Does anyone else think Dak might have more

[cheewgumm]

Rushing yards given that Shump will be in there a lot and will be blocking for him?

[mstatefan91]

No. We need him to be healthy the entire season. I expect less planned QB runs with the majority of his rushing coming from a broken pocket and green space in front of him.

I tend to think that Dak is more mature and Mullen, hopefully, realizes that Dak is the key to this season. This leads to less planned runs to reduce risk of injury. Dak wants to play next level. He can't do that if he sits half the season due to an injury. Mullen wants to compete for the West. He can't do that (repeat).

Just my thoughts. I could be dead wrong

[Todd4State]

I say no because even the best running QB's typically have fewer yards than the top back on their respective team.

[Beaver]

With Shump in there I'd guess defenses would load the box a bit more. Hopefully Dak/Dan will see that and call short out routes and bubble screens instead of Dak running straight up the middle. Until Shump proves he can get to the outside, I don't think the opponents' front 7 or 8 will be too spread out.

[Todd4State]

No. We need him to be healthy the entire season. I expect less planned QB runs with the majority of his rushing coming from a broken pocket and green space in front of him.

I tend to think that Dak is more mature and Mullen, hopefully, realizes that Dak is the key to this season. This leads to less planned runs to reduce risk of injury. Dak wants to play next level. He can't do that if he sits half the season due to an injury. Mullen wants to compete for the West. He can't do that (repeat).

Just my thoughts. I could be dead wrong

I'm OK with Dak running 9-12 times a game in SEC games simply because that is a big part of his game. That is planned and unplanned QB runs.

[Todd4State]

With Shump in there I'd guess defenses would load the box a bit more. Hopefully Dak/Dan will see that and call short out routes and bubble screens instead of Dak running straight up the middle. Until Shump proves he can get to the outside, I don't think the opponents' front 7 or 8 will be too spread out.

Yes, I want to see more variety with our QB runs. Running Dak up the middle on 3rd and 8 or 4th and 10 is simply arrogant and non-sensical.

[Irondawg]

I just rewatched the Spring game and for all the talk on here about how some folks say our backfield is better than last year i have to say that i don't agree. Depth may be better but to this point i haven't seen a guy that could do the things our past backs could. Shump is going to be ok, Williams and Holloway have some things they do fairly well, but I don't forsee a bunch of special moments out of the group like we had with Dixon, ballard, J-Rob.

I worry this is going to look a lot like Perkins senior year where J-rob was in the doghouse a lot with coaching staff. We weren't bad, but we weren't good at the RB position either. Lee might have something going for him, but need to see a bit more. Dear is a wildcard that could provide some moments and well and I hear good things about Gibson.

I hope I'm wrong and somebody makes a leap, but I'm more concerned about it than most folks seem to be.

On the flip side I think our passing game should be the best it's ever been and we're going to lean on that more.

[mstatefan91]

I just rewatched the Spring game and for all the talk on here about how some folks say our backfield is better than last year i have to say that i don't agree. Depth may be better but to this point i haven't seen a guy that could do the things our past backs could. Shump is going to be ok, Williams and Holloway have some things they do fairly well, but I don't forsee a bunch of special moments out of the group like we had with Dixon, ballard, J-Rob.

I worry this is going to look a lot like Perkins senior year where J-rob was in the doghouse a lot with coaching staff. We weren't bad, but we weren't good at the RB position either. Lee might have something going for him, but need to see a bit more. Dear is a wildcard that could provide some moments and well and I hear good things about Gibson.

I hope I'm wrong and somebody makes a leap, but I'm more concerned about it than most folks seem to be.

On the flip side I think our passing game should be the best it's ever been and we're going to lean on that more.

The problem is that you are basing this all off of the spring game.

I will be concerned if Shump doesn't perform well against the buzzards, but I think people are selling him short. He did all he could to carry the running game for this team at the end of last season and did a damn fine job.

[ScoobaDawg]

If Dak has more rushing yards than our leading running back we have big problems and he is being setup to getting hurt.
Dak is obviously still a huge running threat but Shump has to be a legit running threat.

So No. No chance.

[Coach34]

Only if Shump doesn't keep a firm hold on the starting job. Prescott is going to run the ball 150+ times and have at least 800 yards- so to top that- one of our RB's needs a firm grasp on the starting job.

We we aren't changing our offense- the QB is going to run the football. That's what makes our offense successful

[Dawgheadcheese]

Only if Shump doesn't keep a firm hold on the starting job. Prescott is going to run the ball 150+ times and have at least 800 yards- so to top that- one of our RB's needs a firm grasp on the starting job.

We we aren't changing our offense- the QB is going to run the football. That's what makes our offense successful

Well here is a fact along these lines. The reason we fizzled out at the end of last season is because Mullen ran Prescott too much. The guys was beaten to death by the last few games of the season - and who wouldn't be playing against SEC defenses each week? IF Mullen runs Prescott like this year, we will have the same exact issues this year. it will cost us a couple of those critical games in November.

Mullen should be capable of learning and improving each year - just like the rest of us. Especially at his young age. He should have learned from last year and find a better way to use Prescott's running ability without over doing it. Dak is not like some other successful running QBs - he doesn't have the knack for avoiding heavy contact. He takes a lot of punishing hits when he runs. Mullen has got to play it smart - if he does, 10 or 11 wins are possible.

We'll see.

[spudd21]

Was it just me or did it seem just about every time Dak changed a play at the line it was a keep up the middle?

[Homedawg]

Well here is a fact along these lines. The reason we fizzled out at the end of last season is because Mullen ran Prescott too much. The guys was beaten to death by the last few games of the season - and who wouldn't be playing against SEC defenses each week? IF Mullen runs Prescott like this year, we will have the same exact issues this year. it will cost us a couple of those critical games in November.

Mullen should be capable of learning and improving each year - just like the rest of us. Especially at his young age. He should have learned from last year and find a better way to use Prescott's running ability without over doing it. Dak is not like some other successful running QBs - he doesn't have the knack for avoiding heavy contact. He takes a lot of punishing hits when he runs. Mullen has got to play it smart - if he does, 10 or 11 wins are possible.

We'll see.

I'm sorry I have to disagree. Our best weapon running the ball is dak. By him running, it opens up everything. Everything. The passing game and more opportunities for the backs. I have no issue with our best player and best weapon running it. And doing it often. He's that good.

[HoopsCoach21]

If Dak has more rushing yards than our leading running back we have big problems and he is being setup to getting hurt.
Dak is obviously still a huge running threat but Shump has to be a legit running threat.

So No. No chance.

I think several people are misunderstanding what the original poster was asking so not directing this totally at you Scooba. I don't think he is trying to say that Dak will have more yards rushing than Shump, but that Dak will have an opportunity to get more rushing yards than he did last year because Shumpert is a better blocker. Not sure if I agree or necessarily disagree, just wanted to clear that up.

[SallyStansbury]

I'm sorry I have to disagree. Our best weapon running the ball is dak. By him running, it opens up everything. Everything. The passing game and more opportunities for the backs. I have no issue with our best player and best weapon running it. And doing it often. He's that good.

I agree with the first poster. Dak should not run as much......34 can say all he wants to that we ARE going to do it, I think he is right. Mullen is stubborn and I doubt he will change a damn thing. We had Tyler Russell what did we do, run him up the gut. The issue is clouded because our line was not so great back then nor the receivers, but the point stands. Mullen will run the QB up the gut because that is what he does....it is "part of his plan**"

I see some saying that the talent on our line has improved, the receivers are as good as most SEC squad, if not better than most...guess what, that doesn't make a hill of beans difference. I too worry that Dak will be injured by meaningless runs early in the season.

Imagine this: Bear catches a slant for a gain of 23 yards....team is running down the field, setting up quickly USM is struggling to get set at the line of scrimmage: GUESS WHAT PLAY IS COMING? Dak up the middle for a gain of 4.5 yrds. He takes a lick on the play. That is an unnecessary hit in my opinion. That is my beef. I know it is nit-picky, but aside from being predictable against AL and UNM Dak had taken a season worth of partly unnecessary beatings and he wasn't full speed. We have to adjust little things if we want to take that next step forward. Special teams play, things like this. One the bright side, we seem to have some talented QB's in development and for that we need to give Mullen credit. A+ I hope we don't need them this year, but it is the SEC and I see a lot of runs up the middle in Dak's future.

[Johnson85]

If Dak has more rushing yards than our leading running back we have big problems and he is being setup to getting hurt.
Dak is obviously still a huge running threat but Shump has to be a legit running threat.

So No. No chance.

Dak is going to have more rushing yards than our leading running back. The vast majority of the times the QB runs it, it's going to be Dak. Lots of running backs are going to touch the ball.

Dak is going to run the ball everygame. What we need is to be good enough on offense that we can limit his carries in a lot of games so that in the games we have to have him, he's not beaten to death. At minimum, we need to limit hits on him in OOC. Ideally we'd be able to take care of UK and A&M relying primarily on RBs and passing game. I don't think it's realistic to think we're going to be able to beat anybody else in the West without us optimizing our offense, which means running Dak a lot.

