Terrell Newby

Mavric

Mavric

Yoda
Staff member
I think Newby has gotten far more criticism that he deserves this year. I was also a little critical of him early in the year as he had a tenancy to dance too much instead of being decisive. But I think he improved in that as the year went on.

My contention for most of the year is that most of his limited production is due to unimaginative play-calling and - oddly for him - a lot of plays calling for him to run right up the middle.

I wish I had time to really do this study justice but as a proxy I'm going to just look at how the play was described in the official stats. They are basically categorized as "up middle", "off tackle" and "end". I would think that given two backs you would generally call "outside" plays with your speed back and "up middle" plays with you power back. I said several times during the season that it seemed like Newby got about 80% of his carries up the middle. I'm sure that's somewhat of an exaggeration but I'm curious what the split actually was.

For comparison's sake on effectiveness, Alabama averaged 4.8 ypc on the year which was good for about #25 in the country among Power 5 schools. Overall, we were #32 at 4.6 ypc.

So here we go.

BYU - 10 carries for 43 yards, 4.3 ypc, 1 TD

1-10 NEB 12 Newby, Terrell rush up middle for 3 yards to the NEB15

1-10 NEB 11 Newby, Terrell rush up middle for 1 yard to the NEB12

1-10 NEB 24 Newby, Terrell rush over right tackle for 4 yards to the NEB28

1-10 NEB 25 Newby, Terrell rush over right tackle for 3 yards to the NEB28

No carries in second quarter

1-G BYU 10 Newby, Terrell rush up middle for 10 yards to the BYU0, TOUCHDOWN

2-5 NEB 43 Newby, Terrell rush over right end for 14 yards to the BYU43, 1ST DOWN NEB

1-10 NEB 20 Newby, Terrell rush over right end for 8 yards to the NEB28

1-10 NEB 49 Newby, Terrell rush over left guard for no gain to the NEB49

1-10 NEB 28 Newby, Terrell rush up middle for 3 yards to the NEB31

3-1 NEB 37 Newby, Terrell rush up middle for loss of 3 yards to the NEB34

6 runs up the middle for 14 yards, 2.3 ypc

2 runs off tackle for 7 yards, 3.5 ypc

2 runs outside for 22 yards, 11.0 ypc

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So my perception that 80% of his runs were inside isn't too far off for one game - or, at least, only 20% were to the outside. Doesn't seem like the greatest way to use your speed back.

Also, it's interesting that 8 out of 10 runs were on first down. Kind of predictable when we were going to run it? We'll see...

 
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South Alabama - 28 carries for 198 yards, 7.1 ypc, 2 TDs

2-10 NEB 25 Newby, Terrell rush up middle for 10 yards to the NEB35, 1ST DOWN NEB

1-10 NEB 35 Newby, Terrell rush over left end for 12 yards to the NEB47, 1ST DOWN NEB

1-10 NEB 47 Newby, Terrell rush over right tackle for 3 yards to the 50 yardline

1-10 USA 40 Newby, Terrell rush over right end for loss of 1 yard to the USA41

2-11 USA 41 Newby, Terrell rush up middle for 3 yards to the USA38

2-10 USA 13 Newby, Terrell rush up middle for 13 yards to the USA0, 1ST DOWN NEB, TOUCHDOWN

1-10 USA 40 Newby, Terrell rush up middle for 1 yard to the USA39

1-10 USA 29 Newby, Terrell rush up middle for 11 yards to the USA18, 1ST DOWN NEB

2-3 USA 11 Newby, Terrell rush up middle for 3 yards to the USA8, 1ST DOWN NEB

1-10 NEB 09 Newby, Terrell rush over right end for 9 yards to the NEB18

2-1 NEB 18 Newby, Terrell rush up middle for 3 yards to the NEB21, 1ST DOWN NEB

1-10 NEB 21 Newby, Terrell rush up middle for 7 yards to the NEB28

1-10 NEB 44 Newby, Terrell rush up middle for 5 yards to the NEB49

1-10 USA 32 Newby, Terrell rush over right end for 18 yards to the USA14, 1ST DOWN NEB

2-4 USA 08 Newby, Terrell rush up middle for 8 yards to the USA0, 1ST DOWN NEB, TOUCHDOWN

1-10 NEB 04 Newby, Terrell rush up middle for 2 yards to the NEB6

2-8 NEB 06 Newby, Terrell rush up middle for 11 yards to the NEB17, 1ST DOWN NEB

1-10 NEB 25 Newby, Terrell rush over right end for 22 yards to the NEB47, 1ST DOWN NEB

2-5 USA 48 Newby, Terrell rush up middle for 4 yards to the USA44

3-1 USA 44 Newby, Terrell rush over left end for loss of 1 yard to the USA45

1-10 NEB 25 Newby, Terrell rush over left end for no gain to the NEB25

2-10 NEB 44 Newby, Terrell rush over right end for 32 yards to the USA24, 1ST DOWN NEB

