'14 leading rusher

[msstate7]

Who you guys think? Dak is the safe bet, but I really hope it's a rb

[BulldogBear]

If it's JR, then we had an awesome year! I'm going with JR

[starkvegasdawg]

I'm going to go out on a limb and say it will be Shumpert. Dak and JRob are the safe bets which is why I am choosing differently. I think Robinson will be the starter and pound it and wear defenses out and Shump can do the same thing but Shump seems to have a little more break away speed and I think will get enough carries to lead the team in yardage by season's end. If it is Dak then I think something went wrong this season offensively. I don't care how good he is he does not need to be the leading rusher. He needs to get just enough yards to keep the defenses honest. If he becomes the feature back then he is opening himself up to injury and I think that means our RB's are not as effective as we think they will be. I hope Dak only averages around 50 yards a game.

[BulldogBear]

I'm going to go out on a limb and say it will be Shumpert. Dak and JRob are the safe bets which is why I am choosing differently. I think Robinson will be the starter and pound it and wear defenses out and Shump can do the same thing but Shump seems to have a little more break away speed and I think will get enough carries to lead the team in yardage by season's end. If it is Dak then I think something went wrong this season offensively. I don't care how good he is he does not need to be the leading rusher. He needs to get just enough yards to keep the defenses honest. If he becomes the feature back then he is opening himself up to injury and I think that means our RB's are not as effective as we think they will be. I hope Dak only averages around 50 yards a game.

50 yards and 2 TDs!!!

[MadisonDawg]

Any chance we see A. Williams at all this year, or will he likely red-shirt? Saw a Q&A he had with Paul last week, and he said he was around 210lbs and wanted to gain 10 more before the season.

[thedawg]

Im betting on Dak as far as yardage. I hope I am wrong because we need to keep him healthy. I will go out on a limb and say I bet Nick Griffin leads us in touchdowns or at least leads the running backs. I think he has a monster year for us a short yardage back. I just feel like he is all the way back from injury.

[38843dawg]

Any chance we see A. Williams at all this year, or will he likely red-shirt? Saw a Q&A he had with Paul last week, and he said he was around 210lbs and wanted to gain 10 more before the season.

I would hope Williams redshirts this year. With our group of running backs already there it would only make sense to have him redshirt to learn the playbook and get where he needs to be strength-wise. Only way I see him making the field this year is if we have some unfortunate injuries.

[chainedup_Dawg]

Nick 17'n Griffin! I don't really know how much he will be used but I hope like hell he comes out this year and has the type of season we all thought he would when he signed his LOI. I can't remember wanting a good season more for any other player. After all he's been through it would be a perfect way to go out.

[msstate7]

Nick 17'n Griffin! I don't really know how much he will be used but I hope like hell he comes out this year and has the type of season we all thought he would when he signed his LOI. I can't remember wanting a good season more for any other player. After all he's been through it would be a perfect way to go out.

He deserves a good season. Hope he gets it

[Coach34]

Our leading rusher will be Dakota Prescott. He will rush for 800-900 yards. We will have a RB by committee again in 2014- which will keep any of them from challenging Prescott.

Williams is not going to RS. He is going to get 30-35 carries just like Shump did this past year

[dogshiek]

Our leading rusher will be Dakota Prescott. He will rush for 800-900 yards. We will have a RB by committee again in 2014- which will keep any of them from challenging Prescott.

Williams is not going to RS. He is going to get 30-35 carries just like Shump did this past year

I agree with the coach. Too many players are going get carries for anybody but Dak to be the rushing leader.

[msstate7]

Our leading rusher will be Dakota Prescott. He will rush for 800-900 yards. We will have a RB by committee again in 2014- which will keep any of them from challenging Prescott.

Williams is not going to RS. He is going to get 30-35 carries just like Shump did this past year

I really hope that we can run the rb's and throw effectively enough to not have to run dak against lesser competition. I'd rather save dak's rushes for auburn, lsu, bama, etc

[dogshiek]

Heavens will probably run up the middle 15 - 20 times a game!

[BeastMan]

Our leading rusher will be Dakota Prescott. He will rush for 800-900 yards. We will have a RB by committee again in 2014- which will keep any of them from challenging Prescott.

Williams is not going to RS. He is going to get 30-35 carries just like Shump did this past year


This shouldn't surprise anyone. Go back and look at UF's RBs when Mullen was the HC. He's always preferred a RB rotation. I feel pretty confident that Boobie Dixon was the most used feature RB in Mullen's coaching career.

[BulldogBear]

Heavens will probably run up the middle 15 - 20 times a game!

no. please. no.

[Johnson85]

I think Robinson will be the starter and pound it and wear defenses out and Shump can do the same thing but Shump seems to have a little more break away speed and I think will get enough carries to lead the team in yardage by season's end. If it is Dak then I think something went wrong this season offensively. I don't care how good he is he does not need to be the leading rusher. He needs to get just enough yards to keep the defenses honest. If he becomes the feature back then he is opening himself up to injury and I think that means our RB's are not as effective as we think they will be. I hope Dak only averages around 50 yards a game.

