Who will have the most rushing yards on Saturday?

[The Dude]

The quandary for the Huskies Defense is how to stop Nebraska's ground game. They lost two key LBs last year, Foster and Aiyewa, as well as #2 tackler Nate Williams. Foster led the Huskies in tackles and finished 2010 #2 in the nation in total tackles. Foster and Aiyewa were their top two sack guys last year, Foster and Williams were their top two tacklers overall (Aiyewa was #4), and Aiyewa and Foster were #1 and #2 on the team in tackles for loss.

Those are three huge losses on a defense that ranked 97th against the run last year. The two teams they've played so far, Hawaii and Eastern Washington, don't feature the run as part of their arsenal.

The biggest concern is the Washington secondary, which has gotten torched by two weak teams to the tune of 800+ yards of offense through the air in two games. They will have to focus on our wideouts or die via the long pass, and if they cheat to stop the run, the perimeter opens up, and they could get run out of the stadium.

I could see Nebraska racking up yards all over the field on this team. There is potential here for a significant offensive breakout.

While those losses on their defense are true, you have consider our Oline as well. Not sure if I'm in the minority here or what, but I'd say our lines has regressed from last year if anything. We haven't shown the ability to pound up the middle on Chattanooga or FSU. Of course that's not to say UW can stop the run just like Texas did (last year) just because they want to. I certainly hope we see more 4-3 looks and work to shut down the run, it would be a good primer for B1G play. Plus I get sad every time Blatchford takes the field chuckleshuffle

I'm not going to say our line is good, because they're not. But to be fair, we've had trouble running up the middle against stacked boxes so far. It's just not schematically plausible to block 8 or 9 guys with 6 or 7 blockers. Even against inferior talent. When we aired it out against Fresno, they backed off and Rex had a little room to wiggle. That being said, the line does need to step it up in a huge way.

EDIT: whoops, knapp beat me to it.

 

[Lil' Red]

I'll go with Polk. Martinez has a decent shot at it but I think we may air it out more this game. The OLine needs to step up for Burkhead to have a good game.

 

[knapplc]

We have faced two teams that completely stacked the box on us. And from what I have seen thus far, I see no reason any of the remaining teams on our schedule will do any different. I guess we may never know the talent of the offensive line huh? What ever happened to the HB Screen and WR screen?

That is the $25,000 Question. Without getting into great detail, I'll just say that I've watched three different practices. I've seen plays in each of those practices that we have not run in a game yet. I do not know why we haven't run these plays, and why we keep pounding our head against the wall on a nine-man box, or what real advantage the coaches hope to gain by not running anything other than the same dozen-ish plays.

I hope they know what they're doing, that they're keeping things tight to the vest for a reason, and that we're going to unleash things against upcoming opponents that they're not ready for. But I don't know if that's the case. Maybe we're just not good enough at those plays to run them. We just don't know yet.

 

[True2tRA]

Let's hope things open up a bit more when the level of competition makes us feel like we need to do so. I certainly would hope this team has more to go to than what we've seen. This Washington game could be the first time this team is forced into doing a bit more. Of course, you could say Fresno nearly pushed us to the brink and we didn't really open a new chapter in the playbook with them. I think like you said, there is just a lot we don't know yet. I sure do love watching and learning though.

 

[Haspula]

T-magic. 120 rush yards 280 pass yard

 

[GMoose]

Valid points all around. I hope after last week we make more of a point to get the ball to the young receivers, they've looked the best so far. FWIW Turner told me that they felt "disrespected" by the lack of the attention the FSU defense gave them. When they got through to the coaches in the second half we opened up, got them the ball, and took over the second half. And there's no way BK has 3 bad games in a row. For those reason, I hope we spread the ball to different personnel, so Martinez, Burkhead, and Abdullah all run in the 50-60 yard range, and the receivers show up big time. That's why Polk will be the leading rusher for the game, but NU will be the leader rusher as a team.

 

[bshirt]

I hope Washington loads up to stop Martinez. That will be a mistake they will pay for from the line of scrimmage to the goal line.

not sure if TM can make them pay......hope so. it's going to happen sometime this season, just like Texas made TM try to beat them with his arm.....receivers better be up for it too!

Ouch!!

Don't let the enemy know....... :cop:

 

[307husker]

I think that's a very valid point Moose. The interesting question is which TEAM will have a higher rushing total. If NU spreads the ball around and each guy (of the 3-4 options) has 70-100 yards, I'd say that's a win vs. one player having 100+.

Having said that, Martinez gets such big chunks of yards at a time that it would be difficult to bet against him. That, and the fact that he touches the ball on EVERY play...

 

[UDub]

Voted for Polk simply because he is their only running threat and will be the staple of their offense this Saturday. He's not better than any of our guys, but not one of our players will be rushing the ball as much as Polk will be, IMO.