[Ifyouonlyknew]

I agree with the first poster. Dak should not run as much......34 can say all he wants to that we ARE going to do it, I think he is right. Mullen is stubborn and I doubt he will change a damn thing. We had Tyler Russell what did we do, run him up the gut. The issue is clouded because our line was not so great back then nor the receivers, but the point stands. Mullen will run the QB up the gut because that is what he does....it is "part of his plan**"

I see some saying that the talent on our line has improved, the receivers are as good as most SEC squad, if not better than most...guess what, that doesn't make a hill of beans difference. I too worry that Dak will be injured by meaningless runs early in the season.

Imagine this: Bear catches a slant for a gain of 23 yards....team is running down the field, setting up quickly USM is struggling to get set at the line of scrimmage: GUESS WHAT PLAY IS COMING? Dak up the middle for a gain of 4.5 yrds. He takes a lick on the play. That is an unnecessary hit in my opinion. That is my beef. I know it is nit-picky, but aside from being predictable against AL and UNM Dak had taken a season worth of partly unnecessary beatings and he wasn't full speed. We have to adjust little things if we want to take that next step forward. Special teams play, things like this. One the bright side, we seem to have some talented QB's in development and for that we need to give Mullen credit. A+ I hope we don't need them this year, but it is the SEC and I see a lot of runs up the middle in Dak's future.

His long TD run vs LSU was up the middle. TD's against Auburn, A&M, & KY all came up the middle. Do you want to run him up the middle all the time? No but a lot of his best runs last year were up the middle.

[Dawgheadcheese]

I agree with the first poster. Dak should not run as much......34 can say all he wants to that we ARE going to do it, I think he is right. Mullen is stubborn and I doubt he will change a damn thing. We had Tyler Russell what did we do, run him up the gut. The issue is clouded because our line was not so great back then nor the receivers, but the point stands. Mullen will run the QB up the gut because that is what he does....it is "part of his plan**"

I see some saying that the talent on our line has improved, the receivers are as good as most SEC squad, if not better than most...guess what, that doesn't make a hill of beans difference. I too worry that Dak will be injured by meaningless runs early in the season.

Imagine this: Bear catches a slant for a gain of 23 yards....team is running down the field, setting up quickly USM is struggling to get set at the line of scrimmage: GUESS WHAT PLAY IS COMING? Dak up the middle for a gain of 4.5 yrds. He takes a lick on the play. That is an unnecessary hit in my opinion. That is my beef. I know it is nit-picky, but aside from being predictable against AL and UNM Dak had taken a season worth of partly unnecessary beatings and he wasn't full speed. We have to adjust little things if we want to take that next step forward. Special teams play, things like this. One the bright side, we seem to have some talented QB's in development and for that we need to give Mullen credit. A+ I hope we don't need them this year, but it is the SEC and I see a lot of runs up the middle in Dak's future.

Well said Sally - you hit it square on the head.

[rem101]

I agree with the first poster. Dak should not run as much......34 can say all he wants to that we ARE going to do it, I think he is right. Mullen is stubborn and I doubt he will change a damn thing. We had Tyler Russell what did we do, run him up the gut. The issue is clouded because our line was not so great back then nor the receivers, but the point stands. Mullen will run the QB up the gut because that is what he does....it is "part of his plan**"

I see some saying that the talent on our line has improved, the receivers are as good as most SEC squad, if not better than most...guess what, that doesn't make a hill of beans difference. I too worry that Dak will be injured by meaningless runs early in the season.

Imagine this: Bear catches a slant for a gain of 23 yards....team is running down the field, setting up quickly USM is struggling to get set at the line of scrimmage: GUESS WHAT PLAY IS COMING? Dak up the middle for a gain of 4.5 yrds. He takes a lick on the play. That is an unnecessary hit in my opinion. That is my beef. I know it is nit-picky, but aside from being predictable against AL and UNM Dak had taken a season worth of partly unnecessary beatings and he wasn't full speed. We have to adjust little things if we want to take that next step forward. Special teams play, things like this. One the bright side, we seem to have some talented QB's in development and for that we need to give Mullen credit. A+ I hope we don't need them this year, but it is the SEC and I see a lot of runs up the middle in Dak's future.

I have no problem running dak when we need to. I don't think we need to in non-conference games though. I would like to see him avoid hits in those games to stay healthy.

[Dawgheadcheese]

His long TD run vs LSU was up the middle. TD's against Auburn, A&M, & KY all came up the middle. Do you want to run him up the middle all the time? No but a lot of his best runs last year were up the middle.

Not questioning his success running up the middle. It is running Dak excessively knowing that he doesn't have a knack for avoiding the hard hits. The key in my mind is monitoring / limiting the number of runs / hits he is taking each game and understand that he cannot make it through 12 games in the SEC running as much as he did last year. It is not practical. We need to be smarter at getting the benefits of his running the ball - but also utilizing our wealth of other offensive weapons so that he can come out fresh each week - especially those critical last 3 or 4 games.