I would think both these statements are backwards. Robinson seems like he has more breakaway speed than Shumphert. And I think Dak being the leading rusher will most likley indicate that Griffin is healthy, and Shumpert was effective. I think if Robinson is the leading rusher, it will indicate that Dak got hurt or that Griffin wasn't back and Shumpert wasn't as good as expected. There is a scenario where Robinson is such a beast that he is used like Dixon and that also lets us run Dak as little as possible until the SEC games, but I would think that's the less likely scenario.

[Jack Lambert]

I'm going to go out on a limb and say it will be Shumpert. Dak and JRob are the safe bets which is why I am choosing differently. I think Robinson will be the starter and pound it and wear defenses out and Shump can do the same thing but Shump seems to have a little more break away speed and I think will get enough carries to lead the team in yardage by season's end. If it is Dak then I think something went wrong this season offensively. I don't care how good he is he does not need to be the leading rusher. He needs to get just enough yards to keep the defenses honest. If he becomes the feature back then he is opening himself up to injury and I think that means our RB's are not as effective as we think they will be. I hope Dak only averages around 50 yards a game.

To be honest I have not seen that break away speed yet. Not that I think he doesn't have it. The only times I have seen him run the ball was up the middle running over people.

[Jack Lambert]

Our leading rusher will be Dakota Prescott. He will rush for 800-900 yards. We will have a RB by committee again in 2014- which will keep any of them from challenging Prescott.

Williams is not going to RS. He is going to get 30-35 carries just like Shump did this past year

With the NFL rookie contracts and every one leaving after their JR year, I think red shirting is going to go away sooner or later

[Pollodawg]

Dak. Sometimes the obvious choice is the correct choice. And I agree about Shump. One of the knocks on him is that he hasn't displayed any breakaway speed as of yet.

[thf24]

Robinson seems like he has more breakaway speed than Shumphert.

This is correct, no question.

[dawgs]

With the NFL rookie contracts and every one leaving after their JR year, I think red shirting is going to go away sooner or later

A large majority of players don't leave early. If I'm a RB especially, it's probably smart in the long run to redshirt, because you still have 2 full seasons minimum to prove yourself AND you save yourself a season of hits for the NFL. The lifespan of an" RB in the nfl is short, and the less carries you have when you hit the league and start getting paid the better IMO. That way you can maximize your effective carries while collecting a check instead of a scholarship (which you are getting whether carrying it 30 times/game or 5 times/game or redshirting).

[War Machine Dawg]

To be honest I have not seen that break away speed yet. Not that I think he doesn't have it. The only times I have seen him run the ball was up the middle running over people.

I'll be straight: I don't think Shump has the breakaway speed. Or if he does, he certainly hasn't shown any indication of it. The big knock on him for me is that he looks for contact too much. He'd rather try to truck a LB than "run to space." That's a good way to stay hurt at this level of football. But if he could develop a little more speed and learn to be smart about when to initiate contact, Shump would probably be the best pure RB on the team in terms of just carrying the ball.

[Saltydog]

a power guy. JRob is both power and speed. I'm comfortable with both however. I think Griffin is prolly faster than Shump. Shump's a 4.6+ guy. He's not gonna blind you with his speed.

[dogshiek]

Shump may not have blinding speed, but his size and power are going to make defenses get tired of tackling him. He'll them out!

[smootness]

I think Shumpert is a sub-4.6 guy, but he definitely doesn't have the top-end speed Robinson does. I'm not sure why people think Robinson is a big plodder; he can definitely scoot.

And with that said, my money is on Robinson to be the leading rusher. For all the talk we do about Mullen not using Perkins right, in his history, the primary times he's used more of a RB-by-committee, it was years in which we didn't have a guy he felt comfortable could tote it 25-30 times if need be. When he's had those guys, he gives them the ball and keeps giving it to them.

My guess is that he sees Robinson this way, so we'll see Robinson get a large majority of the RB carries and go for 1,000+. Dixon was a complete workhorse, then Ballard got a lion's share of the carries for 2 years. Mullen doesn't have a long history of not establishing a clear #1 back.

[BulldogBear]

I'd like to see JR get 50%, Shumpert 20-25%, Dak 15-20%, and Team 10%

If it works out that way, we probably will have had a good year on the ground

[smootness]

I'd like to see JR get 50%, Shumpert 20-25%, Dak 15-20%, and Team 10%

If it works out that way, we probably will have had a good year on the ground

I'd swap Dak and Shumpert's percentages, and I'd like to see Griffin pick up all the others. Dak is too effective on the ground to use him that little, IMO.

We're only going to be as good as we're capable of being if Dak is allowed to be a major force in the running game.