1-10 NEB 25 Newby, Terrell rush over left tackle for 2 yards to the NEB27

1-10 USA 28 Newby, Terrell rush over right tackle for no gain to the USA28

1-G USA 05 Newby, Terrell rush up middle for 1 yard to the USA4

1-10 NEB 29 Newby, Terrell rush over right tackle for 4 yards to the NEB33

2-6 NEB 33 Newby, Terrell rush over right tackle for 10 yards to the NEB43, 1ST DOWN NEB

1-10 NEB 43 Newby, Terrell rush over right tackle for 6 yards to the NEB49

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14 runs up the middle for 82 yards, 5.9 ypc

6 runs off tackle for 25 yards, 4.2 ypc

8 runs outside for 91 yards, 11.4 ypc

 
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Newby consistently turns 5-6 yard gains into 2 yard gains. The guy just won't hit the hole hard and take the yardage that is available to him. That's my biggest complaint of him.

 
Mavric said:
I think Newby has gotten far more criticism that he deserves this year. I was also a little critical of him early in the year as he had a tenancy to dance too much instead of being decisive. But I think he improved in that as the year went on.

My contention for most of the year is that most of his limited production is due to unimaginative play-calling and - oddly for him - a lot of plays calling for him to run right up the middle.

I wish I had time to really do this study justice but as a proxy I'm going to just look at how the play was described in the official stats. They are basically categorized as "up middle", "off tackle" and "end". I would think that given two backs you would generally call "outside" plays with your speed back and "up middle" plays with you power back. I said several times during the season that it seemed like Newby got about 80% of his carries up the middle. I'm sure that's somewhat of an exaggeration but I'm curious what the split actually was.

For comparison's sake on effectiveness, Alabama averaged 4.8 ypc on the year which was good for about #25 in the country among Power 5 schools. Overall, we were #32 at 4.6 ypc.

So here we go.

BYU - 10 carries for 43 yards, 4.3 ypc, 1 TD

1-10 NEB 12 Newby, Terrell rush up middle for 3 yards to the NEB15

1-10 NEB 11 Newby, Terrell rush up middle for 1 yard to the NEB12

1-10 NEB 24 Newby, Terrell rush over right tackle for 4 yards to the NEB28

1-10 NEB 25 Newby, Terrell rush over right tackle for 3 yards to the NEB28

1-G BYU 10 Newby, Terrell rush up middle for 10 yards to the BYU0, TOUCHDOWN

2-5 NEB 43 Newby, Terrell rush over right end for 14 yards to the BYU43, 1ST DOWN NEB

1-10 NEB 20 Newby, Terrell rush over right end for 8 yards to the NEB28

1-10 NEB 49 Newby, Terrell rush over left guard for no gain to the NEB49

1-10 NEB 28 Newby, Terrell rush up middle for 3 yards to the NEB31

3-1 NEB 37 Newby, Terrell rush up middle for loss of 3 yards to the NEB34

6 runs up the middle for 14 yards, 2.3 ypc

2 runs off tackle for 7 yards, 3.5 ypc

2 runs outside for 22 yards, 11.0 ypc

So my perception that 80% of his runs were inside isn't too far off for one game - or, at least, only 20% were to the outside. Doesn't seem like the greatest way to use your speed back.

Also, it's interesting that 8 out of 10 runs were on first down. Kind of predictable when we were going to run it? We'll see...
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The criticism was pretty well deserved in the early part of the season IMO, although if the rest of the games were like BYU, sounds like it should have been more directed at Langs (although he caught plenty) than Newby. I definitely agree Newby got better as the season went on. In the beginning he was very hesitant. It seemed around the time of the Minny game (his first big run), he finally stopped dancing around nearly as much and started lowering his shoulder on runs, finding the hole and running with some authority.

 
Miami - 14 carries for 82 yards, 5.9 ypc

1-10 NEB 25 Newby, Terrell rush for 4 yards to the NEB29

1-10 NEB 25 Newby, Terrell rush for 5 yards to the NEB30

2-10 NEB 49 Newby, Terrell rush for 1 yard to the 50 yardline

1-10 NEB 38 Newby, Terrell rush for 4 yards to the NEB42

2-6 NEB 42 Newby, Terrell rush for 23 yards to the UM35, 1ST DOWN NEB

1-10 NEB 28 Newby, Terrell rush for 5 yards to the NEB33

2-5 NEB 33 Newby, Terrell rush for loss of 1 yard to the NEB32

1-10 NEB 49 Newby, Terrell rush for 5 yards to the UM46

2-6 NEB 42 Newby, Terrell rush for 3 yards to the NEB45

1-10 UM 38 Newby, Terrell rush for 9 yards to the UM29

1-10 UM 45 Newby, Terrell rush for 2 yards to the UM43

1-10 NEB 25 Newby, Terrell rush for 2 yards to the NEB27

1-10 NEB 37 Newby, Terrell rush for 14 yards to the UM49, 1ST DOWN NEB

1-10 UM 14 Newby, Terrell rush for 6 yards to the UM8

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Don't know why they didn't include the locations of the runs for this game.