Have to completely disagree with that statement that I highlighted in bold. Polk is by far more talented than Martinez or Burkhead running the football and is a lock to be playing on Sundays. Burkhead and Martinez will be lucky to get drafted at all. Polk is the #3 rated RB currently while Burkhead is #17. Source: http://www.nfldraftscout.com/ratings/profilexnews.php?pyid=89516&draftyear=2013&genpos=RB

http://www.nfldraftscout.com/ratings/profilexnews.php?pyid=84016&draftyear=2013&genpos=RB

 

[Scarlet Overkill]

Once again, NFL has 0 bearing on this game. NONE, NADA, BUPKISS. I'm not sure why you can't understand such a simple concept.

 

[Nhusker23]

Once again, NFL has 0 bearing on this game. NONE, NADA, BUPKISS. I'm not sure why you can't understand such a simple concept.

+1. Hate people that talk about the NFL and college football like they're closely related.

 

[UDub]

Once again, NFL has 0 bearing on this game. NONE, NADA, BUPKISS. I'm not sure why you can't understand such a simple concept.

+1. Hate people that talk about the NFL and college football like they're closely related.

Because they are closely related? Every single college football players goal is to make it to the NFL. That's why talent is rated on an NFL basis.

 

[knapplc]

Have to completely disagree with that statement that I highlighted in bold. Polk is by far more talented than Martinez or Burkhead running the football and is a lock to be playing on Sundays. Burkhead and Martinez will be lucky to get drafted at all. Polk is the #3 rated RB currently while Burkhead is #17. Source: http://www.nfldraftscout.com/ratings/profilexnews.php?pyid=89516&draftyear=2013&genpos=RB

http://www.nfldraftscout.com/ratings/profilexnews.php?pyid=84016&draftyear=2013&genpos=RB

You should spend more time watching college football and less time worrying about the draft. None of your NFL players can help you Saturday, so referencing the NFL is completely meaningless.

Last year, when he was a Freshman Martinez averaged 5.96 yards per carry and scored 12 TDs.

Last year, when he was a Sophomore, Polk averaged 5.44 YPC and scored 9 TDs.

This year, as a Junior, Polk is averaging 5.16 YPC and has scored a TD.

Martinez, on the other hand, is averaging 8.85 YPC and has scored five TDs.

Burkhead is just behind Polk at 5.00 YPC, and even he has scored 3 TDs - and our fans are griping that we're not seeing enough of him.

You guys have an equivalent to Burkhead (Polk). You have NOTHING comparable to Martinez, and it's not even close.

 

[UDub]

Have to completely disagree with that statement that I highlighted in bold. Polk is by far more talented than Martinez or Burkhead running the football and is a lock to be playing on Sundays. Burkhead and Martinez will be lucky to get drafted at all. Polk is the #3 rated RB currently while Burkhead is #17. Source: http://www.nfldraftscout.com/ratings/profilexnews.php?pyid=89516&draftyear=2013&genpos=RB

http://www.nfldraftscout.com/ratings/profilexnews.php?pyid=84016&draftyear=2013&genpos=RB

You should spend more time watching college football and less time worrying about the draft. None of your NFL players can help you Saturday, so referencing the NFL is completely meaningless.

Last year, when he was a Freshman Martinez averaged 5.96 yards per carry and scored 12 TDs.

Last year, when he was a Sophomore, Polk averaged 5.44 YPC and scored 9 TDs.

This year, as a Junior, Polk is averaging 5.16 YPC and has scored a TD.

Martinez, on the other hand, is averaging 8.85 YPC and has scored five TDs.

Burkhead is just behind Polk at 5.00 YPC, and even he has scored 3 TDs - and our fans are griping that we're not seeing enough of him.

You guys have an equivalent to Burkhead (Polk). You have NOTHING comparable to Martinez, and it's not even close.

No we don't have a player like Martinez and I'm glad. I wouldn't want a player on my team that turns the ball over 2-3 times a game.

 

[knapplc]

Have to completely disagree with that statement that I highlighted in bold. Polk is by far more talented than Martinez or Burkhead running the football and is a lock to be playing on Sundays. Burkhead and Martinez will be lucky to get drafted at all. Polk is the #3 rated RB currently while Burkhead is #17. Source: http://www.nfldraftscout.com/ratings/profilexnews.php?pyid=89516&draftyear=2013&genpos=RB

http://www.nfldraftscout.com/ratings/profilexnews.php?pyid=84016&draftyear=2013&genpos=RB

You should spend more time watching college football and less time worrying about the draft. None of your NFL players can help you Saturday, so referencing the NFL is completely meaningless.

Last year, when he was a Freshman Martinez averaged 5.96 yards per carry and scored 12 TDs.

Last year, when he was a Sophomore, Polk averaged 5.44 YPC and scored 9 TDs.

This year, as a Junior, Polk is averaging 5.16 YPC and has scored a TD.

Martinez, on the other hand, is averaging 8.85 YPC and has scored five TDs.

Burkhead is just behind Polk at 5.00 YPC, and even he has scored 3 TDs - and our fans are griping that we're not seeing enough of him.

You guys have an equivalent to Burkhead (Polk). You have NOTHING comparable to Martinez, and it's not even close.

No we don't have a player like Martinez and I'm glad. I wouldn't want a player on my team that turns the ball over 2-3 times a game.

That's funny - I thought we were talking about which team had the best rushers. Now that you've been shown up you try to change the subject to turnovers? That's a whiff, my friend.