[BulldogBear]

I'd swap Dak and Shumpert's percentages, and I'd like to see Griffin pick up all the others. Dak is too effective on the ground to use him that little, IMO.

We're only going to be as good as we're capable of being if Dak is allowed to be a major force in the running game.

I'm thinking he gets most of those yards in bigger games, hoping we don't need the duel threat that much against the likes of UTM, USM, USA, UAB, Ky. That's why I don't have Dak higher. Duel threat QB is a must in the SEC if you're not one of the behemoths

[Coach34]

What ya'll have got to realize are two things:

1. We have a numbers advantage when running the QB. So it's advantageous for us to run the QB more than the TB- if the QB can handle the running.

2. We have just as many running plays for the QB in our system as we do the TB's.

Our offense is based around the QB being a primary rusher. And when you have a RB rotation- u take away their chance to best him. Look at Relf and Ballard. Ballard outrushed him because he got the majority of carries at RB. Thats the only reason. And thats what it will take for JRob to outrush Prescott.

[Coach34]

Dakota is going to get 140-150 carries in 2014

[smootness]

What ya'll have got to realize are two things:

1. We have a numbers advantage when running the QB. So it's advantageous for us to run the QB more than the TB- if the QB can handle the running.

2. We have just as many running plays for the QB in our system as we do the TB's.

Our offense is based around the QB being a primary rusher. And when you have a RB rotation- u take away their chance to best him. Look at Relf and Ballard. Ballard outrushed him because he got the majority of carries at RB. Thats the only reason. And thats what it will take for JRob to outrush Prescott.

I agree with all of this. I just think Robinson will carry most of the load.

[chef dixon]

Robinson is the ONLY player on our team that has shown "break away" speed.

[Dawg61]

Dakota is going to get 140-150 carries in 2014

Disagree. Mullen will save him in the easier games or he should if he's smart. If we are running Dak more than 10 times a game in a 12 game season we'll be seeing Williams more than all of us care to this season. Robinson will get the most carries and lead the team in rushing. Robinson gets 1100 yards this year.

[Coach34]

Disagree. Mullen will save him in the easier games or he should if he's smart. If we are running Dak more than 10 times a game in a 12 game season we'll be seeing Williams more than all of us care to this season. Robinson will get the most carries and lead the team in rushing. Robinson gets 1100 yards this year.

Dakota had 134 carries in what amounted to 8 games played last year

Any mobile QB Mullen has is going to average 13-14 carries- 14 x 12 = 168 carries

Even if he doesnt run much OOC- he'll still get 7-8 carries in those games at mimimum. And there will be big games where he gets 18-20 carries. I'll be shocked if he doesnt get 150 carries

[Dawg61]

Williams is a nice player so this is no knock on him but not having Tyler as another option should mean the increased importance of keeping Dak healthy and in the game. We are a better offense when Dak runs a lot but we are a much better team when Dak is healthy. Dak in the game trumps Dak running a bunch. Dak's carries should get limited to protect him. We simply can not afford to have him hurt.

[Schultzy]

I agree with all of this. I just think Robinson will carry most of the load.

I hope so too. Josh Robinson is so under rated and one of the top ten backs in the country In my opinion.

[blacklistedbully]

Nick Marshall had 172 carries in 13 games. Tre Mason had 317 in 14 games. I would guess both Dak & Marshall will pass a little more this year. I believe our RB carries will be more evenly distributed than Auburn's were, with JRob getting the most, but Shump & Griffin getting their share. Of course, this is all barring injury to any of said players.

If I had to guess, I'd say JRob leading in rush attempts and rushing narrowly over Dak, with Shump getting 3rd-most and Griffin close behind.

[mic]

Cam had 264 rush attempts and 280 pass attempts in 14 games..
Manziel had 201 rushed his FR year..

Dak will have very similar numbers in rush attempts...

[mic]

Dakota is going to get 140-150 carries in 2014

he will have 150+

[drunkernhelldawg]

I think more like 75-100 carries for Dak, 6-10 per game. Hopefully fewer. That's a lot for a quarterback. The fewer carries he has, the better shape the whole 11 is in for the war that's also known as a 4 quarter football game. To me, running more than ten times in a game means that our protection is not working. Also, teams will adjust and earn chances to stop him if we try to RG3/Michael Vick him on every play. We've got to have decent blocking, running backs that carry the ball 15 plus times a game for positive yards, and receivers who find open spots and communicate with their quarterback.
I'll put my point of view this way; I want our first play of the season to be 3 plus yards between the tackles by a running back. Even with a great quarterback, winning the line of scrimmage is the key to winning the game.

[Coach34]

I. The fewer carries he has, the better shape the whole 11 is in for the war that's also known as a 4 quarter football game. To me, running more than ten times in a game means that our protection is not working.

You guys have to change your mindset on QB's- Mullen's offense is built on the QB running the football.

Tim Tebow rushes as starting QB:

2007- 210 carries
2008- 176 carries- and they had Percy Harvin, Chris Rainey, and Jeff Demps
2009- 217 carries- and they had Harvin, Demps, and Gillislee

We are going to use Dakota the same way

[Barking 13]

I think more like 75-100 carries for Dak, 6-10 per game. Hopefully fewer. That's a lot for a quarterback. The fewer carries he has, the better shape the whole 11 is in for the war that's also known as a 4 quarter football game. To me, running more than ten times in a game means that our protection is not working. Also, teams will adjust and earn chances to stop him if we try to RG3/Michael Vick him on every play. We've got to have decent blocking, running backs that carry the ball 15 plus times a game for positive yards, and receivers who find open spots and communicate with their quarterback.
I'll put my point of view this way; I want our first play of the season to be 3 plus yards between the tackles by a running back. Even with a great quarterback, winning the line of scrimmage is the key to winning the game.

This... all season

[Pollodawg]

You guys have to change your mindset on QB's- Mullen's offense is built on the QB running the football.

Tim Tebow rushes as starting QB:

2007- 210 carries
2008- 176 carries- and they had Percy Harvin, Chris Rainey, and Jeff Demps
2009- 217 carries- and they had Harvin, Demps, and Gillislee

We are going to use Dakota the same way

I see this as well. What would Tebow have been without his legs? He had an average arm. His legs were what made that offense work, and Dak's legs will be what makes ours work.

[drunkernhelldawg]

You guys have to change your mindset on QB's- Mullen's offense is built on the QB running the football.

Tim Tebow rushes as starting QB:

2007- 210 carries
2008- 176 carries- and they had Percy Harvin, Chris Rainey, and Jeff Demps
2009- 217 carries- and they had Harvin, Demps, and Gillislee

We are going to use Dakota the same way

You make a good point about Tebow/Mullen and it definitely makes sense by the numbers. I go by by feel a lot, and I have a feeling that things aren't going to look exactly how it seems they would look. Dak can definitely break some big plays with his legs. It's also that it often takes the ability to grind to finish strong late in the games, seems to me.

[ChevChelios]

The replies in this thread has officially blown my mind... if you dont think dak will get close to half the carries per game you just dont have a clue.

[Dawg61]

The replies in this thread has officially blown my mind... if you dont think dak will get close to half the carries per game you just dont have a clue.

And expecting Dak to get half the carries is insane. There was a 2-3 week timeframe last year where Dak's football career was in jeopardy and y'all want to run him half the time? Stupid

[Coach34]

And expecting Dak to get half the carries is insane. There was a 2-3 week timeframe last year where Dak's football career was in jeopardy and y'all want to run him half the time? Stupid

And what happened after that big injury scare?

We ran Prescott 9 times in basically 1Q vs OM....and then he had 14 carries in 3 Quarters in a blowout vs Rice

Its what our offense is based on- and its what we are going to do

[thedawg]

Dak is our best player... we certainly dont want him to get hurt but if running him helps us win games we are going to run him... We have real depth behind him too so while it would hurt us for sure but it wouldnt end our season.

[smootness]

You guys have to change your mindset on QB's- Mullen's offense is built on the QB running the football.

Tim Tebow rushes as starting QB:

2007- 210 carries
2008- 176 carries- and they had Percy Harvin, Chris Rainey, and Jeff Demps
2009- 217 carries- and they had Harvin, Demps, and Gillislee

We are going to use Dakota the same way

Yep. The thought that Dak will have fewer than 100 carries is absurd. And sure, we want Dak healthy. But his ability to run is what makes him so effective and is what really makes our offense go. Why would we make our offense less effective just to try to prevent injury (and BTW, QBs get hurt just as often standing in the pocket).

It would be like telling your top sprinter not to run as hard as he can in order to avoid a hamstring pull, and having him finish 4th or 5th instead of 1st.

Sure, if Dak goes down, it will hurt a ton. But if we go ahead and handcuff ourselves by telling him not to run, we won't be as good a team. By allowing him to run, our ceiling as a team is much higher. Our floor may be lower because of the increased risk of injury, but you have to go for it. And last year's injury was a fluke, it's not something that means he's more susceptible now.

[CadaverDawg]

Dak will lead us in rushing, and he will have to for our offense to live up to potential...period. This isn't a traditional offense..we run the QB A LOT

[thf24]

You guys have to change your mindset on QB's- Mullen's offense is built on the QB running the football.

