George's Potpourri 4/29 - Spring Running Back Analysis + Stats

It was a good spring camp but the running backs didn't get to show their full stuff like they usually do. The biggest RB news was made when Pete designated freshman Curtis McNeal as the camp MVP. Who would have thought that the smallest RB would get the most carries, shaking off limps, twists and big hits to finish every scrimmage?

It is important to keep perspective when assessing the RB stats. Clearly the primary goal of the spring was to find a #1 QB and that was accomplished. Passing plays were called at a far higher rate than we usually see. In the four scrimmages, we had 359 plays of which only 108 were runs by RBs. There were also 24 receptions by RBs. That reception total would have been higher if Joe McKnight had been able to participate.

Marc Tyler also made a big impression this spring. He got a lot of work, running 27 times for 121 yards and a 4.48-yard average. He looked good doing it and is both elusive and powerful.

Injured

Several RB's could not participate. Joe McKnight began the camp as a non-participant while healing his 4 dislocated toes. He later joined in the drills but without contact. Allen Bradford was out rehabbing after his hip operation. Toward the end of camp, I noticed that he was running some plays in early drills but still no contact. C.J. Gable started camp healthy, but in the second scrimmage hurt his leg and missed most of two weeks. The result was that Stafon Johnson, Marc Tyler and Curtis McNeal saw a lot of action.

Questions answered

We now know that Aaron Corp goes into fall camp as the starting QB. We know that Matt Barkley is a huge talent and probable star of the future. We also know that Curtis McNeal is capable of providing game breaking plays and is durable enough to be an every-down back. Although he appears as elusive as Joe McKnight, we don't yet know whether Curtis is the pass catching threat that Joe is. McNeal didn't get any official receptions all spring, although he did catch one short pass in the Huddle and picked his way through the defense for a TD. That play however, was called back and recorded as a sack of the QB.

One other thing we found out this spring is that next year's defensive line looks awesome. More than any other factor I saw, the DL domination was the reason our RB's didn't show better than they did.

Rushing stats

If you add all the rushing attempts from four scrimmages (108) and divide into the yardage made (504), you'll find a 4.67 average per rush. That's very respectable, especially with the injuries to our OL. As a team last year, we averaged 5.0 per rush. I'm guessing that our coaches felt they knew what we could do in the running department because of the returning line and returning RBs. Therefore, they had the luxury of focusing on the QB derby and to really test the two newest runners, Tyler and McNeal.

In the table below are cumulative running back statistics for all 4 scrimmages (includes the Huddle). A perplexing anomaly is the low productivity of Stafon Johnson, our probable starter at tailback. Were the defensive players keying on him; did he just have bad luck; or did he just have a bad spring? In the first scrimmage on 4/5, Stafon had a 26-yard run. If you back that out of his total, he then made only 30 yards in 23 carries for the rest of camp. That is only 1.3 yards per attempt. We've all seen Stafon play very well in games last year so I expect him to be featured next year even though we will continue to run a tailback-by-committee system. In 2008, Stafon netted 728 yards for a 5.1 average. The curious fact is that the other 5 tailbacks last year all had higher averages. My recollection is that last season Stafon got the call when we only needed a yard or two, so his average probably suffered by being our short-yardage back.

Trivia Quiz: I was trying to judge what yards per carry average should be used as a benchmark to judge running back performance. In the list of "Single Season Rushing Leaders", there is good data to judge performance at the highest level. Of our top 25 season rushing leaders, can you name the one with the highest average per attempt? And, how many of the top five season rushing leaders can you name? The answer can be found below the table at the bottom of this column.

Quiz answer: In 2005, Reggie Bush rushed for 1740 yards with an average of 8.7. Reggie of coarse had LenDale White to handle the short yardage runs so those did not act to bring down his average. He is #6 on the list of season rushing leaders but #1 in average per carry on the list of top 25. Our top 5 "Single Season Rushing Leaders" are: