically and mentally. To become 'elite', you need all of the above, plus a little luck along the way.