Tim Tebow rushes as starting QB:

2007- 210 carries
2008- 176 carries- and they had Percy Harvin, Chris Rainey, and Jeff Demps
2009- 217 carries- and they had Harvin, Demps, and Gillislee

We are going to use Dakota the same way

Tebow was also much more durable than Dak has proved to be thus far, and, in my opinion, not as good of a passer as of about midseason last year. If Dak is still at all lacking in the passing game, then yeah, we should run him that much, but if he's able to throw as well come August as his progression thus far suggests he should, then I say let him sling it and lower his chance of injury. I know our identity has to be big, physical, power running for success, but I've never liked the idea of being run heavy (or, in college, pass heavy, for that matter) when you don't have to. To me it's like handicapping yourself, and it makes it much easier for a good defense to gameplan and shut you down. If Dak is up to it, I'd like our run-pass ratio to be about 55-45, with the runs being split between Dak-everyone else 20-35; maybe even 15-40. Those numbers would keep us balanced, keep the opposing defense on their heels, and give Dak a much better chance of staying healthy.

[Pollodawg]

And what happened after that big injury scare?

We ran Prescott 9 times in basically 1Q vs OM....and then he had 14 carries in 3 Quarters in a blowout vs Rice

Its what our offense is based on- and its what we are going to do


That type of injury was a one-in-a-million fluke anyway.

[War Machine Dawg]

Yep. The thought that Dak will have fewer than 100 carries is absurd. And sure, we want Dak healthy. But his ability to run is what makes him so effective and is what really makes our offense go. Why would we make our offense less effective just to try to prevent injury (and BTW, QBs get hurt just as often standing in the pocket).

It would be like telling your top sprinter not to run as hard as he can in order to avoid a hamstring pull, and having him finish 4th or 5th instead of 1st.

Sure, if Dak goes down, it will hurt a ton. But if we go ahead and handcuff ourselves by telling him not to run, we won't be as good a team. By allowing him to run, our ceiling as a team is much higher. Our floor may be lower because of the increased risk of injury, but you have to go for it. And last year's injury was a fluke, it's not something that means he's more susceptible now.

This all day. It blows my mind how few of our fans understand our offense, the way the QB position is changing, and are scared to death of an "injury" when Dak's injury was a total fluke in the first place. Plus, based on everything I've seen from Williams, I'm very, very comfortable with him playing if we don't have Dak for 2-3 games. A wise man once said "You play to win the game!" Us playing to win means running Dak. We tried the whole QB who doesn't run thing with TR and our offense was abysmal. Now we've got the guy who can do it all and open up our entire playbook, but some of our fans want to handicap him and our offense by forcing him to stay in the pocket. Only our fans could be so ridiculously stupid. Hell, forcing Dak to stay in the pocket sounds like something Crxxms would have done.

[Pollodawg]

This all day. It blows my mind how few of our fans understand our offense, the way the QB position is changing, and are scared to death of an "injury" when Dak's injury was a total fluke in the first place. Plus, based on everything I've seen from Williams, I'm very, very comfortable with him playing if we don't have Dak for 2-3 games. A wise man once said "You play to win the game!" Us playing to win means running Dak. We tried the whole QB who doesn't run thing with TR and our offense was abysmal. Now we've got the guy who can do it all and open up our entire playbook, but some of our fans want to handicap him and our offense by forcing him to stay in the pocket. Only our fans could be so ridiculously stupid. Hell, forcing Dak to stay in the pocket sounds like something Crxxms would have done.

Yep. People want to shit a brick if Dak doesn't throw for three thousand yards. Piss on that. Are we winning ball games? The argument for Russell over Dak was always that Tyler set all of those records. Again, yep, and we got our brains beaten in every time we played anybody decent. We are not, are not and will never be, a finesse, drop-back-and pass forty times a game type of team. I'm sorry. If people want that, go watch some team out west somewhere. Mullen will always be a run -first, run the QB first type of guy.

We are at our very best as a team when we can pound, throw the short passes, and eat yards and clock to the score. The D plays better when its rested, and our O moves better when we can go on sustained drives on the ground.

[drunkernhelldawg]

This all day. It blows my mind how few of our fans understand our offense, the way the QB position is changing, and are scared to death of an "injury" when Dak's injury was a total fluke in the first place. Plus, based on everything I've seen from Williams, I'm very, very comfortable with him playing if we don't have Dak for 2-3 games. A wise man once said "You play to win the game!" Us playing to win means running Dak. We tried the whole QB who doesn't run thing with TR and our offense was abysmal. Now we've got the guy who can do it all and open up our entire playbook, but some of our fans want to handicap him and our offense by forcing him to stay in the pocket. Only our fans could be so ridiculously stupid. Hell, forcing Dak to stay in the pocket sounds like something Crxxms would have done.

I sure don't see Dak as a pocket passer. I just think a more balanced approach gives us a better chance to win. First, I think defenses are getting a lot better at stopping a run first quarterback. Second, I think that games are decided in the fourth quarter, and the more balanced approach gives us more options and does not allow the defense to key on just a few predominant plays. My opinion has nothing to do with fear of injury. Injury can happen on any kind of play. Dak is not made of glass. Run first will give us some sensational plays early in games. I just don't think it will work for us through four quarters. Whatever we do do, however, I'll be cheering for it to work.