But through three games he only has two carries on third down.

Edit: Here's the play-by-play review that I did for the first half of the Miami game.

 
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Southern Mississippi - 18 carries for 76 yards, 4.2 ypc

1-10 NEB 44 Newby, Terrell rush up middle for 3 yards to the NEB47

1-10 USM 45 Newby, Terrell rush over right tackle for 13 yards to the USM32, 1ST DOWN NEB

1-10 USM 32 Newby, Terrell rush over right tackle for 17 yards to the USM15, 1ST DOWN NEB

1-G USM 04 Newby, Terrell rush up middle for loss of 2 yards to the USM6

1-10 USM 30 Newby, Terrell rush over right tackle for 5 yards to the USM25

2-5 USM 25 Newby, Terrell rush over right end for 6 yards to the USM19, 1ST DOWN NEB

1-10 NEB 42 Newby, Terrell rush over right end for 6 yards to the NEB48

1-10 USM 27 Newby, Terrell rush over left end for 2 yards to the USM25

1-10 USM 16 Newby, Terrell rush over right end for no gain to the USM16

2-G USM 05 Newby, Terrell rush up middle for no gain to the USM5

1-10 NEB 07 Newby, Terrell rush up middle for 6 yards to the NEB13

1-10 NEB 22 Newby, Terrell rush up middle for 6 yards to the NEB28

2-4 NEB 28 Newby, Terrell rush up middle for 3 yards to the NEB31

1-10 NEB 25 Newby, Terrell rush over right end for loss of 1 yard to the NEB24

1-10 USM 22 Newby, Terrell rush up middle for 7 yards to the USM15

1-10 USM 22 Newby, Terrell rush over right tackle for 4 yards to the USM18

1-G USM 13 Newby, Terrell rush up middle for 1 yard to the USM12

3-G USM 08 Newby, Terrell rush up middle for no gain to the USM8

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9 runs up the middle for 28 yards, 3.1 ypc

4 runs of tackle for 39 yards, 9.8 ypc

5 runs outside for 13 yards, 2.6 ypc

 
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So for the three non-con games available, Newby had...

29 runs up the middle for 124 yards, 4.3 ypc

12 runs off tackle for 71 yards, 5.9 ypc

15 runs outside for 126 yards, 8.4 ypc


So 51.8% of the carries were up the middle. With our speed back. And he averaged almost twice as many yards per carry to the outside but that was barely a quarter of the play calls.

Also, 49 out of 70 carries were on first down (70%), a predictable run down. 18 carries on second down and three on third down (4.2%).
 
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I actually don't mind running up the middle with a back, but my question (and it woulldrequire endzone views) is what sorts of runs were we talking? Speed backs can be great in a zone read mesh... but if Newby was being asked to basically run a read/cut play behind reach blocking, I don't think that suits his skill set (at least the one demonstrated so far). How often did we pull guys in front of him in trap situations, for example?

That's my biggest gripe about the run game when I rewatch tape: it's completely unimaginative in terms of disguising what they are doing or getting an extra offensive hat at the point of attack.

Our offense does not stress defenses consistently, really in either the passing or running games.

 
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Terrell Newby averaged 5.3 yards per carry for the season, a perfectly Nebraska-like figure. An offense has to work between the tackles to establish everything else, so if your featured running back is averaging 5.3 yards going mostly up the middle, that shouldn't be your complaint.

Going strictly by the eyeball test, Newby appears to be good but not great running back, especially coming on the heels of non-stop Roy Helu, Rex Burkhead and Ameer Abdullah.

He didn't blossom in his Junior year, but he didn't falter. Yards after contact was never his strong suit. I don't think he had a single fumble.

I don't think he's that bad, either, but he doesn't make a strong case for more carries.

And still, he's probably our best running back at the moment.

It might be that simple.

 
cm husker said:
I actually don't mind running up the middle with a back, but my question (and it woulldrequire endzone views) is what sorts of runs were we talking? Speed backs can be great in a zone read mesh... but if Newby was being asked to basically run a read/cut play behind reach blocking, I don't think that suits his skill set (at least the one demonstrated so far). How often did we pull guys in front of him in trap situations, for example?

That's my biggest gripe about the run game when I rewatch tape: it's completely unimaginative in terms of disguising what they are doing or getting an extra offensive hat at the point of attack.

Our offense does not stress defenses consistently, really in either the passing or running games.
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I think the problem goes more into the offensive line than the RB group. Gates was a stud and Reeves and Lewis were above average but when I watched games our guards were lucky to be average at best.

 
the guy is barely average, would be 3-4 deep or worse at any other school..........even when AA was here, you could tell this guy was just lunch.

 
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