Contributor 'This is Our Time to Pound the Rock': EJ Barthel on Emmett Johnson, Competition & Culture

Approved Content Contributor
Run the damn ball guy here. It a shame it has taken 2.5 years and 33 games for Barthel to realize running wins in the B1G.....And this quote: “This is our time,” Barthel said. “Big Ten football. November football. It’s time to pound the rock.” The time to run the ball is game one week one....NW was the first game I can remember truly dedicating the game around the run. Rhule talked about the body blows and rushing for 150 in the 4th pre-season last year. Dana saying he wished he'd done that (run EJ) the past 2 weeks....Tired of the lip service. Show me. And 8 games in with no RB 2. Still waiting for them to show "something different with the RB room" (paraphrase from bye week).
 
lo country said:
Run the damn ball guy here. It a shame it has taken 2.5 years and 33 games for Barthel to realize running wins in the B1G.....And this quote: “This is our time,” Barthel said. “Big Ten football. November football. It’s time to pound the rock.” The time to run the ball is game one week one....NW was the first game I can remember truly dedicating the game around the run. Rhule talked about the body blows and rushing for 150 in the 4th pre-season last year. Dana saying he wished he'd done that (run EJ) the past 2 weeks....Tired of the lip service. Show me. And 8 games in with no RB 2. Still waiting for them to show "something different with the RB room" (paraphrase from bye week).
Click to expand...

In his defense, I doubt Barthel has taken that long to figure it out. But if you replace Barthel with Holgorsen, you're probably on to something (assuming he doesn't revert back to his Air Raid style again).
 
Mavric said:
In his defense, I doubt Barthel has taken that long to figure it out. But if you replace Barthel with Holgorsen, you're probably on to something (assuming he doesn't revert back to his Air Raid style again).
Click to expand...
Your previous stuff about Dana and his running in the past being predicated on dual threat QB or legit RB are plainly true. Spot on with your observation about his history. Hoping he realizes what he has with EJ and has a plan to ground and pound USC Sat nite. Get the win and another huge monkey off our backs by beating a ranked team.
 
My biggest gripe with Holgorsen over the last few games is not going with the higher-percentage stuff on early downs more, no matter where we're at in any given drive.

I don't really care whether it's sideline screens to our wideouts, EJ running out of a two tight end set, or EJ running zone rushing out of the gun. Just try early on in the game for the high-percentage stuff first and then go to the passing game more if it's not working.

Honestly I thought Holgorsen did do this against Northwestern and it worked out pretty well. But I think there's room for improvement in:
  • Setting up for third & short.
  • Having a better power run game in 3rd & short/4th & short.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top