[Dawg61]

Not saying we shouldn't run the **** out of Dak in our top 6 games. It's the other 6 I'm saying we shouldn't. No reason to run him 20 times in a game we'll win even if he runs it zero times.

[smootness]

I sure don't see Dak as a pocket passer. I just think a more balanced approach gives us a better chance to win. First, I think defenses are getting a lot better at stopping a run first quarterback. Second, I think that games are decided in the fourth quarter, and the more balanced approach gives us more options and does not allow the defense to key on just a few predominant plays. My opinion has nothing to do with fear of injury. Injury can happen on any kind of play. Dak is not made of glass. Run first will give us some sensational plays early in games. I just don't think it will work for us through four quarters. Whatever we do do, however, I'll be cheering for it to work.

First, we do run a balanced offense with Dak in the game. He was still throwing the ball plenty, far more than we ever did with Relf. We just also want a guy like Dak, who is so effective running the ball, to run it a good bit...because it works.

Second, I don't see a whole lot of defenses getting better at stopping a run-first QB. Auburn reached the national title game doing it. Manziel torched everybody, including Alabama, two years in a row. Mariota is running all over teams, etc. And we've seen what Dak can do? Why would we tell him to stop running, making our offense less effective automatically, before it's been proven that him running is less effective? Until teams start stopping Dak on the ground, keep running him. So far, they haven't been able to do it.

I would not call our offense with Dak at the helm 'run-first'. It is definitely a balanced approach. It's just that when we do run, it is a good bit of Dak. And I'm totally fine with that.

[smootness]

Not saying we shouldn't run the **** out of Dak in our top 6 games. It's the other 6 I'm saying we shouldn't. No reason to run him 20 times in a game we'll win even if he runs it zero times.

I'm fine with this. If he throws 30 times against UT-Martin and doesn't run at all, I'm fine with that.

[RougeDawg]

One thing all of you are forgetting, is Dak having a full spring and summer as the true #1 guy. Last year we had an identity crisis of a pro set offense combined with a spread option offense. We tried to morph nth into one offense and we were all over the map. This year we will be a spread option attack only. We will have had an entire spring and summer of prepping for multiple back sets with various motions and option reads. Last year we spent half of our off season prepping for each type of offense and it set us back. It's no coincidence that our offense started clicking in the 2nd half of our season, after TR went down and we strictly focuses on Dak and Damien at QB. And that's the reason Damien came in as a true freshman and played so well. The offense was no longer in an identity crisis, and a dial threat QB was much more successful because of it.

[engie]

Dak passed twice for every time he ran last year... literally within 1 throw of an exact 2 to 1 ratio. That was a higher pass-to-run ratio last year than Tebow had in his career -- by a mile.

Tebow - 298 pass, 196 rush(60% pass, 40% run)
350 pass, 210 rush(62.5% pass, 37.5% run)
314 pass, 217 rush(59% pass, 41% run)

Prescott - 267 pass, 134 rush(66.5% pass, 33.5% run) last year in 65% of snaps. Tebow took 95% all 3 years. Extrapolating Dak's stats over a 13 game season at Tebow playing % - 347 pass, 174 rush. That's reasonable...

[smootness]

One thing all of you are forgetting, is Dak having a full spring and summer as the true #1 guy. Last year we had an identity crisis of a pro set offense combined with a spread option offense. We tried to morph nth into one offense and we were all over the map. This year we will be a spread option attack only. We will have had an entire spring and summer of prepping for multiple back sets with various motions and option reads. Last year we spent half of our off season prepping for each type of offense and it set us back. It's no coincidence that our offense started clicking in the 2nd half of our season, after TR went down and we strictly focuses on Dak and Damien at QB. And that's the reason Damien came in as a true freshman and played so well. The offense was no longer in an identity crisis, and a dial threat QB was much more successful because of it.

Yep. I expect all facets of our offense to be better than most (national media/fans) think. Mullen knows offense, and he especially knows offense with the kind of pieces we'll have this year, for the first time since he's been here. That's been stated over and over, but it's still being overlooked by many nationally.

He excels when he has a QB who has the exact tools Dak does; he excels when he has bigger outside WRs but also has some slot guys who he can use in several different roles; and he excels when he has power backs that are also versatile in their own right. He hasn't had some of those at all since he's been at State, and he certainly hasn't had them all at the same time. I'm guessing that alone makes our OL look much better, too.

[Pollodawg]

Dak passed twice for every time he ran last year... literally within 1 throw of an exact 2 to 1 ratio. That was a higher pass-to-run ratio last year than Tebow had in his career -- by a mile.

Tebow - 298 pass, 196 rush(60% pass, 40% run)
350 pass, 210 rush(62.5% pass, 37.5% run)
314 pass, 217 rush(59% pass, 41% run)

Prescott - 267 pass, 134 rush(66.5% pass, 33.5% run) last year in 65% of snaps. Tebow took 95% all 3 years. Extrapolating Dak's stats over a 13 game season at Tebow playing % - 347 pass, 174 rush. That's reasonable...

