Rushing Game Irrelevant in Big 12?
2 comments so far
July 3, 2007 by
“Run the ball, stop the run, win the game” is a quote attributed to the NFL’s Marty Schottenheimer that gained some traction among Husker fans. For many years, it seemed like the road to Big 12 supremacy was through having the best rushing offense and best rushing defense. But a look at the Big 12 statistics sort of calls that into question.
Both Colorado (2-6 in conference play) and Kansas (3-5) ranked ahead of Nebraska (6-2) in both rushing offense and rushing defense in 2006. Does this mark the end of an era? Maybe.
By all appearances, it’s harder to run the ball consistently than ever before. In 1997, the Huskers rushed for over 400 yards per game to lead the conference. In 2006, Oklahoma State lead the conference with just over 200 yards per game. Nobody in the Big 12 ran a pure option offense or an offense as good as the 1997 Huskers, but still that’s an awfully steep dropoff.
So what’s going on? College defenses are getting faster, more like pro teams. You don’t see the option in the pros as a regular part of anyone’s offense. That’s because NFL defenses can get outside so fast that they can smother it before it begins. Sure a team like West Virginia is having success with the option. But they’re not playing in the Big 12 either.
Pro coaches will talk about the need to run the ball. Even Tony Dungy (who’s got Peyton Manning and Marvin Harrison at his disposal) loves to run the football. But in the pros 184 yards per game is enough to lead the league in rushing (and that was Atlanta with Michael Vick). The run game is different in the pros. No one is going to get away with running the ball 80% of the time, like Nebraska used to. Instead, it’s used to control the clock, keep defenses honest (and quarterbacks safe), and in short-yardage situations.
If you think of Nebraska’s current offense, the running game is used much the same way. Sure, you can still steamroll teams like Louisiana Tech, Nicholls State, Troy, and Iowa State. But how far will that get you? No, just as in the pros the Big 12 is now a league built on pass efficiency and especially pass efficiency defense. Oklahoma lead the league in pass efficiency defense and Nebraska was second. It’s probably no coincidence that those two teams met in the title game.
Nebraska doesn’t just play in a pro-style offense, it plays in a pro-style conference. No longer is a pass a “trick” play or a desperation move. It’s an essential component to success. Gone are the days where the Huskers could roll up big point totals while the starting quarterback puts up anemic passing numbers (like Crouch’s 8-17 for 69 yards) against #5 Kansas State in 1999 (or most any big game that season). That’s all over.
So while rushing matters, it’s not the only thing that matters. “Martyball” won’t win the Big 12 championship any more than it has the Super Bowl. Lucky for Nebraska fans, the coaches already understand that.
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Gregory Jul 03 07
It's an interesting topic. We witnessed some of the most phenomenal running prowess ever, in Osborne's last 4 years. Most of us also saw that offence get shut down at some point of a season, every single year before the amazing run.
Callahan utilizes a power running game seamlessly within his passing component. If you just watch with an open mind, it's fabulous to watch! We see him run it 3 to 4 times in a row or more, but, we rarely see him pass that many times in a row, short of needing to catch up. About 57% of his plays were runs last year and if a passing deep threat can get established, more big plays could pop up on runs, too!
I'm just really glad that when Solich was replaced, the new Coach brought in a definitive balanced offence, even when you see an almost reversal, across the conference.
It's becomming apparent that Nebraska will have the ability to be really good at both running and passing. Because to me, they were good at both last year. (Which ain't to bad!)
'sa blang thang Jul 04 07
(word up to Gregory!),
I'm not sure I fully appreciate the central point of this article, or maybe it's the timing of it: yo, run heavy offenses died in cfb long before TO had his final say with the triple option, and after that, there has been no run dominant style O in sight! The pass happy thang kinda started with Superior, has been enhanced by guys like Leach, and is now sharing time with the spread option and WCOs of the world.
Ozzie proved before the whole world, that if you have the best and most unified/motivated athletes on the field you could run the ball every single play from now to eternity if your O is making 'pancakes' out of the opposition's D. I think that could still be the case today if, say, USC, with it's 5-stars-4-layers-deep team decided they were just going to run it every play. But in today's world of increasing parity and defenders that are as athletic and fast as the offensive skill players, a run dominant O would be an extremely exceptional situation, and therefore 'not gun'a happen'.
On the other hand, I don't see the 'pass 'til ya drop' teams being completely successful either. How far has T. Tech gone with Leach's 'thang'. That stuff becomes predictable too, if it's all you do.
I think the WCO is the way to go, especially if that remains the primary pro style offense. With a balanced run/pass offense there is just infinite variety in the way you can attack a team and keep them off balance and wear them down; and, require broader skill from them across the board.
Personally I love smash mouth running, breakaway running, and a sophisticated passing attack. It is perhaps the most difficult style of O to excell at since it requires great skill in every facet of offensive fb: run blocking, pass blocking, dink and dunk and stretching the field, smash mouth/misdirection/breakaway running(to reiterate the latter).
Also, I personally prefer the WCO style QB who is the quintessential passing/mobile field general, as opposed to the spread option or triple option QB who is mainly a extra(or primary) RB.
I appreciate Vince Young's, Pat White's, and Micheal Vick's running prowess, but I hate an offense that relies significantly on yardage that comes from what are essentially 'broken' plays(that is, when the QB takes off after sending everybody downfield).