[Goose]

CMac couldn’t “pound it up the gut”?  I guess we watched different games.  He ran inside a ton. He does in the NFL as well.  You don’t run for 1,400 yards in the NF L unless you are a great inside runner.  Most the running game is inside.  Defenses are too fast to run wide a lot.   Love was most effective inside also.  He fan for over 2000 yards in ‘17 for goodness sakes. Most inside.

Amazing lack of memory by some.  So agree with you Lex

Please read what I wrote. I said that CMac couldn't "pound it up the gut". I did not say he did not run inside. What is at issue here is how it was accomplished. You may recall that there were many long discussions about how good CMac was/is at reading the blocking. He is a very patient runner, as was repeatedly emphasized by many people, including Bryce Love. Stanford actually changed how they blocked to take advantage of this strength. The previous approach feature a fixed point of attach with man blocking. The runner was attacking a particular point of attack and that was it. With CMac, he would read the blocking and run where the defense wasn't. Totally different approach. Many of his runs "up the middle" didn't go through the "nominal", intended hole. If somebody stunted, he would run through the hole they vacated. He is a great cut back runner as well. CMac didn't make his yards on Yards After Contact (YAC). He did it by making guys miss. This isn't to say he was weak or anything like that. However, making people miss was his strength, not dragging UCLA cornerbacks for 20 yards a la Toby Gerhardt. So I stand by the statement that he couldn't "pound it up the gut". Both BL and CMac had the attribute that if they got through the line clean, they were a threat to go all the way.  However, if they didn't get through clean, it usually didn't go so well. Neither CMac nor BL made their living breaking tackles. They did it by avoiding tacklers and making people miss. The could also run away from lots of defenders using pure speed.

Love was a great back who could also run the ball very effectively inside. However, he was a "home run" hitter. We talked incessantly on this board about the pattern. Short gain after short gain followed by a 50 yard run. The problem was that we had trouble sustaining drives, because a) we ended up in too may third and longs , and b) we couldn't reliably convert third and short. The way BL ran was in no way similar to Stephan Taylor, Toby Gerhardt or even Tyler Gaffney. I don't think you are really arguing that are you? If it is third and 1, who would you rather have carry the ball, BL or Toby?

[Goose]

CMac couldn’t “pound it up the gut”?  I guess we watched different games.  He ran inside a ton. He does in the NFL as well.  You don’t run for 1,400 yards in the NF L unless you are a great inside runner.  Most the running game is inside.  Defenses are too fast to run wide a lot.   Love was most effective inside also.  He fan for over 2000 yards in ‘17 for goodness sakes. Most inside.

Amazing lack of memory by some.  So agree with you Lex

Please read what I wrote. I said that CMac couldn't "pound it up the gut". I did not say he did not run inside. What is at issue here is how it was accomplished. You may recall that there were many long discussions about how good CMac was/is at reading the blocking. He is a very patient runner, as was repeatedly emphasized by many people, including Bryce Love. Stanford actually changed how they blocked to take advantage of this strength. The previous approach feature a fixed point of attach with man blocking. The runner was attacking a particular point of attack and that was it. With CMac, he would read the blocking and run where the defense wasn't. Totally different approach. Many of his runs "up the middle" didn't go through the "nominal", intended hole. If somebody stunted, he would run through the hole they vacated. He is a great cut back runner as well. CMac didn't make his yards on Yards After Contact (YAC). He did it by making guys miss. This isn't to say he was weak or anything like that. However, making people miss was his strength, not dragging UCLA cornerbacks for 20 yards a la Toby Gerhardt. So I stand by the statement that he couldn't "pound it up the gut". Both BL and CMac had the attribute that if they got through the line clean, they were a threat to go all the way.  However, if they didn't get through clean, it usually didn't go so well. Neither CMac nor BL made their living breaking tackles. They did it by avoiding tacklers and making people miss. The could also run away from lots of defenders using pure speed.

Love was a great back who could also run the ball very effectively inside. However, he was a "home run" hitter. We talked incessantly on this board about the pattern. Short gain after short gain followed by a 50 yard run. The problem was that we had trouble sustaining drives, because a) we ended up in too may third and longs , and b) we couldn't reliably convert third and short. The way BL ran was in no way similar to Stephan Taylor, Toby Gerhardt or even Tyler Gaffney. I don't think you are really arguing that are you? If it is third and 1, who would you rather have carry the ball, BL or Toby?