And I still say that, when he's on, Dak can throw the ball as well as Tebow could or better.

[Pollodawg]

My numbers for Dak this season, and this is on the low end:

Pass--2,400 yards

Rush--1026 yards.

[ChevChelios]

Its like buying a lambo and not driving it fast.

[mic]

We will average around 70-75 plays per game.
Over half of those plays will be on the ground. (unless we are having to play from way behind)
If we rush the ball 40 times a game, Dak will get around half those attempts. Which means 3 maybe 4 RB's will have to spilt 20-30 carries.
of course in Non SEC games in the second half the games should be well in hand and Dak's PT and rushing attempts will be affected.

CDM and the offensive staff will let Dak do what he does best.. Which is have the ball in his hands as much as possible..

[Dawg61]

Its like buying a lambo and not driving it fast.

No it's like driving the Lambo 130 in a 35. Save the 130 for the highways.

[smootness]

No it's like driving the Lambo 130 in a 35. Save the 130 for the highways.

You're responding as though everyone is talking to you. There are people in this thread suggesting we don't run Dak 'too much' in any game, or that we might run him less than 100 times all year. Both of those, to me, are crazy.

Again, your suggestion is reasonable.

[Dawg61]

You're responding as though everyone is talking to you. There are people in this thread suggesting we don't run Dak 'too much' in any game, or that we might run him less than 100 times all year. Both of those, to me, are crazy.

Again, your suggestion is reasonable.

Not responding to everyone. Just ChevChelios. Thought that was obvious since I included his post. Now I'm responding to you. See the quote of yours above ^^^^^^^^^. :cool:

[Dawgcentral]

We're going to have more of an ability to show multiple formations at the line of scrimmage than we had with Russel behind the center or in the gun. Can anyone name the formation that we saw early in the year against an opponent that we seemed to excel at in the Liberty Bowl?

Here's a hint. We're fairly loaded at the RB position, with a variety of backs with skills that differentiate one from the next. And you can throw out of the backfield as well while having two wide as well as one in the slot.

[Barking 13]

Diamond = wool

[BulldogBear]

We will average around 70-75 plays per game.
Over half of those plays will be on the ground. (unless we are having to play from way behind)
If we rush the ball 40 times a game, Dak will get around half those attempts. Which means 3 maybe 4 RB's will have to spilt 20-30 carries.
of course in Non SEC games in the second half the games should be well in hand and Dak's PT and rushing attempts will be affected.

CDM and the offensive staff will let Dak do what he does best.. Which is have the ball in his hands as much as possible..

I hope so. I prefer the pass to compliment or set up the run rather than the other way around. Unless you are one of the "big boys" of the conference you do not have an offense without a mobile QB. You make think you do, but you will be shown otherwise against good defense. Only the Bammers of the world can stand behind their brick wall OL and run a pro style traditional offense with success. When I said I hope JR had half the yards I was saying it probably meant we really ran well. Dak has to be a threat to run. A mobile QB makes it 11 on 11 out there rather than 10 vs. 11. Defense has to account for Dak. SO, I hope that means his threat to run opens the game up for JR and other backs.

[justwin]

easy. Dak needs at least 1,500 & I'm running him until he can't walk & then I'm going to run him some more. JRob at least 1K. Griff 500. Shump 500. That's 3,500 total which is on the low end of what we need. If we don't have at least 2 guys go over 1K, season will suck.

more importantly, we need at least 36 rushing tds this year ~ 3/game. I don't care who scores those, but we need to get serious on pounding those big backs & Dak once we get inside the 10.

Baylor had 47 rushing tds last year
Oregon 42
Bama 28
Aub 48
LSU 37
TXAM 33

spread it out...and run


Who you guys think? Dak is the safe bet, but I really hope it's a rb

[Majors42]

I hope we never redshirt a running back again. That is always a posistion where we can get talented players as good as anyother team and as bad as we are on special teams, those cats need to play. Stump did well on special teams last year and I imagine Williams will as well. I say sign two backs a year and if they are physically ready, play them.

[Coach34]

easy. Dak needs at least 1,500 & I'm running him until he can't walk & then I'm going to run him some more. JRob at least 1K. Griff 500. Shump 500. That's 3,500 total which is on the low end of what we need. If we don't have at least 2 guys go over 1K, season will suck.

more importantly, we need at least 36 rushing tds this year ~ 3/game. I don't care who scores those, but we need to get serious on pounding those big backs & Dak once we get inside the 10.

Baylor had 47 rushing tds last year
Oregon 42
Bama 28
Aub 48
LSU 37
TXAM 33

spread it out...and run

C34 likes this

[smootness]

Not responding to everyone. Just ChevChelios. Thought that was obvious since I included his post. Now I'm responding to you. See the quote of yours above ^^^^^^^^^. :cool:

My point was that I don't think he was talking to you to begin with.

