Running Backs

What happened??
I was thrilled to hear about these very capable backs taking over and it seemed like every run play was akward and destined to fail. It is bad that I don't feel confident that we can pull off a 1 yard gain. I hope they are running drill after drill working on getting more fluid in the backfield. I was thinking people would be shocked how good our RB's were going to be but I was disappointed big time. Steele shouldn't have more yards than the top 2 rbs on the team. Just my thoughts.

I blame the O-Line.

This is the worst offensive line in the last 20 years at ISU.

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Originally Posted by State43

What happened??
I was thrilled to hear about these very capable backs taking over and it seemed like every run play was akward and destined to fail. It is bad that I don't feel confident that we can pull off a 1 yard gain. I hope they are running drill after drill working on getting more fluid in the backfield. I was thinking people would be shocked how good our RB's were going to be but I was disappointed big time. Steele shouldn't have more yards than the top 2 rbs on the team. Just my thoughts.

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I think most of the blame goes to a beat up offensive line. However, our backs are pretty one dimensional. SJ is a shake and go guy, but he is going to have a lot of 2-3 yard runs because he isn't there physically yet. Woody is a horse who is going to have a lot of 2-3 yard runs because that's what he is. He'll get positive yardage but anything over a 15 yard game with him is a steal. Duck or White are backs that aren't natural runners. I think all are serviceable with SJ having the best future as he grows physically.

Poor line play, however, with Hicks coming back, KO getting healthy and newcomers getting comfortable in their roles I think it will improve.

Well I take it that the O-Line (cobbled together with freshman and sub par talent) had enough on their hands "attempting" to shore up pass protection, I doubt running the ball was even considered.

I think the big question I had while leaving the stadium last night was this.....if we are struggling on offense, and our defense has been on the field longer than some of the grass, WHY would we continue to go "Jet up-tempo" and be off the field in 2 minutes with a punt. It seemed to me they should have slowed it down a bit for the benefit of the defense.

If the "up-tempo" was effective against the UNI teams defense then I didn't see it. If it was beneficial for our offense I didn't see it either.

Shontrelle had 27 yards? How are we going to win games with are number one runningback with 27 yrds

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Originally Posted by brianhos

This is the worst offensive line in the last 20 years at ISU.

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We knew it would be bad.. but yeah.. YIKES! Our only hope is that KO and Hicks can make a big difference. Because the backups were terrible.

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Originally Posted by GoClones123

Well I take it that the O-Line (cobbled together with freshman and sub par talent) had enough on their hands "attempting" to shore up pass protection, I doubt running the ball was even considered.

I think the big question I had while leaving the stadium last night was this.....if we are struggling on offense, and our defense has been on the field longer than some of the grass, WHY would we continue to go "Jet up-tempo" and be off the field in 2 minutes with a punt. It seemed to me they should have slowed it down a bit for the benefit of the defense.

If the "up-tempo" was effective against the UNI teams defense then I didn't see it. If it was beneficial for our offense I didn't see it either.

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If we wouldn't have gone "Jet up-tempo" we would not have had the possessions at the end of the game where we finally scored two TD's. The clock would have already expired.

Our defense had a lot of trouble with Rennie. Baylor's R Griffin III will give us fits. On offense, the UNI D-Line got good pressure all night and controlled the line of scrimmage for the most part IMO. Our O-Line did not open many holes. ISU turned the ball over 4 times, UNI only once on the last play of the game. ISU was lucky to win the game. But credit Steele Jantz for making some really clutch plays. And Lenz with an absolutely great catch. Pretty obvious that our two best WR's are Horne and Lenz IMO. And it appears we had 3 starters sitting out for disciplinary reasons. We were lucky. Better to be lucky than good IMO. A win is a win.

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Originally Posted by ajk4st8

We knew it would be bad.. but yeah.. YIKES! Our only hope is that KO and Hicks can make a big difference. Because the backups were terrible.

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This was not he worst O-line ISU has had in the last twenty years. Not even close. Marty Fine and Danny Mac put several far worse lines on the field.

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Originally Posted by cyson

This was not he worst O-line ISU has had in the last twenty years. Not even close. Marty Fine and Danny Mac put several far worse lines on the field.

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This. 2003 and 2006 immediately come to mind.

Labeling this as the worst O-line in X amount of years is jumping the gun a bit. Our top lineman was apparently nowhere near 100% last night and arguably our second best lineman was out on suspension. We're breaking in a new center also and that will take more practices and a few games to really get in sync with the other linemen and the QB.

We know we have some talent on the O-line, let's give them a bit of time to gel.

Definitely more an O-line problem than a running back problem. I believe the O-line will get better but come on...the o-line had all spring and summer to gel. In all the post game interview the players kept saying give all the credit to UNI for playing great and they're a great team...for an FCS team!! It's just so disappointing to have that as your first performance as an o-line.

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Originally Posted by ISUAlum2002

This. 2003 and 2006 immediately come to mind.

Labeling this as the worst O-line in X amount of years is jumping the gun a bit. Our top lineman was apparently nowhere near 100% last night and arguably our second best lineman was out on suspension. We're breaking in a new center also and that will take more practices and a few games to really get in sync with the other linemen and the QB.

We know we have some talent on the O-line, let's give them a bit of time to gel.

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Exaclty. Look how 2003 and 2006 turned out.

This line should get MUCH better with KO in the whole game and with Hicks. By far our two best linemen. Its not so much how we played... but who was playing.

Look at the threads on this board: some say the QB sucks, others say the o-line, and now you blame the RBs. What it the common denominator ... Herman and his offense.

I am not against the spread per se, but it becomes increasingly clear to me that Herman's version and execution of it are no good. The most damning evidence: we've been complaining about exactly the same faults for going on three seasons!

Its about time we stop throwing our players under the bus and instead cast a critical eye at the driver.

Now cue in the mensa-loving Herman apologists and their excuses (doesn't have his personnel in place yet, look at what he did at Rice, what about all the other coaches that have success with the spread, etc etc).

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Originally Posted by State43

What happened??
I was thrilled to hear about these very capable backs taking over and it seemed like every run play was akward and destined to fail. It is bad that I don't feel confident that we can pull off a 1 yard gain. I hope they are running drill after drill working on getting more fluid in the backfield. I was thinking people would be shocked how good our RB's were going to be but I was disappointed big time. Steele shouldn't have more yards than the top 2 rbs on the team. Just my thoughts.

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After last night James White is my #1 RB. Hopefully the O-line takes last night as a damn we sucked and need to be better next week.