[smootness]

easy. Dak needs at least 1,500 & I'm running him until he can't walk & then I'm going to run him some more. JRob at least 1K. Griff 500. Shump 500. That's 3,500 total which is on the low end of what we need. If we don't have at least 2 guys go over 1K, season will suck.

more importantly, we need at least 36 rushing tds this year ~ 3/game. I don't care who scores those, but we need to get serious on pounding those big backs & Dak once we get inside the 10.

Baylor had 47 rushing tds last year
Oregon 42
Bama 28
Aub 48
LSU 37
TXAM 33

spread it out...and run

Personally, I think you're completely insane if you think we're going to end up with 4 guys with 500+ yards rushing, or that we need that to succeed. If we did that, they would all have barely over 500, nobody would be able to get to 1,000 or 1,500, certainly not two of them.

I agree with you on the rushing TDs because that will be our best way to score once we get in the red zone. But our best comparison at this point is the 2008 Florida offense. They did have 4 guys go for 600+ yards on the ground, but none of them got to even 700. We're not going to average 300 yards on the ground per game, it's just not going to happen. Those are the kind of numbers teams like GT put up.

We are going to be balanced, which probably means that ideally, we throw for 250ish/game and run for somewhere over 200.

[thf24]

We're not going to average 300 yards on the ground per game, it's just not going to happen. Those are the kind of numbers teams like GT put up.

We are going to be balanced, which probably means that ideally, we throw for 250ish/game and run for somewhere over 200.

Just to add a little perspective to that, when we finished 13th in the nation in rushing in 2009, we averaged 227 rushing yards per game. Only four teams averaged over 250 and only one team, Air Force, averaged over 300.

[hacker]

lol, "3500 total is on the low end of what we need."

[hacker]

Maybe justwin has us penciled in for an extra game in Atlanta or in the playoffs, or both.

[justwin]

exactly! too many good RBs to waste redshirts. Never should've redshirted griffin.


I hope we never redshirt a running back again. That is always a posistion where we can get talented players as good as anyother team and as bad as we are on special teams, those cats need to play. Stump did well on special teams last year and I imagine Williams will as well. I say sign two backs a year and if they are physically ready, play them.

[Coach34]

Offense has been evolving since 2009

Check last season's rushing numbers

[justwin]

we haven't scratched the surface of running the football under Mullen.

MSU in 2013 - 2,500 yds
2012 - 1900
2011 - 2300
2010 - 2800
2009 - 2800

2014 will be the best collection of RBs we have. 300 x 13 games = 3,900. Hell, 250 x 13 = 3,250. Remember, Mullen is almost clueless on the forward pass and he's going to run. Auburn had 4,600 last year through 14 games last year so that's the bar. 2008 Florida had 3,300 with Tebow & 4 scat backs. Big backs fall forward. MSU ONLY has big backs in 2014 and Mullen will have an epiphany.


[QUOTE=smootness;179944]Personally, I think you're completely insane if you think we're going to end up with 4 guys with 500+ yards rushing, or that we need that to succeed. If we did that, they would all have barely over 500, nobody would be able to get to 1,000 or 1,500, certainly not two of them.
QUOTE]

[justwin]

I hear ya, but don't be shocked if we have 900-1K through the first 3 games.


lol, "3500 total is on the low end of what we need."

[hacker]

we haven't scratched the surface of running the football under Mullen.

MSU in 2013 - 2,500 yds
2012 - 1900
2011 - 2300
2010 - 2800
2009 - 2800

2014 will be the best collection of RBs we have. 300 x 13 games = 3,900. Hell, 250 x 13 = 3,250. Remember, Mullen is almost clueless on the forward pass and he's going to run. Auburn had 4,600 last year through 14 games last year so that's the bar. 2008 Florida had 3,300 with Tebow & 4 scat backs. Big backs fall forward. MSU ONLY has big backs in 2014 and Mullen will have an epiphany.

We had 2470 last year. There's no ****ing way we're going to have 1030 more rushing yards this year. Much less, 1030 more rushing yards than last year being "the low end of what we need." We only had 2800 the first two years when we were so bad at passing, we would run the ball 20 times in a row. Remember that Florida game?


Offense has been evolving since 2009

Check last season's rushing numbers

I guess 2800 -> 1900 -> 2500 is "evolving" -- technically, any change over time can be considered "evolving"

[hacker]

2014 will be the best collection of RBs we have. 300 x 13 games = 3,900. Hell, 250 x 13 = 3,250. Remember, Mullen is almost clueless on the forward pass and he's going to run. Auburn had 4,600 last year through 14 games last year so that's the bar. 2008 Florida had 3,300 with Tebow & 4 scat backs. Big backs fall forward. MSU ONLY has big backs in 2014 and Mullen will have an epiphany.

I just read this again. I'm convinced you are trolling.